Your tack is much more likely to get them into an Ivy, and it's not even close. They will definitely need awesome grades in non-puff classes as well as a very

Your tack is much more likely to get them into an Ivy, and it's not even close. They will definitely need awesome grades in non-puff classes as well as a very high SAT score, but this is not terribly difficult for kids smart kids who have figured out the fundamentals of learning strategies. The jammed-packed extracurriculars and overweighted AP classes done to the exclusion of interesting things just makes them a clone of a bunch of other applicants that don't really stand out.