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I wouldn't consider myself an authority by any means, but I got into an Ivy League university even though I'm not a straight A student or a superhuman who's internationally ranked in mathematics.Academics.You don't need straight A's, but you do need to show effort. If you get a B- in freshman year French, aim for a B+ in sophomore year. Take AP classes that you're interested in - if you take AP Biology but you hated Honors Bio, you probably won't do spectacularly.Do all of your homework. Even if it's only 10% of your grade, every point counts. Plus, if teachers see that you put effort into their class, they'll be more likely to be lenient with you if you slip up majorly. Also, homework basically forces you to study while helping your grade.Don't fall into the habit of cheating on tests and quizzes. Getting an A on some test is seriously not worth the risk of an honor code violation. Use the time you spend searching for test banks and finding new ways to glue cheat sheets to your eraser to actually study.Standardized testing.You don't need to have a private tutor to score high. Practice tests are your best friend, and they're free online. Check out Khanacademy and Prepscholar for free official tests and Collegeboard-approved study resources.A 1530 is virtually the same thing as a 1560. A 32 is basically a 34. At a certain point, it's not worth paying the $40 to increase your score by a marginal amount. Do your best and move on.For subject tests, I'd suggest taking one science/math and one humanities. Again, no need for a private tutor or any intense studying, really. Get the Barrons book and inhale it a week before you take the exam. If you can, take a subject test before you take the actual SAT or ACT - it helps you get in the mindset before the big day. They also don't matter very much, so I wouldn't worry if you score lower than you'd like.Extracurriculars.Try to join at least one club for at least three continuous years. This shows commitment.Remember, you only have ten slots on the CommonApp for your ECs, so joining 15 clubs you don't care about is a waste of time. Choose clubs that you actually care about, and do more than just show up to meetings. Host a fundraiser, enter a competition, or connect with other club chapters in your area.Literally anything can be an extracurricular. Blogging about your life, drawing in your spare time, even having a stamp collection. As long as you can write why it's meaningful to you and how you have done something impactful with it, it's fair game.Aim for high impact and outreach. If you sign up for Science Olympiad, actually go to some of the events and try to place. If you write poetry, submit your poems to some local contests. If you're in Habitat for Humanity, sell some candy canes and raise money, or better yet, go to the builds and get your hands dirty.Leadership positions are obviously great. Here's the thing though: people can tell when you're only in a club for the leadership, and they won't vote for you unless they know you care about the club itself. So be a leader for a club you care about. If you don't have any prior experience, that's fine. A confident, memorable speech wins over experience any day.Recommendation letters.Many sources say that you should ask one science/math teacher and one humanities teacher, but I think it's more important to ask teachers that you have an actual relationship with.Ask a teacher who you've had at least one non-school related conversation with, who sponsors the club that you're president of, or who's taught you for more than one semester. Don't ask a teacher who you love but have never talked to, or who teaches a class you have a good grade in but who you hate.Take twenty minutes and make a resumé to send them. Google Docs has lots of templates, and there are a lot of websites that basically write your resumé for you.Ask them early in senior year, and follow up with a reminder email about a week or so before the deadline. Once they submit the letter, it's nice to follow up with a handwritten note, or a $5 Starbucks giftcard.Personal essay.Don't try to guess what the college wants to hear, write what you want to say. They know you're a teenager; they don't expect you to be the next Shakespeare.If you have any extenuating circumstances or personal troubles, it's okay to talk about them. Make sure you emphasize how you have overcome your struggles and what lessons you've learned. Avoid coming across as bitter or unable to learn from the past.Don't let too many people edit your essays. You want colleges to hear your voice, not the voice of your dad, eight of your friends, and three acquaintances from your math class. This is a personal essay, not an opportunity to write about your transcript or SAT score. Write about what matters to you. Be honest, candid, and human.Blank pages are terrifying. Let your first draft be a terrible, incoherent string of words. Let your second draft be completely different from your first. Let your third draft be a rewrite of your first draft with less run-on sentences. Once you get your first two sentences out, it gets easier.The "Why Us," "Why You," and "Why X Major" essays.You can recycle essay concepts, but don't recycle essays. Nearly every "top school" has an amazing economics program and a nice campus. What specific opportunities does this school offer? How will the curriculum help your education? Which professors would you like to meet? What would you do at this school, and how would that reflect the school's motto and repulation? "Why Us" essays are just "Why You" essays in a different form.You are a one-in-seven-billion individual. Show that. Every student applying to a "top school" is a hard-working, ambitious, empathetic student. Do a little below surface level thinking and try to pinpoint how you're different. Then, talk about how these differences would help you at school."I want to be an engineer because I read a Forbes article that said they make a lot of money and I liked Physics well enough" is less compelling than "I want to be an engineer because from an early age, the way humans construct our world and hold it together has fascinated me; thousands of people cross the Z bridge on their way to work every day, but never stop to consider how it is a work of meticulous art." Connect the major to yourself.Interviews.Google around enough and you'll find some potential interview questions that each college uses. Most interviewers don't deviate much from the list. Draft out some potential responses for each one and practice answering them, but don't memorize your answers. Sounding overrehearsed isn't great.Wear something nice, but don't feel pressured into shelling out money for a new suit. A blazer is nice, or a slightly dressier sweater. Use some nice cologne or perfume. No blue jeans or tshirts.The waiting room will be awkward. All the potential applicants will try to psych the others out. Smile, wish them good luck, and try to ignore the NASA intern who cured cancer.Scroll through the college wikipedia page the night before or something. Even if you've never visited the college, pick out a pretty building that you like, and a professor you'd love to meet. You don't have to research every little thing - the interviewers aren't going to grill you.Miscellaneous.Avoid places like Prepscholar, College Confidential, and r/apstudents as much as possible. Most users there are just fearmongerers who are bragging about their own accomplishments. It's mostly pretentious, impossible advice. And while Prepscholar's college admissions calculator is helpful, don't let it freak you out. It only accounts for two numbers, and you're a whole lot more than that.On being "well rounded" vs. having a "spike" - I would say it doesn't really matter. Do what you're passionate about. If that means activities exclusively related to trains, that's okay. If that means going to art classes and soccer games, that's okay, too. And if your interests change, that's also fine. Nobody expects you to like the same things at 18 that you did at 14.You're going to be fine. I believe in you wholeheartedly, and the college you go to for undergrad doesn't really matter all too much anyway. Don't go to a college for prestige if you know you'll hate it there.Good luck!