........and environmental too.
Pretty spot on. When I was growing up in India, people used to take pride in being nerd. In fact, you were looked down upon if you didn't spend all your time studying. I remember when I was in 11th grade, a classmate of mine told the other that he studied 10 hours non stop after school the previous day. My other class mate got nervous and went home after school and studied 11 hours non stop to beat him. One of my cousin was averaging 15 hours a day of studying and was praised and admired by everyone. That sh*t was insane. They start studying like that very early on, from 7th or 8th grade. I always thought there was something wrong with me because I could barely concentrate and study for an hour. I spent my time playing Cricket and other sports. Even guys who were not naturally inclined to be nerds used to pretend they are and tried hard to be one. No wonder so many Indians who come to the west are nerdy. They are trained to be one since the day they are born.
I have noticed a key difference in the mentality between the US and Indian high schools. In the west, cool kids are the one who are either good looking or are in sports teams. In India cool kids are those who get the highest grades and study the hardest.
Disclaimer: I graduated high school in the year 2000, so things may have changed.