It is if you are a child/grand child of hard working/ upper middle class ORMs. These schools hold that against you, they prefer children of bums over average Joes. Though neither of you pick your parents, yet there is a penalty for having above average parents.
It’s not if you are a child/grandchild of a billionaire, celebrity or dignitary, or if you are a child/grand child of an underprivileged URM. Colleges love top 1% and bottom 1%.
It’s not if you go to a rural or inner city or wealthy prep school. It is if you attend a highly competitive affluent suburban high school.
It’s not if you had opportunities to proof yourself, it is if your GC was swamped with 1000 students and didn’t know your name.
Most of the good summer programs are either for poor URM or cost a fortune. Merit ones are few and just another lottery.
However, some lucky and some exceptional people make it every year without any hook or help. Most applicants apply to pay application fee to help these schools raise their acceptance rates.