"As the number of applicants has soared in recent years, premier schools admit as few as 1 in 10 students, a far more selective rate compared with a generation ago. To make room for an academically borderline development case, a top college typically rejects nineother applicants, many of whom might have greater intellectual potential."
That's not how it works, though. The development case is getting in so the school can pay the piper. If you don't admit those kids, then you don't have a kickass school that everyone wants to go to. Think of it as a reality tax.
http://www.projo.com/education/content/projo_20060917_brown9...