<p>just curiosity..
let's just say there's this person who lacks in ecs, but has a very good SAT score and took almost every AP courses & tests as possible..and got great grades on those of course! and volunteers at several places for many hours..
do you think she/he will get into one of the IVY league schools?</p>
<p>It depends on how much time they volunteer, but they probably won't get in. Every year, the ivies are flooded with thousands of applications from students with hard course loads, and high gpas, ap scores, and SAT scores. Most do volunteerwork. The only way to stand out is through extracurricular activities. Volunteering for 5000 hours (or some other high number) during one's high school career could get someone into an ivy league school.</p>