Newton doesn’t really want to be a mad scientist. He’d be willing to be a mad food scientist if he really had to be, but I think he’d rather just be a straight-up food scientist. But, he feels guilty (parents can do that to you, especially when they’ve aspired to be mad scientists their entire lives. They probably look up to Galt’s dad, the successful mad scientist that he is), so he’s at Herman Kahn Memorial High School. That’s just the way life goes.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my parents for encouraging me to follow my aspirations in whichever form and direction they took me. I may still be working relatively the same job I worked when I was in college, but at least I don’t hate myself, my parents, and everything I’ve done in my life. That counts for a whole lot.