<p>A few obvious messages -</p>
<p>1) your SAT/SAT 2 scores are ‘good enough’ to get noticed (of course)
2) your activity list is probably fine, but it is hard to stick out in this era of near ridiculous High School resume/activity - and this is very subjective. Would help if there were varsity athletics (especially at private schools where it is often easier to find a fit), and would help if a few more ‘objective’ successes in activities (paper chosen for award, won award at state level in something, 1 rated performance in solo instrument or choir etc.) - but probably fine.
3) What are your IB scores? Harvard and some of the elites weigh IB or AP scores in the admission decisions (and expect 5s and 4s on AP). Also - how hard is your schedule compared to your peers? I realize that at most schools IB is the most challenging track - but would your school confirm that you are taking “the hardest course load that is reasonably possible at your particular school?”
4) diversity probably works against you unless you are from an unusual country - but almost all of the data you could want on this is at NCES web site - and you can see which universities are more favorable to public vs private school students, which admit higher percentages of asians and infer a lot by comparison with their peer institutions.</p>
<p>Remember admissions decisions at elite Universities are VERY subjective.</p>
<p>Remember to run the cost estimators for your income situation - some schools (e.g. Princeton) seem to do the financial equivalent of “affirmative action for the upper middle class” (otherwise they would only get the poor and the rich since their applicant pool would take academic full rides elsewhere) while other elites give surprisingly mediocre aid to that income range. It varies far more than you would expect (and then there is national merit aid - NM finalists should clearly look at their annual report to see which Universities ‘bribe’ national merit finalists successfully to enroll - there is a list by college of where NM scholars go, and which got university sponsored awards and how many)</p>
<p>Remember finding a fit is more important than picking a school from US News rankings (although with your high test scores you are going to have a narrower list of good academic fits) - have you been able to sit in class(es) at Georgetown or Johns Hopkins or UVa to see what you like (presumably those are near enough to visit)? When I was applying I ruled those out quickly (even though they are great schools) because I didn’t like the campus atmosphere as much as at others.</p>
<p>Remember to have fun in this process- if possible be PASSIONATE in your essay about what you love to study/do/investigate - and that may entail telling them what major(s) you might be interested in. But it is more important to be authentic and interesting in your essays, than to try to craft a safe ‘correct’ essay.</p>