Bill Chen pointed out that at least at middle (+elementary) school level, U.S. system is more holistic than China system. Many of his friends benefited. I said my son is not academic and would fare better in the U.S. system. He agreed.

I said even at high school level, U.S. system is still more holistic than China system, since college admission is only 50% based on academics, mostly GPA and sometims SAT.  Bill agreed. The academic benchmark used is not always a national standard benchmark such as SAT. I guess U.S. colleges knows that SAT is poor predictor of success in college.

Junli told me some colleges said SAT score is optional and will be considered iFF submitted. I feel good to hear this for my son. I think for this reason, YLZ’s two kids both scored very high in SAT but still not very impressive to the U.S. colleges. The Singapore system is mostly focused on academics but U.S. system is more holistic.

When I asked about “50%” quoted earlier, Liu Yong pointed out school projects, leadership roles .. are important admission criteria.

Overall, I feel U.S. system is likely better for my son. More non-academic programs. Singapore system expects high motivation at too early an age, when my son is not ready.

— as I told Josh

I told Josh … The “breakthrough” I will wait for – when my son starts showing any serious, sustained dedication to anything meaningful, I will feel relieved that I made the right decision to bring him to the U.S.

However, serious motivation about something meaningful may not be such an important breakthrough. Academic benchmark is a dangerous trap including coding competitions.