<p>This is actually for my friend. She has always wanted to get into Stanford, and I feel she has the necessities to, but she doesn't think she can get in. I've been trying to convince her otherwise, but I don't want to get her hopes up without knowing if she actually can. So could someone help?</p>
<p>Gender/ethnicity: White female
Age: 17
School: Our school has a 2000ish population, with hardly anyone going to a prestigious university. Maybe one a year in top 30.
Location: Eastern Washington</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0
Ranking: Tied for top in class
SAT: 1800 (this is probably the only low part of her entire package)
PSAT: 187 (okay, and this)
AP: AP US (5), AP Euro, AP Biology, AP English Language (all pending)
EC's: Varsity tennis, varsity volleyball, club volleyball, 500+ hours of community service, there's much more that I can't name, cause I'm not her! lol</p>
<p>She seems content with UW or WSU, but I'm telling her she can go much farther. Am I right?</p>
<p>sorry, but your friend is right. she can't get in. first of all, she is out of state, her school RARELY sends kids to a top 30 school (stanford is THE HARDEST), her SATs are horrible, and her PSATs are horrible. there are ppl with much better stats being rejected from stanford that are instate.</p>
<p>Well, what I thought was that Stanford put a lot of emphasis on extracurriculars. And this girl has a TON, and so much community service. I'm confident she'll be over 1000 hours by November. Could that make up for low standardized test scores?</p>
<p>I believe from another thread I've read that out-of-state isn't really significant if it's qualified, Stanford has 60%, still majority of students accepting from out-of-state. And more CA applicants apply so...</p>
<p>And yes, it is possible, I saw on another thread this guy getting accepted with a 1700 SAT, although it's very rare, it can't hurt to try. Is there any way to perhaps raise it? To a 2000+ at least?</p>
<p>Well, I can honestly say she sucks at standardized tests. She's good at AP cause she knows the material in and out, and can most likely recite you in entirety Campbell's Biology Sixth Edition, but she doesn't work well with the SAT because of spontaneous questions. Furthermore, she hesitates too much on the questions, she says. I've tried to prep her a bit, but she didn't do too well the second time either.</p>
<p>Okay.</p>
<p>Your friend can get into a better school than UW or USW. Stanford probably isn't very likely, unfortunately.</p>
<p>However, Stanford could become a possibility if she can improve her SAT score slightly and could get some good subject tests. Definitely a possibility if she can improve the SAT significantly. I have a cousin who got in with a 1410 and very similar stats otherwise (down to the sports-heavy ECs), which is very high, but also doable. Also, since Stanford requires subject tests anyway, she should definitely take some subject tests---they might show her aptitude better than the SAT could. Encourage her to take the ACT as well.</p>
<p>Regarding ECs, where is she volunteering, and does it demonstrate any special skills? Is she going to participate in sports in college? Both of those factors heavily influence chances at a school like Stanford, where more than half of the applicants are numerically qualified. </p>
<p>If your friend has recs that prove that she has a passion to learn, and an honest essay that really expresses who she is, then yes, she <em>could</em> get into Stanford. </p>
<p>However, the best advice I can give to her is to explore her possibilities. She has a very strong academic record and could gain entrance to many excellent schools, perhaps not Stanford, but a school like Northwestern, Vanderbilt, or even Duke are possibilities, and schools like Boston University are matches or low matches for her. There are some great schools that would love to have her, and it's very likely that the schools she'd be happiest at aren't Stanford or UW\USW. She's got many of the things colleges are looking for, so her options are varied, diverse, and very high in both quality and quantity.</p>
<p>Best of luck in her search and application process!</p>
<p>Wow, silverchris, that's really great advice. Thanks a lot! I'll be sure to encourage her on a couple of these!</p>
<p>It's not happening with an 1800.</p>
<p>I'm gonna have to agree w/ the others above on Stanford. UPenn might work though. Someone at my school w/ below-average standardized scores got into UPenn mostly b/c of extracurriculars.</p>
<p>U-Penn? Really? I've heard they're really strict on test scores! Wow...something new every day.</p>
<p>really? well, I guess my friend got lucky or something lol.</p>