This is “fluffy” thinking, lol. If you want a tippy top, youll need to stop worrying a 96-97 is a failure and learn what really matters. TTs will look for your maturity and perspective, among other keys, not pick based on who’s got one point higher.
An A is an A (over 93, maybe a 90, depending on the hs scheme.) But you could put yourself at risk for an uber competitive holistic, if you focus only on such a tiny numerical difference.