<p>i really want to get into stanford (it's been my dream school since i was really little) and i wanna know what else i need to do. i have a 4.3 gpa so far (i'm going to be a high school junior), i play jv lacrosse, i'm an officer in key club and i volunteer about 75 hours a year, i'm going to be starting another club at my school next year as president, and i've already taken the satii for mathiic and got an 800 on my first try. someone told me that pretty much all the applicants to stanford have the same things as me so does anyone have any ideas about what else i can do?</p>
<p>You could try punctuation.</p>
<p>Seriously, it's good that you're doing research on colleges now. Make sure you find other matches and safeties you would like to attend. Don't pin all your hopes on one school, it doesn't always turn out well. From what little information you provided your chances for Stanford seem reasonable, but it is a very selective school. And make sure you apply for lots of scholarships. Money is always good.</p>
<p>Practically all successful Stanford applicants have great stats, so you will need to do well in this area just to compete. Make sure to keep up the good grades. Stanford doesn't consider freshman grades so your junior year is very important. Take the most difficult classes offered. If your school offers APs take them! Good AP scores show you're ready for college and boost your chances. Your math IIC score is great. Stanford recommends two Sat II scores and the more the better. A decent Sat II score ~650 in a language can waive the language requirement so take one of those if you know a language fairly well and don't want to continue in college.</p>
<p>As for activites, continue the ones you are doing. It is generally better to have quality of involvement and passion over quantity of different clubs. The Stanford app has very limited room for activies. Besides, there is more to life than just padding for college applications. Do activities you enjoy. You will have an essay on your most important activity so pick a favorite and really run with it. Short of curing AIDS or solving the millenium challenge there is no sure-fire way to gain admittance. Good luck.</p>
<p>Zeller gives some great advice. All I have to add is that it will never hurt to work on your writing skills. Practice writing and look in-depth into what your passions are. Explore ways to emphasize your passions in writing. The application essays are your chance to show the adcoms who you really are, to really show 'em what you have to offer. That is a crucial part of the application, I think, and you don't want it to be your weak spot.</p>