>> As someone that went to a private college I've a passing knowledge of former boarding school kids. <<

That's useful, thanks.

>> While Tony would have classmates with all sorts of advantages, and thus performing better than plenty, money won't make you gifted. <<

True. I just assumed that Howard would put Tony in a school for gifted kids, preferably one focused on engineering. But then again, Tony was a wild thing and probably got kicked out of school repeatedly, so he may have attended a wide range of them.

>> And, Tony is 'new money', as I think Grandfather or Greatgrandfather 'arrived' (Howard just reads as someone that's not done much scrambling except for shaking down physics for spare electrons.) <<

I kind of got the impression that the family built its fortune over the generations -- that Howard started well off and became rich, so Tony started rich and outstripped the GNP of a small country. But yeah, new money compared to the fussy aristocrats. I don't think Tony likes them. He can fake it, but he's too upstairs-downstairs to take that shit seriously, and sometimes it shows.

>> Add to that being younger and smaller... <<

I suspect that's where Tony got his size issues, his dirty fighting skills, and his habit of punching up.