So let’s say a senior in high school is applying to college (I’m just asking out of curiosity, this doesn’t apply to me). This person has taken all of the AP courses available at his high school, has gotten As and 5s on all of them, is ranked #1 in his class, has perfect SAT/ACT scores, but doesn’t have any ECs. What do you would be the highest ranking university this person would be admitted to? (Ex. Top 30-40)
Somewhere outside the US.
Your friend should google the common data set for schools he/she is considering and see which ones place a low priority on ECs.
McGill in Montreal and U of Toronto. Admissions is purely stats-based.
The vast majority of colleges in the US. The exceptions are those with many similar applicants with top end academic credentials, so they use other things to distinguish between them.
Nobody knows. This student should stay in China.