<p>Something that I think might be relevant-- I remember going to an info session for Harvard and hearing them saying “someone has to be be in the bottom 10%.” These schools could fill themselves up many times over with valedictorians, but having an entire student body like that would lead to a lack of diversity. I think some of those times when you see “random” kids getting in without hooks or ECs is simply because schools knew exactly how they would fit into the scheme, even if it does end up being the bottom 10%. That being said, the bottom 10% is probably comprised of mostly kids who were in the top 10% of their high school classes.</p>