那时候录取也没有全是 merit based, 有大量的 legacy, and a lot of old money kids.
Have you read JFK's Harvard Application essay?
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/jfks-very-revealing-harvard-application-essay/281699/
The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a "Harvard man" is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.
April 23, 1935
John F. Kennedy
