<p>I think I can answer some of your questions.</p>
<p>In terms of APs and extracirriculars, the admissions officers will get info about your school from your guidance counselors. They will know about the limited opportunities availalbe to you. This means they won't hold it against you if you only took an AP class or two if your school didn't offer many. My school only offered handful as well, so I only took two AP classes (and self "studied"...ha...for two others), and I got in. Same deal goes for extracirriculars. If you try to start any type of activity in your school, that's a great way to demonstrate your passion. A great high school science/technology activity is FIRST Robotics Competition. Haha. But starting your own team is HARD. </p>
<p>As for public vs. private, MIT doesn't give more weight to either. Plus there's no reason they'd need to know that you didn't attend a private school you applied to for any reason.</p>
<p>I'll leave the summer activities question for someone else, I always did summer activities in sports or polisci. =)</p>