NYU and Yale Universities?

Everyone applying to Yale has the highest grades in the hardest classes and very high test scores, and they take about 8% of applicants. You need all that and a lot more to get in. As far as activities go, they'd rather see one great activity related to your major (publishing a novel, doing original research, starting a business, whatever you plan to major in and how you've gotten involved in the field) than joining everything out there. With 'very good' grades, good SAT, and lots of random activities, you're an average applicant at best. NYU is a bit easier to get into, but not a lot easier.