<p>The reason is that H and S love to take valedictorians. Y and P too, but to a lesser extent. H and S just love the little butt-kissing grade grubbers and will give away points on the SAT rather than take a number 2 or 3 over a number 1. And you dont want to be a n umber 3 applying where the number 1 is too, even if you have a 2400 and the number 1 has a 2300 or 2200. And, unfortunately it doesnt seem to matter all that much how competitive a school you come out of, it matters some but not enough.</p>