<p>@Hunt, I see kids of various elites get into elite schools in part because of their parents’ eliteness. Example: Harvard’s Z-List. (<a href=“The Harvard Crimson”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/4/3/the-legend-of-the-z-list/</a>). Princeton luminaries kid gets in even though perfectly fine but not sensational. That means other kids are going to Penn or Tufts or Haverford or Michigan or Berkeley who might gone to Harvard or Princeton but for the admits of scions of the elite list. One such elite kid’s best school was Tufts and the other was also non-Ivy. They displace other kids. </p>
<p>For more normal alums, you know how to coach your kids to look good to elites and they get some admissions advantage. Nobody needs to give you the secret handshake for your kids to have an advantage relative to other kids who are comparable intellectually but don’t have elite parents.</p>