Went to several selective schools’ campus tour, and the admission office all said that the admission officers were looking for good stories from the applicants to get them in, an not to cut them. So where do you think they get the good stories? Certainly, not the GPA and test scores, but the personal essay, ECs, and recommendations. Just using GPA and test scores, there would have no need of admission officers at all; computer programs can do that.
There are some of Asian American applicants and their families don’t realize that, so they have the issue with the holistic system that selective schools use to select students.