> The undergrad academics at T10 universities really aren't anything special. People want to go because of the connections with wealthy & well-connected students, but then complain when wealthy well-connected students get a easier ride.

Indeed. And the irony is that even when poorer students do attend, they find that the expensive habits of the richer students exclude them from mingling with them in many cases.

(Fun fact: one reason for uniforms in Catholic schools was to eliminate wealth from the picture.)

Which was always absurd as there's no less vestimentary affluence signaling in uniform high schools than in any other.

The signs may be more subtle and sublimized to a careless outsider, but in the schools those signals are obvious and stand out just as blatent as anywhere else.