Chance Me: (I'll chance you back!) - Ivys and UCs

As others have said, your metrics definitely place you in striking distance of all schools mentioned. It is good that you are grounded enough to realize that grades and test scores don’t an admittance make. Your extracurricular activities are very strong. I am going to dissent from most posters so far; debate is not the strong point of your EC record. Make no mistake, the performance is good, but not so good as to be exceptional for the schools at the top of your list (I go to a low-end Ivy peer school, and those who made debate the focus of their application had 1st place speaker awards and semi-finalist accomplishments to their name). Speaking absurdly fast while trying to cover a 2hr philosophical argument in a nine minute speech may be a feat in itself, but it is well known that the arguments made are shallow shells of legitimate arguments, and that most debaters are functionally clueless about said theory when separated from their cards (I come from a debate background as well, but it was not the focus of my app).

The strong point of your EC’s is the clubs you have founded. This means that you found a need in your school that wasn’t being filled, and solved a real (albeit small) problem. Not only that, but the action you took to solve the problem was actually implemented, and if you have gone on field trips then it means someone has funded your idea (presumably the school). This makes it much easier for a school to get behind the idea of funding your education :). This initiative is highly lacking among most students, high achieving or otherwise. They also show a unique frame of mind that presents you in a positive light. Unlike debate, sports, math team, robotics, etc. No coach told you what to do or how to improve; the effort was entirely self-motivated and self-implemented.

Your metrics (although as you pointed out many are still pending), are strong enough to land you in an Ivy League school, provided you continue the good work and make a good case in your essays (arguably the most important part of your education). Make sure you know teachers well enough to get personalized recommendations, which are critical. As for self-studied AP’s go ahead: as long as you can get a 4 or 5 on all self-studied AP exams, you are only further showing your ability to motivate yourself to excel successfully. If your record was 20 5’s and a 2310 SAT but nothing else, people would be right to fear the impression that would leave. Your EC’s however, leave nothing to be desired. The key is elucidating your strengths in this area in essays. Strengthening your already impressive academic record is icing on the proverbial cake.

If you were to apply today, assuming comparable scores and accomplishments in other areas:

Columbia: Low-Mid Reach
Harvard: Mid-Reach
Yale: Mid-Reach
Princeton: Mid-Reach
Cornell: Low-Reach
Brown: Low-Mid Reach
UPenn: Low-Mid Reach
UC Berkeley: Match
USC: Safety
UCLA: Low-Match

Point of comparison, I was waitlisted from Harvard and Upenn, accepted to Dartmouth, and rejected at Princeton (these are the four Ivies I applied to). I had slightly higher academics, parity of SAT score, and marginally inferior extracurriculars. While there is high variance in the admissions process, this should give you an idea of where you stand; you are far from guaranteed admittance, but you are coming from a strong position.