@sorghum There are always smarter kids, but for elite colleges, do you truly think the 1560 with a 4.0 UW GPA and a full time job running an entire business every summer, can be definitively said to be smarter/better than someone with a 1565 on their SAT, with a 4.9 weighted GPA and four summers volunteering with kids who have disabilities?
Because those are the types of kids admins at top colleges are choosing between. Truly extraordinary individuals, many of whom would likely thrive in a highly competitive environment.
If my child had all the “right” stats to match the average of an Ivy, I wouldn’t be consoling her saying “well others were smarter”.
Now if she went in unprepared, or were even slightly below average of the accepted class, yeah you didn’t make it because you weren’t as good. But I bet a lot of kids truly did not make it because, well, it’s subjective.