I grew up in one of those small hometowns that sends a lot of people to the close by Ivy League school.

It was an open secret that getting a learning disabilities diagnosis is a great SAT booster. Also makes you eligible for more time on regular school exams and you can use it to later get more on the LSATs (not sure about other grad level exams, but I am sure it’s similar)

You missed the 3rd option which is that (most) of the disabilities are real but the accommodations we have massively overcorrect and opens up new strategies that weren't possible when you're given intentionally less time than you need. So you get students who come from an environment outside the "normal" gifted path of private college prep schools who come out of nowhere and score amazingly well. That combo sounds like catnip to an admissions office.

I scored really well on my tests, a fact I credit mostly to my adhd (I did not have accommodations, brain goes burr under time crunch), so I have every incentive defend the current system but looking back I genuinely don't understand what we're actually testing for. Perform! Under pressure! In a completely different environment than you're used to, while proctors watch you like a hawk. Your whole future rides on this! is not how I would describe a wholistic assessment.

> In a completely different environment than you're used to, while proctors watch you like a hawk. Your whole future rides on this! is not how I would describe a wholistic assessment.

I would wager that a large portion of Harvard admitted students did not in fact have this as an unfamiliar environment for the first time, but had like a whole year of test prep and simulated tests and took the tests multiple times if they weren't going to get in with their initial result, which could be a money barrier for others.