Long Island had over 4 times as many Intel semifinalists as the whole state of Virginia this past year, even though Virginia has 4 times the population. I highly doubt this difference can be explained by parents. As a contrast, only 2 people from Long Island qualified for USAMO this past year, compared to 13 from Virginia (all from TJ).
I’m not “blaming” the Siemens program; I think it’s good to have. But in response to lost account’s comment, it just isn’t the case that in the 30 states with no finalists, you would find all of the serious science students out on the football field or elsewhere, volitionally. You would probably find them attending schools that do not offer a “research” course of any variety at any level, that have no history of students participating in research programs, and that make it difficult rather than easy to participate.
I am not actually concerned about the impact of Siemens on college admissions, though there is no doubt some.
I don’t have a child participating in the program. I have mentored high school students in the past few years, some of whom have helpful schools and others of whom have schools that make research difficult. These are different worlds. The students in schools that make research difficult are not prioritizing sports over science. They tend to be doing what they can, in the environment they are in.
shravas makes a good point.
The overwhelming majority of the students from my state (Virginia) attend either TJ or Loudoun Academy of Science, both of which are not only very selective but also require all students to complete a research project. I’m sure that is a factor here.
And if the kids are not getting their brains knocked around on the world class football field, they may live in a town which has voted down the last three bond issues to invest in K-12 education.
Sports can be a very valuable for teaching kids the value of practice and teamwork. However, many parents overdo it and sacrifice academics to the long term detriment of their children.
Perhaps in middle America, the non-football kids who might be doing winning research are getting suspended for bringing clocks that look like “bombs” to school.
I think if you look at education spending per state, you will see that some states emphasize schooling more than others.
Several factors here:
As mentioned previously, institutional support and cultural factors (including a school culture that supports Intel projects) matter.
Also, I hope everyone is aware that the US population isn’t spread evenly across the 50 states.
For instance, the top 100 football recruits hail from 22 states:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-3512/2016
How many top 100 Intel teams or top 100 football players do people expect Wyoming or Idaho to produce?
For heaven’s sake, some schools are heavily into certain competitions, and have things set up to shepherd suitable kids into them. At some schools, it’s national language exams or writing competitions, at others, it’s Science Olympiad or AIMO or Siemens or whatever. At some schools it is none of the above.
Some schools are located in a place where a significant number of parents are academics or research scientists who can easily arrange to get kids into labs. It’s not like everyone else in the nation is an ignoramus, or courting brain damage on the football field to the exclusion of education, despite what some of those afflicted with STEM myopia would like to believe.