I interview kids for a HYPSM college. I have never met any 2 applicants I’ve interviewed that had what I’d consider similar accomplishments, when looking beyond stats. As an example, the news story at https://web.archive.org/web/20160413053112/http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article2577688.html describes a kid who was accepted to all of HYSPM, with a Gates Millennium scholarship. After reading about his background and accomplishments, it’s easy to understand why he’d “stand out” among the many applicants and why all highly selective colleges he applied to came to the same conclusion about his admission.