I was wondering if anyone who has been admitted in the past few years without any hooks or really strong extracurriculars would be willing to post their stats. I understand that anecdotal evidence says nothing about my chances of getting in, but I was still hoping I could get a picture of someone not from an underprivileged background who was able to get into Stanford by just being really strong academically and writing good essays.
The fact that this has no responses is kind of disheartening…
You may get some answers by checking the decision-result thread stapled at the top of the page. My son as asian got in, back in 2008, with good grades/scores and w/o hook. For his stats, he probably would be rejected today.
(Current student)
34 ACT,
2120 SAT I
800, 800 SAT II
Top 10% graduating class (HS GPA was over 4.0 when weighted)
Completely unhooked, no amazing extracurriculars. Was told they really liked one of my essays.
(Current class of 2020)
36 ACT, didn’t take SAT, 800 SAT Math II, 800 SAT Chem, 800 SAT Bio M, 5 AP Calc BC, 5 AP Stats, 5 AP Chem, 5 both AP Physics C, 5 AP US History, 5 AP English Lang, 4 AP English Lit, 4 AP Bio
First in my class
No hooks, below average extracurricular. Was told that they liked the sense of humor in my essays (which is weird considering I’m not funny at all) and that I had really good letters of rec.
Senior.
2360 SAT
did all your APs and stuff
Valedictorian
I really didn’t do as much as a lot of other people extra curricular wise. Did a lot of clubs but wasn’t heading most of them. Didn’t win any of the fancy science comps even though I do engineering. Pretty sure my “hook” was winning a tech startup comp, which is funny since I’m the least start up person you’ll find. I also wrote one of my essay apps on guppy genetics bc that was my interest of the year…
Everyone has something special about them, you just need to figure it out. My advice is really explain what you enjoy and be really honest and heartfelt about it. Doesn’t need to be your life passion (I was actually fairly sure I’d do bio-e thus the genetics curiosity). Admissions is always a stats game, but I think admissions is really looking for the intellectually curious and inquisitive. You’re taking classes and you’ll benefit from the prestige of the school name, but you’ve got to figure out your interests here and a strong intellectual curiosity will take you far.
Good luck from a senior procrastinating on finals 