Best advice I (MIT acceptee) can give
I got into MIT EA. Woo hoo!! Wanna know my secret? The end-all be-all tip that will guarantee your success on any college app ever? Here it is:
STOP and START
STOP playing the college game. Really, people! You can't spend your high school years curled up with an SAT prep book and a private tutor hunched over your shoulder just trying to eek out a few more points. Furthermore, you can't spend every waking hour studying for classes that you aren't interested in and you took just because they would "look good." Finally, and believe me, this is the killer, if someone asks you why you do an extra-curricular and your answer includes "it looks good for college" QUIT IT. Colleges see right through that. Oh, and definitely stop worrying about, obsessing over, and focusing on the absolute DRIVEL that is College Confidential. You will not be accepted to college based on anyone else's test scores. It is on you.
START something. Anything. Find something (or two, or three, or seven things) your really love and do them because you love them. If you love the harmonica, play it. But don't stop there. Form a club or a band or take lessons or write a book about it. Chase down your passions and make your life your own. High school is one the only times you will ever have where you can, say, start an Improv Comedy troupe in a week and build it into a lasting legacy or become the Drum Major of the marching band on a whim only to discover that waving your arms is a thrill. In school: take the hardest classes you can in the areas that interest you. School is about learning, not college, and you will not learn unless you want to. As simple as that sounds, I have seen people get destroyed by AP classes and PSEO that they took because it would "look good." Don't do it. Finally, get off the computer right now and go outside. Even if it is dark or cold or wet. Just go out and sit for a little while. Breath the air, look around and be happy. When there is so much beauty out there, getting into "HYPSM" doesn't seem so important, does it?
-Jack W.
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Best advice I (MIT acceptee) can give