I'm also curious what "Most creative in class" means. It seems odd to say nobody ever gave you a break while simultaneously saying you were the "Most encouraged". While not exactly the same, surely people recognized his strengths then?
> Rejected by every college but one.
Which colleges did you apply to? Plenty of people with great grades and perfect SAT scores still end up rejected from top-tier colleges.
> Taught myself to program and gave it away until someone hired me.
So someone decided to hire a young person with only self-taught programming experience and (I'm assuming) no CS degree. Certainly sounds like someone gave you a break here.
I highly doubt that he had "perfect SAT scores." A 2400 with good grades is an effective guarantee at most state flagships (and most mid-range private schools for that matter.) He is either mischaracterizing his merits or didn't apply to realistic school choices.
Most prestigious universities put a lot of weight on the essay and the interview as well. If his interactions in these two areas came off as cantankerous as he is coming off here, I'd understand letting in a guy with a 1580 over a guy with a 1600. (Based on the fact that he's had 10 jobs, I'm sure he was graded on the 1600 point scale, not out of 2400)
And trust me, not every perfect SAT score is a guarantee of getting into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Stanford, etc.
Most people with perfect SAT scores don't apply to state schools. That's why a perfect SAT score is an effective guarantee at getting into one. He also did say "but one", which makes me think he got into his safety.
> Rejected by every college but one.
Which colleges did you apply to? Plenty of people with great grades and perfect SAT scores still end up rejected from top-tier colleges.
> Taught myself to program and gave it away until someone hired me.
So someone decided to hire a young person with only self-taught programming experience and (I'm assuming) no CS degree. Certainly sounds like someone gave you a break here.