I don't its not so much, these students are the elite of elite from around the world (academically). How hard can you make something before it starts to become contradictory to actual learning.
- The elite of the elite, intellectually
- The elite of the elite, socially
A bit over 40% of white kids admitted to Harvard are ALDC admits: legacy, donors, etc. Folks like George W Bush (Yale) look smart by association with the intellectual elite, while smart kids gain access to networks to money and power.
It's a good scheme for everyone involved.
(Note: I do have a lot of insider knowledge about Harvard, specifically, but I'm only citing public information)
Source: Anecdotal experience from the legacies I met during college. I don't have hard numbers to back me up, but you can look at the 25th percentile SAT scores and they aren't too low.
This describes Bush to a t. I left out the smart part, but I'm not convinced that W is some sort of idiot.
His Presidency took care of that for me
- an idiot from someone pretending to be an idiot (e.g. for likeability)
- someone smart from someone pretending to be smart, by virtue of a high-performance team behind them prepping them
It's showbiz.