<p>Don’t forget students of staff, kids from local HS where there is a “gentleperson’s agreement” to ease town/gown relationships by allowing in a few kids from the neighborhood whose stats would otherwise lead to rejection, plus “student celebrities”, i.e. Olympians, actors, etc. Not everyone is a Yo-Yo Ma; sometimes it’s worth it for a college to take an ice-skater who has been homeschooled (i.e. no gpa) and SAT’s in the high 600’s just for the prestige factor.</p>
<p>You can’t parse who has the bigger score differential. And it’s irrelevant for the typical applicant.</p>