There are no “slightly worse” colleges in, say, the top 50+. That’s too superficial. All the good US holistic colleges want what they want. It’s their business to find that. (Even colleges beyond the top 50 are looking for what matches their realities, where their admits are likely to stick and succeed during the four years, as the college defines it. It’s a kid’s responsibility to get a read on what that is.)
From a student perspective, you’d like to think what you’ve done is your special narrative. But they’ve seen it all, have a more applications than seats, and can cherry pick the ones they feel best match them, their raison d’etre.
Maybe the trombone player, who’s also got the goods to thrive at that campus, beyond band. (Trombone might be a tie-breaker, not a lightning stike that pulls in a kid who’s weak for that college.) But more often, the highly productive, mature, engaged kids who can “show” a record of activation in various ways that matter to the colleges.
That’s true whether one lives in an urban/suburban area or remotely. Lots of kids in remote areas are out there stretching. What so many kids accomplish is more than just a few random good things, a little sideline work here or there. They can show vision (seeing opportunities, for themselves or for their communities,) and how they dove in.
There are no “empathy admits.” No “poor dear, he couldn’t find things to do, let’s admit him.”
Imo, cpt is saying something other than how you interpret it.
I don’t know how you’re researching or coming up with a list. But after you know yourself, warts and all, you have to learn what these colleges are, what they want, since they make the decisions about whom to admit. That’s what a good college search- and the 3.5 years of preparation- is really about. Matching. Not just what an applicant “wants.”