With all due respect, @Scipio, the decathlon analogy doesn’t consider the differing diversity goals that schools have. If schools only looked at equal “scores”, that would feed the “get the top GPA/standardized test scores” frenzy. But fortunately as you know, as schools build classes, they look to fill other needs that applicants do not all possess equally. They may want/need an oboe player, or a person from South Dakota or someone for a collegiate math competition. So while these applicants will also be “otherwise qualified” (as many applicants who are denied admission are), the may get the not because they have a desired attribute that other “competitors” don’t have.