@storrijos, to learn more about what it takes to get into the elite schools, read this website: the threads on the International Students subforum, the Ivy Leagues/Stanford subforums and Parents forums. There is a wealth of information available here.
One thing you should keep in mind is what HRSMom just wrote. When it comes to the elite schools “you just never know what they are looking for.”
And there is a reason for that – because these schools are trying to “build a class.” For Europeans, that’s a very unusual approach. Each incoming class of freshmen at the elite private schools must contain a certain number of athletes, musicians, artists, wealthy people’s children, etc. By the time you fill all these slots, very few remain open. So for example, you might have perfect SATs and great grades, but if the university orchestra needs a French horn player, you won’t get in, but your friend with lower SATs and grades might just because he also happens to play the French horn.
That’s why foreign students who need a lot of financial aid are always advised to apply to a wide variety of schools, in a wide geographical area. That’s how you better your odds. It’s simply not realistic to limit yourself to Northern California or only to Stanford, Harvard, Yale or Berkeley.