An NYU applicant who's accepted may have a transcript like this:

Freshman year:
English 9 Honors
Biology Honors
World History/Geography Honors
Geometry Honors
Spanish I

Sophomore year:
English 10 Honors
Chemistry Honors
AP World History
Algebra II Honors
Spanish II

Junior year:
AP English Lit
AP Chemistry
AP US History
Precalculus Honors
Spanish III

Senior year:
AP English Language
AP Biology
AP Government
AP Calculus BC
Spanish IV

Extracurriculars throughout all four years: Student Government, some kind of sport

I have autism. I am in special ed English and Social Skills. Unlike race or minority status, learning disability is NOT an advantage in the college admissions process whatsoever. I have never been in any extracurriculars, and I have never taken a foreign language because of the special ed English.

So far I'm a sophomore. Here are my grades:

Special ed English: B
Term 3 comments: Thomas participates in class when called upon. He struggles with staying focused during instructional time.

Practical Biology: A
Term 3 comments: Thomas is a pleasure to have in class. Thomas does well on assessments and does careful and high quality work.

Wellness/Fitness: B

Geometry: C+ (ended 1/20)
Final comments: Shows evidence of effort. Accomodations were provided. Quality of work has improved.

Jazz Lab: A- (ended 1/20)

Concert Band: A

Special ed Social Skills: B+
Term 3 comments: Thomas participates in class when called upon. Thomas has trouble with seeing other student's perspectives when there are round table discussions. However, he also adds to the round table discussions.

My special ed teacher expects to putting me in the following courses in junior year:

- Special ed English for the first half of the year, 10th grade English for the second (I have not completed 10th grade English yet, so taking 11th grade English is not an option next year)
- Algebra II
- PE/Drug
- Concert Band
- Conceptual Chemistry
- Special ed Social Skills
- Web Design
- Digital Imaging

One of the jobs I'm considering is a software engineer at Facebook's engineering office in NYC.

I used to be at the top of my class in mathematics, but in my last year of elementary school, 6th grade, when practically all the problems were multistep and my grades plummeted, I was stripped of that honor. As a result, I was put in the class for the students who need more work on mathematics in 7th grade. All it takes is just one year of inconsistency to get bumped back to square one.