"This is an an applicant that has very strong teacher recs, highest course rigor offered, leadership roles, research grant, some national awards, and the student took extra classes in addition to what was required each term. For such a student, is ivy/ivy equivalent realistic? "
What you’re describing sounds very similar to my son’s stats. He didn’t have any research grants, but did do extensive research and projects on his own outside school. He’s headed to UChicago next year. He was accepted in their ED round and I suspect for an applicant with comparatively low grades in an otherwise strong application, the extra boost in an ED or SCEA round makes a difference.
If you’re full pay or close to it, also consider the UK unis. They do not give aid to foreign students, but compared to US schools, they’re a bargain. And a bachelor’s degree only takes three years. UChicago full price is approx $300k for a bachelor’s vs. approx $175K for a bachelor’s from London School of Economics or Imperial (both are Ivy level and both admitted my son as well.) UK schools don’t really care much about your grades or ECs, they’re more interested in your national standardized test scores like SAT and AP.