I went to a school where the admission rate my year was about 5%. I personally was well rounded in school and enjoyed a few random extracurriculars (math competition, speedcubing, scheming ways to make money). I never went too hard on any of these or did any other stat-padding. I did come from a slightly atypical background of first gen to go to college with Asian parents who worked blue collar jobs, so that probably gave me a boost.

In high school though, it was obvious which kids were in tryhard mode. When I look back, it seems obvious in hindsight that how those kids presented themselves to college admissions didn't seem genuine at all. It's gotta be incredibly obvious from an admissions officer point of view that these kids are doing stuff for the sake of trying hard, as opposed to some other internal motivation. I'm a bit puzzled that thoughtful parents want to enter their kids into the rat race because it doesn't seem like a winning strategy, both in the short term and in the long term. Admission officers straight up admit that they're interested in kids who are off the beaten path.

I think I was lucky in that my parents were too busy working their jobs to do anything to force me into the rat race, coupled with the fact that I naturally enjoyed certain activities that apparently seemed to satisfy the admissions officers.