Any advice on how to stand out?

[violetpretty]

Grades are 20% intelligence and 80% how hard you want to work (at least in college). I know people who did so-so in high school really excel in college because they were willing to work hard. I also know people who did really well in high school and thought there same study habits (i.e. no study habits) would work in college. Not usually the case.

Anyway, OP, there's no reason to not go through now. I'm willing to bet that a school like you described has a pretty low registration fee (if any) for formal recruitment, so you don't have much to lose if you don't get a bid (unless you really can't handle the possibility of rejection).

The actives will try to make conversation with you by asking about yourself. Ask them questions too! Try coming up with some back up questions for when conversation lulls! You'll feel so much more confident.