I know people at HYPS, a couple I know VERY WELL. Most are no more passionate than anyone else. A few are more passionate about one thing, getting ahead whatever that means. They do have 2400s or very close to it. They did study ALOT. I am sure they were not equally passionate about Physics C as they were about AP Global but they managed to get As in both (and most other classes they took from Junior year on). Sure there are a few kids who are really extraordinary. The rest won the toss.
When I say giving up activities I am tnot talking about ECs. I am talking about the normal partying that most kids engage in. Sure everyone does some, but for the kids who aspire to HYPS, we will give up the beach if we did not finish a paper. We will not go out with our friends on Saturday night if we have AP Chemistry on Monday. I gave that up, I am sure the OP did. A number of my friends who were in the category below had overlap in the schools we both got into. If you had told me early on, with a 3.7 you could get in Z, maybe I would not have worked as hard.