I’d say “large part” rather than “part”, not only for college but for life.
When I asked the title question many months ago, “how to evaluate a kid”, my thought was not that much on “independence and maturity”. Now I think academic abilities, in comparison, are too simplistic. So I now pay closer attention to what older (=experienced) and thoughtful parents have to say. Getting into a top school isn’t hard if you are capapable, but getting a lot out of college and life is much harder.