Gotcha. I’m sure you can understand my confusion, given that one member with 20k posts is saying one thing and another with 30k is saying the exact opposite.
I completely understand why you are evaluating me as such, but I am not a typical forum-er/applicant. For starters, I don’t care too much about where I end up (I’m really focused on finding fit, education prestige isn’t a big concern). Apart from that, I don’t have the conventional ECs (as you brought up, with context from my other posts). I’m going to hope that my character traits shown from my unique ECs are enough to make one adcom at a school like USC/Northeastern say “this guy is a great addition to our college.” If not, no big deal!
I’ve heard of three cases of some pretty awesome schools accepting people who have unconventional ECs but demonstrate other character qualities. That isn’t to say that I am confident with my chance at admission to top schools, but it does give me hope that it’s possible.
I think that comparing me to a typical, award-winning, club-founding, trombone-learning, acting-after-school applicant is pretty much impossible. My ECs are literally cleaning up a cottage with my family everytime we leave (ever week or so), helping with groceries and unloading for my extended family, doing chores around the house (a lot to go around with a shared cottage), putting in the docks for our neighbors in 50-degree water, cleaning out the boats, teaching people how to surf, tarping boats every rainstorm, and just simply living in a
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that adcoms will look at me in the context of my environment and decide if they want me on campus. Comparing the value between putting in and taking out four docks and boat lifts in freezing water every year to a math-contest winner is something that I think only a college can do. At that point, I have to hope that I find a fit and demonstrate myself in a good context.
A “critical issue with my ECs” is subjective, right? Considering that there aren’t enough applicants like me to base that assessment on, and most college sites mention that “students will be evaluated in the context of their environment.”
I have nothing to lose when I apply to these schools. I have the money to apply, I have the time, I have safeties in Canada, and I have low expectations.
Understood! Thanks. I didn’t really want to get chanced, but I must have put this in the wrong forum (or it was moved, idk). I simply wanted to understand how 75th percentile stats affect admissions 
Thanks all