Its not a farce, its unfair. Deliberately so, IMHO.
Most colleges are not need-blind. But instead of nakedly favoring the full-pay kids you can indirectly screen for them with tricks like the GC letter. Those with a strong letter come from pricy privates or live in upscale neighborhoods where the taxes support a top-ranked district. Everyone feels better, well, except for the kids applying from less privileged backgrounds. The adcoms made decisions that were “fair”. The FA office is happy because they’re not straining their budget.