<p>Hi OP,
I think some of us are responding to a tone of sadness in posts #4 and #7 about the burden of EC’s and grades. This set off a little alarm bell in me that you may be spread too thin. Mocha, and the kids I know well who got in to Y this year, and several other peer schools, did not become automatons driven toward college acceptance. They studied hard when they needed to, devoted themselves to a couple of lifelong passions (actual activity not important, commitment very important) and still had many nights of Gossip Girls, salsa dancing, etc.</p>