<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White(German origin)
Ranking: Top 10%
School: Competitive private school in San Jose, California
Grade: Going to be a senior in the fall</p>
<p>SAT: 2340
SAT 2s: Full scores on Math IIC and Chemistry</p>
<p>GPAs:
- 4.0 and 4.0 in 9th grade
- 4.29 and 4.43 in 10th grade
- 4.57 and 4.57 in 11th grade</p>
<p>APs: I've taken 4(Comp Sci, Calculus BC, Chemistry, and Bio with 5s and 4s on all the tests) so far and I'm taking 4 next year</p>
<p>Clubs: Math Club(3 years), Key Club(3 years), and Robotics(2 years)</p>
<p>Leadership Positions:
- Key Club's secretary
- VP of the Math Club(going to be President next year)
- Captained JV Tennis
- Student Body Treasurer next year</p>
<p>Awards: National Merit Scholar, Eagle Scout, and Spanish Honor Society to name a few</p>
<p>Other:
- On Varsity Tennis
- AIME participant
- Shadowed an IBM employee
- Over 400 hours of community service with Boy Scouts
- Raised $20, 000 for the American Leukemia & Lymphoma Society</p>
<p>I want want to use my fight against Leukemia as the basis for my essay. If I do this effectively and my recs are good, what are my chances at getting accepted? Thanks in advance to whoever answers my question!</p>
<p>You sound like you have great credentials. However, how can you be a National Merit Scholar already? They won't even announce semifinalists for your grade until September, and scholarships won't go out until next winter/spring. (Or are you just assuming?)</p>
<p>As for chances, I'm not sure anyone can really tell you that. You have the scores and decent EC's, but who really knows?</p>
<p>Ooooooh... your stats are good, but i think you need to put down a lot more extracurriculars. I visited this past spring and all of the people i talked to said that they thought they got in because of their extracurriculars, not on test scores. sorry if this is too brutal. but, what do i know, i'm in the same boat as you but w/ less impressive scores and more ecs.</p>
<p>I think the most important aspect in your application is appearing to be a promising student. If your fight against leukemia somehow proves that you will go on to do great things, or at least improve as a person, then it's a fine topic. However, if all the essay says is how you got through it, Stanford really isn't going to give a damn. They care less about who you have been, and more about who you can be.</p>
<p>I thought that Alex's extracurriculars are pretty good - VP of the Math Club and all that. But I agree that extracurriculars are quite important to get you into Stanford. I have the impression that of all the top schools, Stanford see more of the overall record rather than just academics. This is not to say that academics are downplayed here. They are extremely important. But in the tight competition for admission places, a great extracurricular might help tip the balance in your favor. When I applied to Stanford (I eventually got in), I gave them all the certs of my "outside" activities such as martial arts, parachute jumping, and marathon running etc.</p>