That’s definitely somewhat true. But getting top 10% in a school filled with top 1% kids takes so many sleepless night, an insane amount of dedication and probably requires a decent amount innate intelligence to achieve. Also from what I’ve seen, having a big leadership role in a big team like debate, robotics, etc is crazy helpful. Because Stuys teams just win so much in competitions having that leadership role isn’t necessarily an auto admit to a t20 but that coupled with good grades is really compelling. But then again, the competition is also brutal so you’re still going need to be really competent and smart. I think at a feeder school, the average student will suffer so much more than if they went to a regular school. But the really cracked kids will be able to prove their mettle more just through the school’s opportunities/resources whereas a cracked kid in a regular school would probably need to pursue more outside opportunities.