Yes, that old-fashioned mean, nasty, discriminatory stuff.
Almost everyone who gets in are at the top in all of those categories.
Not true. Most URMs*** who are admitted to elite schools are not "at the top in all of those categories." URMs constitute a significant proportion of the admittees to elite schools. (True, many do not stay all four years; but, they are admitted.)
Elite schools grant URMs large scholarships, but such grants are not based on merit -- at least, not merit that is based on the criteria you listed, as compared to non-URM admittees.
***URM = "underrepresented minority" in college admissions lingo
I attended a top tier private school, my family's financial background at the time was lower middle class. About 75% of my tuition was covered by outright need based scholarship grant from the school.