...tips from someone who's seen the applications
Top 10 ways to get into the private college of your choice (1 = most important, etc.))
10. If nothing else on the list, get near-perfect scores on your SATs
09. Apply to colleges where your familiy members have attended (preferably also colleges where they've not been kicked out, as I learned)
08. Be a valedictorian
07. Be international. Or just have an international address where you can mail your application from. Or be born in a different country, even if they didn't grant you citizenship. Or speak another language.
06. Have a famous parent
05. Have a rich parent. Notable parent occupations: Lawyer, doctor (non-family practice or OB/GYN), dentist, actor, judge, artist (must be famous), or CEO
04. Live in parents' house that is worth >$750K (yes, the admissions/development people do check that)
03. Belong to a minority
02. Write a smashing essay for admission that makes it through the plagiarism checks
01. Be a non-white, non-U.S., non-poor, non-ugly, non-stupid, non-nondescript student applying to a college where your parents attended and to which they donate on a regular basis.
Accuse me of generalizations all you wish. I just went through a pile of admissions applications and, complete with pink pen circles, these are the criteria that stood out on the applications they accepted. For a fact, I saw low SAT scores paired with anything 1-9 on that list (rich parent, nice house, donor, alumni, int'l, minority, you name it) and you still had a chance.
Sick.