Any chance for a brilliant but relaxed student?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hello all. I've always thought my son would be happy at Stanford, but before I start encouraging him to apply I would love to get some feedback about whether he has even a chance of getting in. This is long, but I'll try to make it interesting, and I really do think opinions would help us out. His ECs and grades are both modest compared to what I've seen on CC. His relaxed attitude about school is partly just his personality, and partly a reaction to attending a high school where all the kids are brilliant and most are very driven. He values happiness and time to think more than he values achievement. </p>

<p>Here's some background about his high school to put his record in context: Typically, over 1/4 of the students in this school are National Merit Finalists, and another quarter are commended students. Most kids apply to and many attend highly selective schools - probably about 5 per year (out of a class of 110-120) go to Stanford. A's are not easy to come by. No AP or honors classes are offered, because all the classes operate at a very high level (e.g. with college textbooks in almost every course). My kids do about 15 hours of homework per week; I know others do more.</p>

<p>GRADES: The school doesn't calculate a GPA or rank, but my son's GPA is probably about 3.5. </p>

<p>COURSES: He takes "intensive" math and science classes whenever he has the option, and gets A-/B+ grades in them. He quite French after completing the 3rd-year level, but had the course for only 2 years of high school. He really wanted to take other courses, and replaced it with computer programming, which he does well in, but I don't know if Stanford looks at that one. His schedule is full, with "Digital Media" being the only non-academic elective.</p>

<p>SCORES:
SATI: 800M/ 800CR/ 750WR
SAT II: physics 700 (took it as a sophomore and it turns out he'd had mono for 6 weeks, so didn't do so well. Could take again next year as he's enrolled in advanced physics, and will take 2 others in June)
PSAT: 234 (should have national merit status)
Self-study AP exams: World Hist: 3 (same unfortunate mono episode as above); will take Chem and Computing in May</p>

<p>EC's:
-JV Soccer 9/10/11
-Math Olympiad team 11 (won some kind of award at state)
-The only white kid in the Asian/Pacific Islander Students Association
-He and a friend started a website business; they've done websites as community service for non-profits, and others for pay
-Community service - probably 100 hours recorded, including fundraising for a children's clinic and assorted volunteer labor activities
-works quite a lot on research and website stuff for my husband's local political campaigns
-plays guitar in a garage band - since 7th grade - they're too shy to perform in public
-writes music for piano and guitar - very casual
-very interested in film-making, and is on a mission to watch every movie ever made :)</p>

<p>Does anyone see a hook here? Non-URM, non-Legacy, upper middle class urban white kid. Too bad video game proficiency isn't considered!</p>

<p>With good test scores, how significant do you think the GPA will be? How about the lack of ongoing foreign language study? Should he try to take the French SAT II to compensate (that would be a huge pain, I think). </p>

<p>I sense that Stanford really wants the well-rounded fully engaged student-leader type of kid, but do they also take kids who choose not to be leaders or "joiners"? </p>

<p>Thanks so much for any thoughts you can offer!</p>

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<p>Any idea what his class rank is? I suspect 3.5 is on the lower end for one's GPA.</p>

<p>The foreign language bit is fine, no need to worry about that.</p>

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<p>"I sense that Stanford really wants the well-rounded fully engaged student-leader type of kid"</p>

<p>I am not sure it's true, especially the "well rounded" bit. I think Stanford, as well as other top schools, are looking for kids with talent, lots of personality, and passion for something. He has to "come alive" in his application to have a chance.</p>

<p>It will help your son that Stanford is familiar with his school, but if a lot of kids with similar scores and better grades are applying, it will make the competition harder for him...</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies - I appreciate it. </p>

<p>His school will not rank students. They send out a school profile instead, which includes some of the stuff from my OP about national merit, AP's, etc. The gist of it is that all the kids at his school would be super-achievers at a less selective school. Nobody in recent history at the school has gotten a 4.0, so his GPA is actually not bad for this place. I'm guessing he is in the top third or quarter of his class (if rankings were available). The GPA just looks bad to the outside world, unfortunately.</p>

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<p>If he can get 650 on French SAT II, it might be worth taking, as I think it will satisfy foreign language requirement at Stanford. Language tests are pretty hard though, because all the native speakers take them, driving up the curve... </p>

<p>He should definitely take Math II though...</p>

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<p>He should definitely apply. If he can convey his interest/passion for something in his essays he can still have an edge. The scores look pretty good. Being "relaxed" isn't really an excuse for underperforming though, and going to a great school is worse because colleges see that you had a VERY wide range of oppurtunities and will look at you in that context when they evaluate your achievmeents. That being said I think colleges look a lot for this thing called "personality" which in my opinion has little to do with achievement and should be irrelevant, but regardless it is important to exploit this fact and work very hard on essays. This is the only way he can gain a competitive edge over his (very qualified) peers at other competitive high schools.</p>

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<p>The overwhelming majority of admitted students are top 10% of their class, so even just in the top 25% is a bit low. It's still entirely possible that he will be accepted, just be aware that about 90% of admitted students were in the top 10% of their graduating class, and almost 50% were in the top 1-2% of their graduating class. </p>

<p>Taking the SAT II in language to place out of the language requirement is a really good idea. That could wait until next spring if he is admitted.</p>

8

<p>Ok. 5% chance if the HS is as hard as you say it is.</p>

<p>stanford for some reason likes to reject low GPA students. beware.</p>

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<p>I think he has a chance, since GPA is subjective.</p>

10

<p>Thanks everyone, for taking the time to reply. It's a tough call, obviously, and it's good to get some outside viewpoints. I personally don't see him as underperforming, but rather being willing to take the hardest courses and learning a lot, while also staying happy. Thanks for the suggestions about languages, too.</p>

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<p>what school is this? Is it like Phillip Exeter hard?</p>