Originally Posted by 22B
I'm trying to understand how and why "elite" colleges (not necessarily just Ivies) select students to admit using not just academics, but also "Extra-Curriculars" (ECs).
Visit College Confidential, where this is discussed non-stop smile.
A book I liked was

The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College (2003)
by Jacques Steinberg

which profiled the admissions process at Wesleyan.