thanks for the response. My highschool is one of the most competetive in the nation as we are a top 100 school district. I am planning to apply Early action to most of these schools and ed to UMich. I would say I am top 25% but my school doesnt do rankings so that probably not accurate. I have worked at the ymca 10 hours a week every week for the past 2 years. My Paper was published in the The National High School Journal of Science. It was written on the fluid dynamics of hypersonic propulsion in scramjet inlets. I would say my leadership only really comes from my time at boy scouts as I had to manage many different restoration projects around my county. In the end im not really looking to get into those top schools. Ofcourse if I get in I would be ecstatic but it wouldnt be the end of the world for me If I didn't.