<p>If this helps anyone, I will give my opinions on the matter:</p>
<p>to the extent that I can glean, schools want to make themselves look good. They will accept students who make them look good. They can do this in the following ways:</p>
<ol>
<li>be prestegious: accept students with top scores. Accept students who are acceptional in their given field. (This is really a given)</li>
<li>be exciting: accept students who are fantastic in sports. This is something people get excited about (and give money, leading to...)</li>
<li>be rich: accept and produce students who they will beleive will be both successful and contribute to their alma mater (can anyone say legacy?)</li>
<li>be diverse: numerous studies (and common sense) show that schools which emulate a microcosm of the US receive more applications (and are therefore more competative). Think about it: the infamous "ratio" of tech schools, the increasing difficulty of admissions for girls at LACs, and URMs feeling slighted at white-washed schools...</li>
</ol>