<p>It’s not impossible, if you are smart about it. At least I think I successfully managed to juggle all the things you mentioned above, while getting into a top 10 school in the US and also securing admission at an NIT in India (not IIT, though still pretty hard). I spent most of time in grade 11, working on US admission stuff (like SAT’s and basic app framework). Also I had safeties lines up pretty early like UIUC and Rice, to make things less stressful.</p>
<p>
This is very true. I’ve seen two extremes bragging too much, and not mentioning stuff at all. Usually balancing the two extremes is the safest way to go.</p>