I've just come from a university setting, so take this with a grain of salt...I only have one data point (and maybe a bit of intuition from my own student experience).
Regardless of what the brochure may say, admissions people don't give a fluff about personal statements and letters of rec for some degrees (a lot of masters programs). It's largely a numbers game where a system generates a thumbs up and acceptance letter if GPA + GRE > random cutoff. Several people (3-5%?) are then put on the bubble, and depending on revenue goals / supply of classrooms / supply of instructors, their applications may be looked at by a panel. What do these panels look at? Basically the same things...GPA and GRE. There may be a closer look at the transcript to see that you got a merciful D- in differential equations.
2 years in, 2 years out, write us a few big checks and be on your way. Schools are absolutely targeting deluded sheep (some career paths monetarily reward people once they receive a master's degree [I'm looking at you, teachers and MBAs].) These programs are huge revenue generators.
PhD programs, on the other hand, are probably different:
By the way....just the opposite is true of PhD programs. Faculty are highly selective of candidates because there is a continuing relationship between teachers and students (I'm sure we can all name people who have been in PhD purgatory (10+ years in program with ABD)). The trick there is to select happy, productive weirdos (think more Scott Adams weird and less Amy Bishop / Ted Kaczynski weird) who aren't left-handed.
