That was sort of my point, and I didn't finish it, although the OP just said "bunches", which could be any number. The person you're replying to indicates that

That was sort of my point, and I didn't finish it, although the OP just said "bunches", which could be any number. The person you're replying to indicates that 10% is 1700, and that 10% may be more representative of the high-EC and 4.0 level. I'm not sure a few thousand folks from around the country qualifies as 'bunches'. Thinking back to my high school days, we had only a handful of people who were both academically advanced and active in many EC - sports, music, theater, etc. Partially there's just not enough time in most people's days to get 'good' at multiple things, even if there's aptitude. Secondly, not everyone can actually afford to get involves in a lot of ECs (despite aptitude/talent). I can't think of anyone I know from my school (class of over 600, IIRC) who was all 4.0 GPA who also did multiple EC work. We had people in both camps. And I had a pretty lousy GPA, but did much better on ACT than some of the high GPA kids.