^Murphy Brown, I don’t see it that way. Firstly, these hypothetical rejection notices would probably not be sent to kids like your example student, because that student has good enough grades and test scores to merit further consideration. I reckon @T26E4 is thinking of the 25% of applicants who don’t have a snowball’s chance.
Secondly, if your scenario is the more accurate one, again, I don’t feel sorry for that kid at all. If that kid had good sense, they will have applied to other suitable colleges. Why would he change his already submitted apps if he got a pre-reject notice? I also don’t believe kids who didn’t get a prereject would have false hope. Surely every kid who actually scores an interview for the tippy tops has false hope anyway. Call me heartless, but I say, let 'em suffer. Yank that bandaid off nice and early. Then the healing starts sooner, too.