When it comes to college application, the word FIT means any or all of the following : school size, location, student political leaning, core or no core requirement, etc. etc… You would think you have good chance of getting in the schools that you spend months researching, schools that you think are the best fit for you.
The reality is that the colleges are also looking for the FIT, and the way they see FIT is quite different from that of the applicants. The elite colleges are looking for fit in the following: Underrepresented race/ethnicity, Exceptional talent, Recruited athlete status, Likelihood of enrolling, Fund-raising potential.
For potential H applicants, people would be foolish to think that just b/c they estimate that they would enjoy/fit into Harvard that it bears ANY correlation to whether H will think they can fit into the tiny admitted pool.
I’m not sure what a student can actually do about this because . . .
. . . So student’s don’t know which universities focus on fit and which focus on academic merit. And, even if a student knew the answer, how would it effect their presentation? Your GPA is what it is, ditto with your test scores, teacher recommendations and EC’s. The only thing an applicant can control is their essay(s), interview and the choice of whether to complete the optional demographic survey (ethnicity questions) included in the Common Application.