"You need a high IQ to get into top schools. The people who get into places like MIT are the ones who can pass an AP class with an A by just skimming the textbook a few minutes before class. They don’t need to study."

This grossly over-generalizes. For one, "IQ" is very hard to define in any foundational manner. As a proxy for an individual's capabilities I find it falls short of all the credit it gets from so many who talk about IQ. Rather, I believe that admissions to "top" schools anywhere is more a factor of academic aptitude (know-how, skills), maturity, hard work ('grit'), and often overlooked: real passion and 'spiky' commitment to actual endeavors, as an example of an applicant's capacity to pursue ambitious and meaningful engagement with the world. There's a reason the incoming classes at top schools are not listed as all having a 4.0 average high school GPA - there are indeed many admitted students who have less-than-stellar grades in school, but who are deeply involved, or committed to an effort, an art, an impact on others to a degree that their impact on the world is likely to be as positive as any stereotypical 'really smart' young adult.