Got to disagree with this. These schools look for all types, both the spikey and the well rounded (but well rounded with super high achievements across the board). FWIW, S and all of his friends at his HYP that I know are of the well rounded variety. For the most part, they were also cross admitted into multiple T20’s. That has also been my experience as an interviewer for over 25 years. I would agree that if you do have a major spike, it is easier to stand out, but if you otherwise are unremarkable (below the XYZ college median), you may be competing for a very limited “slot”, e.g. only so many spots for the great tuba player.
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