<p>Major mistakes:
-Not applying to an Early Action or rolling school, like UMichigan...I had a good shot and I could have saved myself this agonizing wait by knowing I had a fallback college.
-Not taking SATs more seriously...I never really did more than a few practice exams, thinking I would just get better if I kept taking the test. Wrong.
-Doing apps too close too the deadline (didn't have as much time as I would have liked to proofread essays)
-Not interviewing/visiting some schools because they were too far away
-Not being a recruited athlete/not starting sports earlier
-Not having enough faith in my greatest talent (writing)-I should have started submitting to contests and literary magazines earlier in hs</p>
<p>Minor mistakes:
I agree with OP on some of these:
"Sending in my apps a day before the deadline (not really a mistake, but it's still ghetto)." hahaha
"Sending in midyear reports to schools who don't ask for them."</p>