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<p>--Make clear that the SAT has truly limited value. </p>
<p>--Likewise there is no real meaning to a near perfect GPA, make clear this is not expected or particularly important. </p>
<p>--Make clear that doing massive amounts of extracurricular activities will not improve admission chances. </p>
<p>--Make clear that taking massive amounts of AP exams is not needed.
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<p>Byerly has the truth of the matter on these points. I attended the most recent Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, and Penn joint meeting in my town, and I stayed after the joint presentations to listen to the Harvard admission officer answer individual questions. She covered every point mentioned by the OP. In particular, to a specific question about how many AP courses a high school student should take, she responded by asking, "How much sleep do you get at night?" The Harvard admission officers are making as clear as they can that leading a balanced life is more important for a high school student than leading a programmed, packaged life, but I'm not sure everyone is listening. </p>
<p>The recent Harvard admittees I know best dared to be themselves while they were in their high school years. They pursued the subjects that interested them, were amazingly risk-taking about blowing off subjects that didn't interest them, but were curious and active day by day as a matter of habitual character. They didn't all have perfect SAT scores, nor did they all have faultless grade averages, but they all had track records of major accomplishments in some area of personal interest. That kind of genuineness beats "packaging," as a general rule, and it is something I would like to see all four of my children develop even if none of them ever apply to Harvard.</p>