<p>I'm doing an internship with the USGS over the summer for a full two months where I will be working either in a lab for 8+ hours per day or in the field all day (I live in CA and I will be in Nevada, Idaho, Utah area). Its a rigorous job with a huge workload and is unpaid. Its really a position for undergraduates, but I'm a junior in high school and qualified. Also, I might be able to get a publication in a science journal with my name co-authored. Is this along the lines of the stuff that everyone constantly classifies as "the thing that stands out on the application?" And just for some background, I have a 4.7 soph/junior GPA, (so far) a 2110 SAT, I am ranked 2nd in my class of 700, I play varsity tennis, I am captain of Academic Decathlon, and I tutor 10 hours per week completely supporting myself outside of basic needs. Is this combination of ECs and grades sound like a steady chance of Stanford or any other top school?</p>
<p>And feel free to really get nit-picky and criticize the stuff I have down to it’s core value. I would really appreciate some serious feedback because all I get is a load of bull from everyone.</p>