People are getting hung up on the word "random." It's not random in the literal sense but it is at least somewhat arbitrary unless you're below some academic cutoff or you're well above it and have some other at least relatively notable achievements.

Random doesn't mean unlikely to happen, so I actually think it is random in the literal sense for almost all applicants. Much of life is.

You can do things to tip the balance in your favor, but the most important things can come down to chance.