It's an incredibly privileged Pov to say it isn't a contest. These kids entire futures are impacted by these scores.

Well, not once the scores become meaningless because everyone assumes they cheated.

Ivy League kids tend to not be facing some extreme economic precarity. In fact a decent number of them likely have enough family wealth to not need to work a day in their lives. The others are unlikely to face too much trouble over a few Bs at Brown.