Yes, I was.
Look the honest answer to your question is that once institutional priorities at ivy+ schools are met, there are very, very, very few spots left for regular strong students. And for some families, no cost is too much for getting a seat at the table. There is a thread about a certain $120K college coach where he describes his path to an ivy league school. A while back, I posted another link: Reddit - Dive into anything
My DD21 has a former elementary school buddy who now goes to an ivy league school. She started a finance club to empower women in HS and that club together started a microlending initiative in South Asia to help uneducated rural women. Having known this kid all my life (and her parents), I can tell you this did not happen in vacuum. Another colleague has a kid at an ivy adjacent school – full pay, 10+ APs, took a $4 or 5000 SAT prep class and got 1550+ and was “assisted” by a local faculty member for essay prep ($2000). I am not making any of this up.
The other posters here are absolutely correct. Your kid is awesome. Don’t worry so much about all of this. Most kids can become what they want to become by attending one of many excellent colleges that do not require these hurdles.