Much of the obsequiousness is spot on.
But, there is a pragmatic reason why some celebrities and high net worth families' kids are admitted - because they can help the school down the road. The majority of the schools' money comes from a very small percentage of alumni and parents. If the rest of the admissions process is fair, then it helps the rest of the student body, many of whom receive partial or full financial assistance.
The social side of this is that the kids of the current elites get exposed to real intellectuals who got in fairly. That has a levelling effect.
Unless a school has > 10% National Merit winners in its graduating class, then it does not have a high component of GT kids, so it cannot be admitting them preferentially. Just a thought.
