The college isn’t there for you. You are there for the college. They really don’t need to expand for the next 25 kids.
I’ve said this over and over on CC. Colleges do what is right for them to be successful and as long as they dominate there is not going to be added transparency or change in the process. 2,000 slots in the class of 2022 for one top 5 university and they had over 30,000 applicants. The Dean of Admissions said publicly that they could eliminate their first class, admit the second and eliminate it, and then admit the third class and as a population they would have just as impressive a class. As long as that is the case, they will do what is best for them. And you know what, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you don’t like it, start your own uber selective university and set your own rules. That is what markets drive us to do. If you think it would be better to admit only on academic merit, you are free to do so. As long as you don’t break any civil rights laws, etc. you can set your own criteria.
The US institution of higher education doesn’t exist to educate great academic stat kids! They exist to become a institution to increase the body of knowledge and influence society. They use the students as more of a raw material to accomplish that goal. If I were a supplier of raw material, I’d find out what the customer (the University) wants and I would try to sell them on how my raw material helps them meet/exceed their goals. In my OP (and subsequent clarifying posts), that is what I tried to do.
Universities want raw materials that help them make a better product. You are the supplier and they are the customer. And in most cases your are paying your customer to take the raw material.