I didn’t mean the socio-economic context. I was referring to academic, intellectual, literary or whatever passions that the student has exhibited in the classroom or the school which suggest that the scores do not capture the potential to succeed. 30 years ago I interviewed a kid for Brown who came from a rural, one traffic light town who was exceptional in every single way-- except on paper. Nobody at his HS had ever applied to Brown, even the grownups in his life were at a loss as to how to help him “shape” his application.
With interviews going the way of the do-do bird, the recommendations for kids with middling scores (but high academic potential) are going to be doing the heavy lifting. Which is why I predict the magnet schools will become the replacement for whatever the government disdains about race-based admissions decisions.