The nature of the beast is that reviewers are winnowing. You can’t ignore that Harvard’s number of seats can’t exceed 2000 or so, no matter how many apps they receive. And that a Harvard has high expectations for the level of a kid’s thinking, vision and pursuit of what it values. (We can’t continue this discussion unless all agree on that, it’s so essential to the understanding.) All that comes through or not, in the full app itself. Not just the lines for gpa and scores.
In the Stanford numbers, roughly 12,230 kids applied with gpa in the 3.7-3.99 range. 4% got in, about 490. Your little Billy may think he’ll be one of the 490, and come after you for his $100 fee, just because his stats fall there. But the question is: what’s he doing to propel himself out of the group of 11,740 who also were in that range and didn’t get in? Parents have an obligation to think, too, not just open their checkbooks.
Blaming Billy’s lack of vision and understanding on, say, Chicago, one of the worst offenders, is not going to excuse his simplistic and ill-informed mistakes in judgment.
When you want the big leagues, you don’t put on blinders. You respect the beast. You want to be a gladiator, then be a gladiator. Not the kid with his fingers crossed that maybe the lion had a big lunch, ha, and he’ll be lucky.