<p>1)Test score, grades, hard classes, good recommendations, good essays, and decent performance in math competitions (local competitions, AMC, AIME)</p>
<p>2) Applied Physics. I’d originally planned on doing physics, but when I saw applied physics (with all its lasers, microfluidics, statistical mechanics, etc.) I decided it seemed more interesting than regular physics, which is more heavily theoretical.</p>
<p>3) No matter where you end up going, try to do research! It’s a lot of fun and teaches you in ways that a classroom never could. </p>
<p>Junior, happy (not bitter) despite the fact that every week I take 2 all-nighters in a row. While I will complain about my plight, the reason I take those all-nighters is because I am really interested in the classes with homework corresponding to those all-nighters (beside my poor time management habits from not needing to do any work ahead of time in high school). No one is forcing me to do it.</p>