From what I have seen, the best way to get offered a Regents is a lot of leadership - BUT leadership, academics, and personal statements that all point to the same future goal. In other words, you plan law school, everything in the application more or less points to it: your essays, the clubs you joined, your internships, your volunteer stuff. You want to help the environment after you graduate or after graduate school? Everything points to that. Lots of leadership and a high GPA (not necessarily a 4.0), plus a strong thematic focus. No strong thematic focus = no Regents (from what I have seen, anecdotally).