<p>A recent thread on the topic of high school competition can be found [here[/url</a>] -- should be helpful, I think.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, two of us applied my year and we both got in (the only two people to ever be admitted to MIT from my high school). He was (and still is! he just finished his bachelors' in three years and is doing his masters' here this year!) brilliant -- a year accelerated beyond the normal accelerated math track, had taken several upper-level math classes at the local community college, took all or almost all the APs the school offered, National Merit, varsity quiz team all four years, varsity tennis, violin, great interview... in stark contrast, I was [url=<a href="http://mollie.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/07/how_to_do_every.html%5Da">http://mollie.mitblogs.com/archives/2005/07/how_to_do_every.html]a</a> disaster](<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=96052%5Dhere%5B/url">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=96052).</p>
<p>And we both got in! Yay. There is hope.</p>