I think it is very unlikely that the average underpaid, young inexperienced Admissions counselor at most University undergraduate admissions offices is able to identify potential any better than an objective test could. They don’t have any magic crystal ball here. Often they just fall victims to their unconscious biases in identifying what they consider potential.
Besides going down the slippery slope of potential will get us to all kinds of strange places. Potential is all in the eyes of the beholder. It is a highly subjective criteria and any kid can be termed as “having potential” by any adcom. In today’s admissions universe, I contend it is just a “hollow platitude with absolutely no meaning”
We are better off waiting for the potential to mature into performance before rewarding it prematurely IMHO.