Am I "unique" enough for Stanford?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Stanford is my number one school, and I think I'm applying REA. My worry, though, is that I'm just not "special" enough, that at least on paper I won't stand out. What do you guys think?</p>

<p>My stats:</p>

<p>SAT: 2310 on my second sitting (800 W, 800 CR, 710 M)-- previous was 800W, 800CR, 680M
SAT II: 800 US history, 800 Literature</p>

<p>ACADEMICS:
-GPA probably 3.84, but I've made all As since freshman year
- number one in class of 40, but school doesn't rank
-private high school has had probably 1-2 students go to Stanford/Ivy caliber schools in 35 years
-most challenging courseload possible at my school: (IB-- we're the first class)
HL English
HL Math
HL Spanish
HL History of the Americas
SL Bio (but I'm doing the work for HL)
SL French</p>

<p>AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS:
-Headmaster's list every semester for all 3 years of high school
-last year, awards for "best in class" in every one of my subjects
-won my school's "Pay it forward Forbes" award for someone who lives by our core values: integrity, kindness of spirit, openness, and social responsibility
-book award from Smith College
-Social Justice award from University of Rochester
-High Honors from the Society of Women Engineers (???)
- likely National Merit Finalist</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:
-Theater since 5th grade; several lead roles in plays and musicals
won awards for excellence in acting at the Vermont Regional Drama Festival (2) and at States</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Student Ambassadors since 9th grade(help our admissions officer, shmooze with donors to the school, run Empty Bowls, this huge charity event, host events for outreach, manage hosting of prospective students) </p></li>
<li><p>NHS president junior and senior year; member since 10th grade. As president, I led a group of unmotivated teenagers to collect huge amounts of blankets, toys, etc for a local women's shelter, raise money for the KURA project (school supplies for rural northern Kenya), held a Breast Cancer Awareness week and raised money for Casting for Recovery, honor members of our school for their service (Gold Stars), and do road cleanup. I'm in the process of starting an NHS-based peer tutoring program for next year.</p></li>
<li><p>Varsity Softball freshman year</p></li>
<li><p>Varsity Dance Team sophomore, junior, senior year (Pom)-- we won one competition and got second at a couple others (but there were like 3 other schools there so...)</p></li>
<li><p>one of two leaders and founding members of the KURA project's branch at our school-- it's a local organization desigined as a student-directed initiative that's just starting up and we've been working directly with the woman who founded it. So far, another girl and I have raised $500 (which goes a long way in Kenya) and we hope to raise another $500 next year</p></li>
</ul>

<p>-Student Council for 2 years</p>

<p>SUMMERS:
- I spent a month in Poland teaching English the summers after 7th and 8th grade
-9th grade I visited family all summer
-10th grade I went to the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) for Spanish
-11th grade I'm working all summer on the kitchen staff at a camp</p>

<p>APPLICATION:
- still don't know what to write my essays about
-recommendations will be very strong-- from my English teacher, who says I'm the best student she's ever had, and my Spanish teacher, who adores me </p>

<p>Thoughts, guys? I know I haven't won any major awards, started any nonprofits, done significant research, or anything. I still have to figure out what my "story" is. But do you think I have a chance at Stanford? My aunt went there, by the way, not that that helps me :p</p>

2

<p>Well, do you like science/engineering (judging from the award you got)? If so, being a female interested in engineering will help - women are very underrepresented in STEM fields at Stanford, which places a lot of emphasis on diversity in engineering. Based on your ECs, your strongest asset seems to be drama; if you’re passionate about it, you should definitely write at least one of your essays on it (since you’ve won major theater awards, it’d also be a good idea to put those in the awards section, even if that meant cutting other awards out, like the Smith book award). Considering that Stanford’s beefing up its arts (the only area where Stanford lags), the admissions office would target you because of your involvement in it. I’d say that an interest in STEM + having a passion for theater/arts would *definitely *make you stand out, though the latter does anyway. It’d all come down to your essays, because most of your profile isn’t particularly standout (except drama), so your essays will be even more important in crafting a unique image of you. And if your recommendations corroborate what your essays say, all the better.</p>

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<p>It’s those damned techie students who make applicants feel inadequate, but believe it or not, Stanford has love for the fuzzies as well. :wink: And while I’m not sure just how much drama you’ve done (it seems to be your most significant activity), I can say that being passionate about the arts and pursuing creativity can be as helpful in admissions as doing science research and engineering fairs.</p>

<p>Look at the accepted student threads for Stanford, Harvard, etc. and you’ll see that the super-involved drama students nearly always get in. I remember one this year even got a likely letter from Stanford, probably because she was so involved in theater for many years.</p>

