How difficult is it to get into prestigious programs??

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

<p>I'm a sophomore (15 years old, will be 16 by January), and am pondering whether or not I should apply to the prestigious sscience research programs (SSRP, Rockefeller, maybe even RSI). I have years of previous research experience and have achieved top awards several times but all these programs "strongly encourage" SAT/ACT, PSAT, 3 SAT2 scores, which I have not even thought of taking yet. So would it be worth applying to these programs, and would I have even have a slight (even if its, 0.0000001%) possibility of getting in if I applied??? I know these programs are super competitive, but I would like to at least give it a shot if there's even a slight possibility of getting in. Here's some of my achievements:</p>

<p>1) Siemens Competition Semi-Finalist (Molecular Biology, 10th grade, 2014)
2) Siemens Competition Semi-Finalist (Molecular Biology, 9th grade, 2013)
3) LISEF (long island science engineering fair) and NYSSEF (new york science engineering fair) participant (9th grade)
4) Worked with multiple (~5) Ph.D professors who mentored me over the course of the last 3 years in 3 different college/local laboratories
5) Trying to submit 2 or maybe even 3 different papers for publication (will be submitted in next few weeks)
These are some "fillers" that "everyone" has:
6) Won/placed in a ton of local science/math competitions from mathletes, korean math competitions, science congress, Research association fair, etc, etc
7) ~320 hours volunteer at hospital
8) ~100 hours doctor shadowing
9) president/board in some school clubs<br>
10) some local awards in music (piano) </p>

<p>Any suggestion/advices to apply/not apply or chances for any of the prestigious summer programs are welcomed!!</p>

2

<p>RSI, from what I hear, is only for juniors.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you seem like a good candidate for research. I interned at the NIH over the summer and will tell you that if you don’t really want to do research or enjoy research, the weeks and hours of work is not worth tacking it onto a resume. However if you are passionate about science, which you seem to be, the I would highly advise you to pursue these internships.</p>