<p>I wouldn’t focus so much on test scores and ECs - I’d ask child #2 what is he reading this summer, how is he growing his intellectual life. I think the real deal engaged scholar tends to surface on the applications and not so much the kids following a formula. Make sure he’s really, really reading and thinking. It will show in his applications and interviews and throughout his junior year at high school. Good luck, Dad II! I admire your tenacity and tend to think you exagerrated your own negatives in your narratives regarding your first one.</p>