<p>op, i appreciate how you are aiming for Stanford early on. when my S graduated 8th gr, he had Stanford in mind. in fact, when he created his FB in freshman hs, he wrote Stanford as his school. that was his motivation. even tho he was top student, he came fr so-so gr sch & was ranked ~60/~300 by end of freshman yr at very competitive hs. that did not discouraged him bec he had stanford as his target. by end of jr yr, he was ranked 5. he had stanford in mind with everything he did, and still enjoyed his hs life very much. get as much AP as you can. my son had 11, & on those AP ones he was rejected early on, he self studied & even got 5. he took classes at community college during summers. unlike others, he did not have “specialty” (or “ticket”, as others call it). so his strategy was to be “holistic”, all-around student. joined, lead & excelled in several clubs & sports. never be discouraged. for every setback or rejections he encountered, he jumped to plan b right away. did 300+ hrs of community service. worked/volunteered during summers. prepared well for sat/act. lastly, had well-written essays finished bef start of sr yr. now, he couldnt be any happier with his life as freshman at stanford, & doing very well. keep your grades up. also, keep in mind the “nice factor” that stanford is looking for on top of outstanding numbers (gpa/sat/act) & ecs. show it in your essays. my son opted to not write anything academic-related on all his essays. nice & intellectual, yes, but no mention of any academic performance. just his choice, i guess. he learned fr “horror” experiences of kids fr his hs, who were 4.7+/2400/36 & were rejected by stanford. good luck!</p>