I wrote this in response to a private message I got and figured others might find value in it too so I’m posting it here.
Hey! Yeah, no prob, I don’t mind helping out.
Let’s see… well, I didn’t really pick the HLs, they were sort of chosen for me because of the teachers that were available.
With the IB, the best advice I can give would be to make sure you stay focused. There’s a lot going on and certainly a lot of information. I promise it’s possible though! 
The key is to remember that you don’t have to get perfect 7s on the exams. It certainly helps, but your ultimate goal is to get enough points to get the full diploma, that’s really what matters. It’s a HUGE help getting into schools if they see you have the full diploma, and most don’t care about the actual scores. Just get to 24! (and don’t bomb too hard in any one section)
The other way to stand out: do your CAS hours in something that you enjoy doing. You’ll be doing a lot of it. And if you can use that experience to write an essay or two all the better. I tutored inner city kids in math and science and in one of my essays I wrote about the disparity in socioeconomic distribution of educational resources and how I thought I could fix that. Don’t waste any time on anything that you can’t use for more than one purpose. Time is the one resource you will never have enough of.
Start your EE early. I worked with researchers at a neurology lab downtown. I just approached them and explained what I was doing and they were super eager to help. But again, find something you really enjoy learning about. Not only will it show in your final draft, but you’ll be doing a lot of it. I think by the time I was finished I never wanted to hear about neurons ever again.
Don’t stress about the B+. Your weighted GPA will give you a little bit of wiggle room, but not much. Always ask if there is extra credit to get you over the hump to that A. Teachers hate it when you bug them about not being perfect, but it never hurts. Overall, don’t focus on getting the perfect GPA. You’ll drive yourself nuts. It’s hard to keep it up. I lost valedictorian of my class by something ridiculous like .001 if you rounded what I considered the wrong way and I was furious for days.
The academic/EC balance is a tough one. I had a hard time finding a club that would fit into my schedule so I ended up doing some EC that honestly I didn’t care about. I just had to have a formidable list I thought. So I can’t really give you too much advice there. I ran cross country which was good because I could train on my own and didn’t have to be part of a team. (Sounds anti-social, but again, time management is the one thing that will keep you sane.)
As for Stanford, I don’t remember anything in particular about their app that stands out. I remember touring and it was very pretty. I remember thinking it wasn’t really my kind of school. I ended up going to UMich because it had the right atmosphere and a stellar department in my major. Don’t fixate on a single school so early. By the time you get to graduation, it might have a horrible rep. I’ve seen it happen. No one I knew my senior year would touch Johns Hopkins and I never figured out why. Also keep in mind that the ivies are just state schools with bigger price tags. You’ll be paying for this education for a while. I was fortunate enough to get a full ride so I couldn’t pass that up. Not having to work two jobs while starting out as a freshman was a huge advantage.
Find your passion, stick with it, and enjoy the ride. I wish I could go back and do it all over again.
Good luck!
Jeremy
