Are spectacular ECs with leadership positions necessary for Stanford?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>or for Yale, Stanford, and Harvard, for that matter?</p>

<p>I have fairly good IB grades and SAT scores (higher than the mean/median for these colleges), I imagine my teacher recommendations should be great if not exceptional, and I think I can write pretty personal and engaging application essays.
ton, piano, and have done some volunteering, and have gone to a couple of summer programs. I also did an internship at a law firm last summer. But all these are nothing spectacular, and I'm not president or chairlady of any club or captain of sports team.
My problem is, however, that I don't have tons of ECs and leadership positions that many other candidates will have. Sure, I have MUN, Princeton University Language Project (translation work for charities), global issues group, cross-country, badmin</p>

<p>Should I still attempt Stanford or any of the schools mentioned above?</p>

2

<p>You don’t HAVE to have lots of leadership positions. My D is a Stanford freshman this year and went to a small high school. There simply were not a lot of leadership opportunities available. I would recommend that you apply (the worst that can happen is that you’re not accepted) and use your essays to highlight something that you are passionate about. Leadership is great. But I believe passion is just as important. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Pretty much</p>