<p>But social factors are considered for non-URM candidates -- the admissions committee considers a student's high school background (did he/she go to a tiny school in the sticks? to a well-respected private? to a big public in the 'burbs?), family background, and socioeconomic background (did he/she have to work all through high school to help out the family?).</p>
<p>As an example, an applicant from Montana isn't expected to have the same EC/award profile that an applicant from an East Coast prep school would have. That's taking social factors into consideration without even mentioning race.</p>
<p>EDIT: And Ben, I don't see how MIT saying "We like diversity" is any different from them saying "We like high test scores," nor does it imply any less individual attention to applications -- students with high test scores who don't bring anything else to the table are still booted, and students with lower scores who have a strong overall profile are admitted.</p>