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Yeah, writing is standard. Some colleges say they don't need it, but it's always better to just do it in case you want to send the scores to another college.

If math and science is your thing, definitely do Science Olympiad and math competitions like Mandelbrot and the AMC-USAMO (if your school offers these competitions). There should be regional math competitions too, there's an organization for it but I can't recall the name. Debate is very good, especially if you go to nationals. Academic team/quiz bowl is nice too, they usually go to small competitions with like 12 teams and you can write "Placed Top 10 in X Quiz Bowl Competition" or w/e.

But focus on school, since you're maxed out on AP classes, you do not want to get a B on those. AP classes are basically college courses taken at half speed, they need to know you can handle that.

well im not all math and science, but the business clubs in my school are pretty low-tier, so i want to do some real clubs etc. yeah schoolwork is really important to me, im planning on taking 3 ap economics classes senior year. yeah I do AMC also, and I almost proceeded, but I didn't prepare enough. yeah i made it to states in debate last year.

also, i maintained A(+s) in every class, never getting below an A. My weighted GPA is well over 100. in all honors for the last few years as well, always taking the most rigorous schedule

In terms of competitions, always aim for state/nationals. (e.g. AMC is a national competition, as is USAMO) Science Olympiad has State and national levels as well as debate. I think HOP have state competitions as well and it's community service related and kinda business related. You should be fine with what you're doing and joining new clubs this+next year. Don't worry about sports, a bunch of kids my year got into great schools (Duke, UPenn, UChicago, Stanford, Columbia off the top of my head) without doing a sport.

ok. thanks for the help. yeah im gonna do as much competitions as possible, and i have tons of awards for chess and that sort of thing. also every year for debate we visit 3 ivies for a debate tournament, i should try and win there . thanks for the help, and our school math club competes in state/regional tournaments, ill definitely join that club.
im happy with 2 officer positions, which do take a lot of work though
ill start tutoring as well, and i help younger kids in debate, because of my roll, idk if that counts ahaha
edit: also this year because im cancelling xbox in hopes to continue great grades in school, my dad is signing me up for more chess tournaments, state-wide and possibly nation-wide

It counts if you want it to count. That's why I think the resume is so important, you can fashion what you've done over the 4 years and highlight what you want and pretend some things never happened. Helping novices in debate can magically become Tutored Freshman in Public Speaking.

that sounds good. my parents are gonna help me with the resume, and hopefully some teachers. i heard recommendations are really important, and all my teachers love me, every year lol, so that's good

how are you taking 3 AP economics classes? I thought there was only micro and macro.
A little off topic but Do you go to Stuyvesant High School?

Also you can go here for more College info:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

However the forum is turning into teenagers trying to look elite and only aim for ivy leagues.

no but i debate them all the time lol. ap micro and macro and they count us govt as like half economics half social studies in my school, idk the deal.

Hm... if you can get a recommendation from a professor from Cornell that'd really help. I don't know if you have the connections, but if you do the summer research thing there, try to get a rec letter from there in addition to the standard 2 high school core subject teachers.

A word on rec letters from your high school teachers, and you've probably already heard this, make sure they know the aim of the letter. It's great if an english teacher loves you, but if you think the letter she's gonna write is something along the lines of:
"He's a sweet boy and very intelligent, always willing to share his things and help others"
Sure, that's great for your character, but compared to something like:
"He's very bright, even in my AP class, and handles the workload easily, often finishing early and then takes the time to help out others who are struggling."
So try to find a teacher that likes you and is experienced with the admissions process or has taught at a college level.

I never liked college confd, they're good for some archived resources, but I find they're not very up to date and the people there are kinda dumb.

ok thanks for the help with the recommendations. im new to this whole process and starting early, so that's all good to know
that's a great idea at the summer program, which I still have to apply to, but my friends who went there said I have the grades etc. to get in no problem. thanks, any other ideas for what I could do to make my chances improve?