At the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, there are two ways to get admitted.  You can be a qualified student or, if you have the right connections, you can get in even though you are not well qualified. The linked article raises a good point.  Private colleges can admit or deny admission to anyone, subject to civil rights laws.  But what is a public university doing with a shadow admission list?  And in how many other public colleges is this sort of thing going on?