alt Hacker NewsI want to add that the UC schools system has (had?) something like this. I know a good number of very intelligent people who did 2 years at a Community College and ended up going to UC Berkeley, UCLA. Not Harvard but West coast ivys at the very least.
I have 6 bay area nieces and nephews that recently went to UC ( Three Berkeley, one Irvine, two Davis). Their school schedules largely resembled the long days described above Plus they had summer school every year as well.
It is basically a suffering and compliance competition to get into college. I think this is a big part of why young women now outnumber young men 2:1 in college enrollment