3

<p>Really? Stanford is looking for students in the arts? I mean, drama is definitely my favorite activity, but I don’t think I’m necessarily good enough to pursue it in college… Maybe as a minor? If I did focus on theater as my main EC in my applications, would I have to do an arts supplement? </p>

<p>Haha, and no, I’m a humanities person. The engineering thing was weird and unexpected. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your help!</p>

4

<p>Okay, the ‘female techie’ won’t be able to help you, but theater will. Stanford is definitely trying to recruit more arts students, just as Yale is attempting to beef up its science programs by recruiting strong science students. The arts have long been the only broad area of study that Stanford isn’t top 10 in. So it’s been increasing its efforts in the arts, e.g. giving a building (Roble) to drama/dance, constructing a new art/art history building, adding a new art museum (just announced), building a new concert hall, giving the old b-school buildings to the performing arts, creating the Arts Intensive program and [url=&lt;a href=“http://arts.stanford.edu%5DSICA%5B/url”&gt;http://arts.stanford.edu]SICA[/url</a>] for students, etc. [wow, until articulating this, I didn’t even realize just how much Stanford is beefing up its arts all at once. It’s kicking *** and taking names, seriously.]</p>

<p>Don’t worry that you might not be good enough to pursue theater in college, because you might, and Stanford offers a lot in the way of theater for students. Even if you don’t plan to major in it, it’d be a good idea to make that your ‘focus’ on the application since it’s something you’re passionate about and it’s also where many of your accomplishments are. I’d recommend writing more than one essay on theater-related topics - your involvement in theater for so long seems like fertile ground for interesting essay topics, and you could write your main essay on theater and one of the smaller essays on a related topic. </p>

<p>The idea is to create cohesion in your application, since focus is usually better than being well-rounded. Your activities are basically theater, community service, and sports, and since the latter two are a dime a dozen among applicants, it’d be a good idea to make *your *focus out of the former. And hopefully, between your essays, your ECs, your awards, and your recommendations, you’ll create a continuity across the application that will make adcoms more likely to see your “vitality.” (If your teachers can speak to your abilities in theater, even if tangentially - say, how you performed something you read in class, or whathaveyou - all the better. Who runs the theater program at your school? If that person knows you well, it’d be a good idea to get another rec from him/her.)</p>

<p>edit: on the arts supplement - you don’t have to do the arts supplement if you don’t want to, but I don’t know what you’d be able to submit for it. You’ll have to check the supplement to see whether they ask anything of theater students.</p>

5

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<p>Ladies and gentlemen, the college admissions process’s effect on self-regard.</p>

<p>You’re amazing no matter what awards, grades, scores, achievement, or recognition you’ve garnered in your life. An admission or rejection to Stanford doesn’t change this, nor does my telling you this. The only important opinion is your own, and once you realize this (emotionally, not just intellectually), everyone else will see it too.</p>

6

<p>Don’t say that you quit softball unless you have a really, really interesting story about it. Just don’t put it on the Common App.</p>

7

<p>You’re unique.</p>

<p>Just like everyone else.</p>

8

<p>haha oh softballllll
i was trying to branch out, since a lot of my friends played. third week of practice, i got nailed in the face during warmups. 1 black eye and a whole lot of benchwarming later, i decided softball wasn’t my thing</p>

<p>and thank you, francaisalamatt. i really do try to keep things in perspective with this whole college applications thing-- i know what an adcom thinks of me isn’t the end of the world or even necessarily accurate. i know i have my own unique-ness or whatever, i just don’t really know how to show it in my applications</p>

9

<p>You seem like a competitive candidate. I agree that if you emphasize your interest in drama, that may be your ticket to being unique. Another thing that jumps out to be is the teaching in Poland. I have one question though: how did you get that engineering award? Are you a member of the Society?</p>

10

<p>No, it was weird and random. They gave out a couple book awards from colleges, and then this other girl and I got the thing from the Society of Women Engineers saying something about “high honors”
I’m really not at all interested in the sciences… but I guess maybe it’s one of those things where the school nominates their best students, and I’ve done well in the most rigorous science and math classes that my school offers.</p>

<p>Yeah, the Poland thing was a pretty amazing experience. My only worry is that it was too long ago to use (8th/9th grade). But I guess I could write an essay using a story from that, or something, and then apply it to me now? Character and all, maybe.</p>

11

<p>Yeah, your time to show your uniqueness (I REALLY hate the college application process…) is through your essays. Go with the Poland thing if that’s what your heart’s telling you; experiences don’t go stale like perishable food. If it’s still relevant to your life, it makes a good essay. For example, I wrote mine about my journey into (and eventually out of, although that came after the essay) atheism. This story started well before high school, and I even talked about my early childhood a bit.</p>

12

<p>Hey, yanglin–every one of your posts in these forums contains a plug for that same e-book. You really seem like a sock puppet, so maybe it’s time to stop now.</p>