I will chime in as a BS parent that all of @blossom’s posts are spot on. That’s the way the elite boarding schools work, and they are extremely transparent about it, or at least they were from the time our son entered. Anyone who didn’t understand that the purpose of the school was a stellar high school education that would prepare each of its students to hit the ground running at whichever (of hundreds) of excellent colleges their students matriculate was not paying attention; it’s about the HS education, not specific college results. These schools absolutely have excellent relationships with many, many colleges and steer their students, whom they know inside and out, to the best fits for them. They also know every student’s competition at each college and will be brutally honest if a particular college is a wasted app. These students are only competing against each other, and the GCs have perfect knowledge of the competition and chances. They cannot and won’t stop a student from applying, but they can tell a student with almost 100% accuracy what the result will be. That’s worth a lot IMO. The disconnect comes when some parents and students refuse to believe what the school is telling them and cling to the fantasy that having that school’s name on the app will somehow give it a magical boost which is a prefect recipe for disappointment.
I understand that this conversation is not about boarding schools, but I think this point should be made for anyone who might benefit from it.