Not entirely. As TD alludes to throughout this discussion, admission to Harvard et al. is at least a partial ticket to a number of high profile jobs. People who attend develop a lifetime of important contacts that open an extraordinary number of doors. If you attend an elite school, many of your classmates WILL BE pillars of industry, academia, law, government, etc. It's an invaluable experience, and no amount of scholarship money offsets the advantages that kids enjoy who have a lifetime of access to the best schools that are designed from the ground up to prepare students for admission to Harvard etc.
Obviously, Harvard can do what it wants, but I have no problem and would support them giving some preferences to kids from public schools, over kids from a $30,000/year elite private school. If the records are remotely comparable, it's safe to say the kid from public school likely 'achieved' more in HS given the disadvantage in their access to schools, test preps, etc. Put another way, if the admissions are purely a score and record driven merit based process, a wealthy kid is born approaching second and on his way to third, and a poor kid is at the plate with an 0-2 count. I don't think anyone has to pretend that they each have the same opportunities, and I have no problem with schools recognizing that by giving some preferences to those with the disadvantaged background.