<p>Lets assume there are two students, A and B. </p>
<p>A goes to Harvard, obtains a good GPA of 3.3, scores decently on the GRE, and has some field experience. </p>
<p>Student B goes to a public university, has a great 4.0 gpa, scores extremely well on the GRE, and has extensive in-field experience. </p>
<p>Who do you think the grad school is going to admit? Its B every time. The reason that a lot of grad students come from HYPSM is that these schools attract and motivate students that are already extremely gifted and ambitious and are willing to put the effort in to be like student B.</p>