Correlation does not imply causation.
Meaning- Brown’s differential admission rates for Vals vs. everyone else DOES NOT MEAN that Brown prefers Vals, looks for Vals, only admits Vals, or cares about being Val. It likely means that among the pool of kids who apply to Brown (one filter) AND are strong candidates across multiple dimensions (another filter), it is more likely that they are at the top of their class/Val/Sal, etc. than hovering near the median, at the bottom, etc.
There are thousands upon thousands of HS’s in America which means thousands upon thousands of Vals who don’t get into Brown (AND/or don’t apply).
I am not an expert- but during my years of interviewing for Brown I cannot recall anyone on the admissions staff or in my regional rep group caring at all about someone who is/going to be Val. After the fact- once the rest of the story has been told- it is highly likely at any “low rate admissions college” that a high number of Val/Sals will be enrolled. Because kids who are in the middle of the pack academically don’t have the rest of the story.
Strong students apply to low odds admission rate colleges. It is fallacious to conclude that colleges look at the number 1 kid from a HS and ding everyone else… and fallacious to conclude that colleges would prefer to admit the Val over number 6 or 8 or 12.
I went to a HS which ranked. There were kids in the top 10 who went to U Mass Boston, and kids in the high 30’s and 40’s who went to Ivy League colleges. The Val went to a non- BS nursing program where she graduated with an RN and started working in an ER while the rest of us were still hanging out in front of the library throwing frisbees.