<p>You’re ignoring the alleged correlation between wealth and “stats”. I will grant the overgeneralization that high-income applicants have better SATs and GPAs and than low-income. However, there there is a big difference between income that is high enough to not need a job during HS while getting an SAT tutor instead and income that is high enough to pay full ride for NU. There are PLENTY of people at NU who are on financial aid who live quite comfortable and had more than enough resources to do well on the SATs and keep their GPAs up.</p>
<p>Here’s another problem - NU admission is need-blind. Ignoring that your proposal makes NU anything but need-blind, we can’t know who is rich enough to pay full-ride. You can see that someone is from a nice suburb and doesn’t like a part-time job as an EC, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have financial need. The applicant could have 3 siblings or his parents just lost their jobs. Even if you could sort things out this way and let in all the ED kids from “recognizable” high schools, you are not going to get the financial aid distribution that you want. It pains to me say this, but your outcome will result in you being disappointed that the kids you accepted are poorer than you wanted them to be. Whether or not that is your intention, that’s what happens. I’d put on some cleats, because you are on one slippery slope.</p>