How to stand out to counselor (big school)?

<p>I go to an extremely competitive and extremely large (4000+ students) public high school. How do I stand out for teacher recommendations/counselor recommendations? </p>

<p>Also, being in this large of a school, would GPA ranking/etc. play a larger role in admissions? </p>

<p>I'm just kind of wondering ahead, I'm just a sophomore. I just don't feel like I'm ever "that student" that talks easily to the teacher, more of just a student that gets good grades, interacts more with friends in class etc.</p>

<p>WOW. I always thought my school was big! (1,400). For me, I stand out with grades, and talk to the teacher, but not in the teacher<code>s pet kind of way, just doing little things, like saying good morning, helping other students out, stuff I just do automatically that teacher</code>s see that make certain students stand out from others.</p>

<p>Thanks for replying! (:
Yeah, it’s so large! But now I can’t imagine otherwise, haha.
I often feel like I can’t get past this mental barrier of being polite/etc. when I’m talking to a teacher. Maybe I’m just awkward.</p>

<p>A lot of students have that problem…my mom<code>s a teacher, so I</code>m used to the whole thing, I guess. Plus, with most of my teachers I have/had, I usually have something in common with them. Just start off with being nice and saying good morning, and go from there. If there<code>s one teacher that you have something in common with, like a hobby, etc, etc, then work with that. My favorite teacher isn</code>t even technically a teacher…he<code>s my elementary school librarian. But he</code>s always taught his students something, even without them realizing it, just the type of guy he is, he<code>s really laid-back and cool. I love reading and writing, so he noticed that I guess, and just a whole bunch of other stuff. He got me started on journalism, because he used to be a journalist. So now he</code>s sort of my mentor, and you can bet anything I<code>ll be asking for a recommendation from him…sorry long, boring story, but that</code>s just to prove it<code>s not too tough, if I did that in elementary school…or maybe I</code>m just the odd one out when it come to talking to teachers.</p>

<p>I also have always had a knack for talking with adults, I guess. I love history, so could talk for a hour with 80 year olds about what it was like to live back then. (Yeah, I`m weird like that :))</p>