All those saying that it is not luck-based are just encouraging this soft-criteria bullshit, pardon my French.
It IS luck-based within a particular tier of applicants (think 2200 SAT, top 10 of class, some volunteering, etc).
Looking at applicants as “people” is just an excuse for why they have to turn certain applicants down for no reason that can be measured with hard metrics.
Not getting in is absolutely no reflection of your ability or potential as a person, no matter how much admissions will claim to try to read those things through your application.