@HYPSPlease: Yes that sounds about right. If a student is ranked in the top 1% to 2% of their graduating class AND has top test scores, their application will bubble to the top no matter what round they apply in (SCEA or RD). However, it’s decidedly tougher for students applying to HYPS in the SCEA round who are ranked in the top 3% to 10% of their graduating class with good, but not over the top, test scores. Those students’ applications tend to be over shadowed by the ‘Polly Perfects’ of this world when they apply in the SCEA round. And, those students are more likely to get deferred to the RD round, so Admissions can compare them with a broader applicant pool.
@collegedad13: Both my kids attended a high school that is a TRUE meritocracy – Stuyvesant High School. About 30,000 New York City 8th graders sit for an SAT-like test and the top scorers get to choose which specialized school they want to attend. No other criteria is used for admission. Most of those top scorers (900 of them or so) choose Stuyvesant. Today Stuyvesant is 73% Asian. IMHO, that is what would happen if all US colleges were not allowed to consider race in college applications. The percentages of Asians admitted would sky rocket, just like they did at California State Colleges when Admissions was not allowed to consider race in the applications process. The same percentage rise cannot be said for white students, so while whites may be discriminated against in the Admissions process, Asians are more discriminated against.