The Dean offers advice to a parent who’s confused by the admissions process. https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/what-do-colleges-want
Looks like the answer is specific to more selective and usually private colleges, rather than moderately selective (especially public) colleges that may be more transparent about admission criteria, or which publish automatic admission or scholarship criteria.
Agreed with @ucbalumnus —this isn’t an answer to “What are colleges looking for?”, it’s an answer to “What are the selective colleges that educate a smaller slice of the American population than people on CC seem to think looking for?”