How are students compared in admission process

Brantly:

I happen to know that this school does not generally offer merit scholarships, although they do have a few…doubt she’ll get one of them, but other schools do offer merit and I thought it was best to see all her options rather than getting locked in at full price. However, it made me nervous to think that her dream school was going to be out of reach before they even read her application (because we didn’t apply ED).