Couldn’t agree more, @mathmom. No more than 15-20% or so of HYP is what one would normally consider even “gifted.”
Nevertheless, the top minds at these schools are truly impressive, and no one should be under any illusion to the contrary. Based on my reading of the Harvard documents, and personal experiences, I’d estimate about 5% of HYP is truly extraordinary on intellectual measures, many in a different universe from the remainder of the student body.
HYP is selecting for many attributes other than intelligence, so these numbers should come as no surprise. In effect, the top students are like “halo cars” for the rest of the brand. Personally, I believe weaker legacies and development students benefit most from the glow - and probably need it least considering their starting positions in life.
I always go back to Pareto. Maybe 10% are extraordinarily capable on academic measures (including those 4-5% or so who are Academic 1s on Harvard’s admissions rating system) and another 10% on other measures involving special talents, connections and leadership capability. The remaining 80% are just along for the ride, and could be comfortably swapped out with the middle 50% from any other T20 school without anyone being the wiser.