I may be an edge case, but I was put in those programs and hated them. I had a high IQ but also untreated Attention-Deficit Disorder. The last thing I wanted to do was to "wrack my brain" on difficult questions that felt like they were above my level, with the people around me suddenly placing high expectations on my being able to solve those problems. Sure, I probably could have solved those problems, but instead I just locked up.

Now, give me creative freedom to pursue my own difficult questions with nobody evaluating my progress—and some good role-models with domain-experience who I could ask questions—and I would have been happy as a clam. But that is not what "gifted programs" tend to look like.