[spoiler]

Agree with everything you said, but want to add something regarding the school systems worldwide: they're designed for the average kid. And I mean more than intellectually average. Just average in general, which inclides "neuro-typicality", or family situation, etc.

So, depending on what makes the kid an an outlier, they might struggle in this system that wasn't designed for their needs.

[prepend]

Oh certainly. I think my point isn’t that a smart people do well in school, but it’s pointless to self describe as smart.

The best programmers I ever knew were terrible students. Like drop out at 6th grade terrible.

But in OP’s case, I think it’s reasonable for the school to set their standard for admitting to a CS program and then stick to it. I’m not sure how OP can prove if they would do well if they got in and really cared. As they knew the requirements and importance so if they cared enough they would perform at the minimum. Just saying “I’m smart and I swear I’ll start working hard if you let me in” will never be very successful for purposes of admitting people to a limited size program.