<p>@jym626 Isn’t 99 percentile on the ACT is 33-36? Something like 1.6M take the ACT and SAT. I have no data on how many take both, but I think we can agree the best students are most likely to take both. Either way, there are about 20,000-30,000 99 percentile ACT and SAT test takers each year. Now how many have a GPA to match? How many have the collection of ECs? How many even apply to the top 20 colleges? How many seats are there for the top say 20 schools in the nation? My point is AMAZING students are not getting shut out. Shut out of HYP, sure. Shut out of Harvard, Yale, Princeton…Northwestern…Cornell…Cal? No freaking chance. People are constantly looking for ways to scheme their above average but not great kids into an elite school. Nobody that’s 99 percentile (including ACT, GPA and ECs) on paper is getting shut out. It’s hard for people to accept that their kid isn’t as bright or motivated as they wish they were.</p>