<p>I am more inclined to agree with Data and Alea here…of the 8 students I know personally this year that were accepted to Stanford (plus many of its peer schools) 7 were lopsided specialists…2 were nationally recruited athletes, 3 were star musicians (national/international/Presidential scholar prize winners), 1 was science/math Olympiad wizard, 1 was CS prodigy…and 1 student was what you would call a general “all-arounder” (as far as I know he did not have a high-level focused specialty)…</p>