<p>I've always been a diligent student but no matter what I couldn't achieve straight A's. Fortunately, this changed as I entered high school and since my Freshman year I've been getting on the Headmasters list; with the occasional B. I am currently a Junior and everyone is telling me that this year is the most crucial year out of the four years of high school. </p>
<p>I should be doing important things right now but I'm burned out and I don't know what I'm suppose to do other than my college search and doing well with my academics. I have a 3.96 GPA.</p>
<p>I want to attend Stanford not because of its reputation but because of its inspiring entrepreneur history. I'm not sure what I want to do in life but as of now I am leaning toward majors that involve technology and business. My school isn't the most rigorous one in the nation but it is a college preparatory academy. I have a deep passion for entrepreneurship and as a result I've reached out to internships, organizations, and just crazy ideas to fundraise more efficiently. </p>
<p>Main stats that may make me stand out:
- National Honor Society (Project Coordinator)
- National Art Honor Society (Vice President)
- Student Senate
- I've chose Art for one of my electives throughout my entire high school career and I plan to join Art once more in my Senior year, which will then be an AP Art class
- I've been in an internship with a stock broker
- I am currently in an internship with an App developer who has his own company. I am learning HTML and CSS, the market for Apps, and object-oriented programming. I plan to learn Javascript as well
-Took APWH as a sophomore (this class was an experimental AP class so it was basically a fake AP course with the real, rigorous assignments) and received a 2
- I am currently taking AP Lit and APUSH
- I'm taking an astronomy class
- Class president my Sophomore year
- I am no jock and therefore I have no awards or achievements in sports
- I have joined cross-country, track & field, paddling, and tennis
- I complete around 50 hours of community service each year
- I am creating a new organization at my school
- I'm bilingual (Korean + English)
- I am in Japanese 5 and I plan to take the JLPT next year
- Failed a math course in middle school so I made it up by skipping Algebra 2</p>
<p>That's about it. I know everything other than the internships are pretty much basics for colleges such as Stanford and I realize I lack in winning awards for things that I have no idea of. So my question is, for the remainder of this year and next year, what should I do to stand out among the thousands of applicants? I understand that my chance of admission at Stanford is slim to none but I plan to still try. As of now, I plan to make an app, a website, and the organization that I mentioned above.</p>
<p>You aren’t a jock but are involved in four different sports?</p>
<p>Whatever floats your boat.</p>
<p>Besides having a personality, good grades and nice essays, all you can really do now is keep doing what you’re doing but push further somehow. You have to be able to find the opportunity, yourself, and snatch it up.</p>
<p>But even if you don’t find that opportunity, Stanford’s not too much of a pipe dream for you. Just keep at it.</p>
<p>I’m not involved in all four sports at once. I’ve been involved with each sport throughout my years of high school. Trimester 1 - cross country, trimester 2 - paddling, etc. High school should be a place where students can make idiotic mistakes, have fun, and enjoy their lives. Although this might not be the case for everyone, a majority of high school students are so preoccupied with AP exams, sports, clubs, etc that they become these stress freaks who worry too much. Right now I’m on the borderline of becoming one of them since Senior year is looming over my head. But thanks for your thoughts.</p>
<p>Spend some time looking into some other great schools that focus on your interests. Get a Fiske Guide or Princeton Review and do some browsing.
Being too hung up on one super selective school is very unhealthy for any student. You are doing everything you can to get in, but there is too much that is BEYOND your control. So you have to take control by developing a good college list.
I hope you can find a way to enjoy your high school experience! You only go down that road once.</p>
As such your parents are probably spending a good sum of money to send you there for the academics and advising. Have you tried talking with your college counselor?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your responses but I’m not as competitive as my post suggests. I know trying hard in school, joining leadership roles, community service, EC’s, and other small things is all that I can do. I want to know some awe-inspiring things that you or someone you know have accomplished. I haven’t even began my college search and I know I should get on it ASAP. I’m not completely hooked on Stanford although I would very much like to attend there. What are some things that you think is a wow factor in the admissions process. As for my college counselor, he isn’t the most helpful one. My school lacks AP courses (Junior year - AP Lit and APUSH are the only AP courses offered at my school).</p>
<p>For any school you are interested in, find their Common Data Set, then look at the tables in section C. It will tell you **exactly **what that school values the most for admissions. 99% of the time it is GPA + course rigor + test scores.
Don’t worry about the APs - the colleges will know what your school offers for AP and honors classes. So they expect you to be taking the most difficult classes that you can successfully handle.</p>