Something like this is only interesting within a certain range. If he'd been too successful, nobody would want to read it because it would come off as even more

Something like this is only interesting within a certain range. If he'd been too successful, nobody would want to read it because it would come off as even more of a humblebrag than it already does just by virtue of the context of even qualifying for awards from Ivy League schools. But at the same time, if this were From someone at "Podunk State", as KKKKkkkk1 put it, to some controversy elsewhere in this post, it likely would not have made it to HN, even if someone from Podunk was the first to popularize this model.