I don't think it is as broken as many of you seem to think, at least I don't think it is stacked against the HG kid and/or the introverted gifted kid. My introvert got into U of Chicago, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, and some other schools with a lot of merit aid. Her Davidson THINK friends are at places like Stanford and MIT (and I met them, they are not social butterflies).