Hogwash. Okay, maybe for some programs, but certainly not as broadly as the quotes in that article indicate. I know someone involved in reviewing admissions for a top-5 math Ph.D. program (not my daughter’s), and she says they literally separate the applications into “H/Y/P/Chicago/Stanford/one or two others,” and “everyone else.” The fill as many spots as they can from Pile A and then turn to Pile B if space is available. If you look at the composition of their Ph.D. classes and, indeed, at every other one of the top 5’ish math programs in the U.S., except for the handful of international students, it’s not hard to believe. What IS hard to believe is that 95% of the best math talent in the U.S. chose the same 5 or 6 undergraduate math programs. I can obviously only speak to math, but there is very much a bias at the tippy-top programs. My kiddo got into one of them despite the bias, but she is one of very few.