I've done a lot of thinking about these issues, e.g., ROI Ivies vs state schools, etc. The context for my musings are my grandchildren, quite young now, but, as they say, tempus fugit. The oldest is only in 6th grade, but he is already conscious of what's ahead. He and his brother attend a very competitive, very expensive private school in Dallas. Matthew wants to go to Stanford (he and his family lived in Palo Alto before they moved to Dallas). His fall-back is Harvard. You laugh, but conversations about this stuff are already part of discussions at the family dinner table and among his friends at school.
When I was in 6th grade, my career goal was to be a major league ballplayer. My dad encouraged this. Later, when discipline issues seemed to be distracting me from academic success, Mom suggested that I go to Denver Country Day School. She arranged for an interview, and the headmaster assured her that they would straighten me out in no time. My father, who was unaware of Mom's initiative, was furious. "He's not going to school with those DCD fairies. If he doesn't straighten up, he can go into the goddamn Army..."
Anyway, as I thought about all this stuff, I was prompted to visit the websites of several Canadian universities. What led me there was a post on this board describing the 2019-20 tuition at ND. I was, and am, horrified. I wanted to see what the difference in tuition between major Canadian schools and ND was. In the course of visiting McGill's website, I chanced to visit the admission page. I thought McGill was relevant because any list of North America-based, high-quality institutions of higher learning would include McGill, no?
For graduates of US high schools, they want the transcripts for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. The transcripts must demonstrate an A- average or don't bother. They also want either ACT or SAT test results (the score minimums are specified--for the SAT the minimum is 1370, I think). Again, if your scores don't fall above the minimum, don't bother. No interviews, no letters of recommendation. Extracurriculars mean nothing. They don't care if you worked in a vet's office or a homeless shelter.
I like the McGill system. Merit. What a concept, no?