Yes, the EC arms race is among those who aim for highly selective colleges. However, their number is large since so many students and their parents are led to believe they have a chance due to the obscurity and ambiguity of the admission process. Consequently they account for most of the EC activities as those who choose colleges that admit based on mostly stats don’t have nearly as many EC activities (at least the fancier ones).
The EC arms race, like a real arms race, is also expensive. It’s one of the most unequal elements in college admissions.