[quote=BG]
The Regents/UC admission board doesn’t care about extracurricular activities in HS, either. Not a whit. An applicant’s highest SAT score plus HS GPA is the name of the game. And it doesn’t help that many thousands of deep-pocketed foreign applicants who are willing to pay the “full ride” will be his kids’ “competition.”

It’s a crapshoot out there. [/quote]

This is false for UC Berkeley at least. My longtime friend is on the admissions over there. That was probably more the name of the game before, but now kids have to differentiate themselves even more from competition. They want the smartest, leader with a good heart, cares about the environment, plays 3 sports, concert pianist, and good speaker.