I’m missing the point of this post. There are very few people in the top 1% but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a significant difference between a 33 and and a 36. It’s not just luck or a “proverbial hair,” no more than it is for a 28 to a 31. I wouldn’t take your observations and, say, extrapolate that anyone who has scored in the top 1% should take the test three more times and they are bound to get a 36 eventually. Statistics don’t work like that.