Your point about hooked students filling up ED is very valid. The reason I’ve started this US admissions process in the first place was because I saw many students around me achieved acceptance (Dartmouth, Brown, UMiami etc.) in some way, and from there my goal was to achieve the same myself. I hope I get to have a chance of admission in a school I can afford and be comfortable in. As you’ve said, I’m hoping for a few acceptances throughout my list.
However the grim reality for unhooked internationals is confusing me. As I’ve said, I get to know a bunch of people that I can classify as “regular” in terms of applications that get accepted to top schools. Was their acceptance mostly dependent on luck, is that what intl applications depend on in general? (Considering the odds being against most internationals, regardless of the quailty of their application.)