@damon30 so true and so difficult for people to “get”. Most of these parents pushing their kids to get A’s at all cost and to mold themselves into what they think the “top” schools are looking for end up not understanding how it is that their straight A plus 1600 scored student is rejected from them. That’s because these schools are not looking for high school valedictorians who’ve spent hours upon hours preparing with tutors to nab a top test score. In fact, the Valedictorian is probably often the antithesis of what these schools seek-although not always. Depends upon how that was achieved-as a goal (usually and not desirable) or just happenstance. People complain that the “top” schools aren’t transparent enough. They should simply say, “Be Beethoven, Emily Dickinson, Picasso, F.L. Wright”. Luckily for 99% of the population, there are hundreds of other schools that would welcome most students even if they aren’t headline bound.