@elguapo1, in the US, outstanding academic achievement is enough, but you have to be insanely outstanding (and not just by stats/GPA/class rank). HYPS would reserve 10-20% of slots for those candidates. At MIT, that percentage would be much higher. At tiny Caltech, that would be the criteria to fill the entire student body.
Or if you apply ED to any Ivy/equivalent.
But half the class or more at Ivies/equivalents would go to hooked applicants.