<p>^^I did not mean to imply that these kids got into Yale solely on the strength of their transcripts and test scores. Your academic record just gets you past the threshold at colleges like Yale. After that, ECs, recommendations, and essays play a vital role. Based on the posts on this thread, though, it seems that the academic threshold varies among schools. At the high schools my kids have attended, kids below the very top range of grades and scores just don’t get into these schools unless they have a genuine hook.</p>