I finished my freshmen year this past week and my GPA made me want to kill myself. I had the worst teachers (they have been fired recently, thank God) and part of it was my fault. I received a 3.4 GPA. I heard that Stanford forgives freshmen year if they see a wonderful improvement (straight A’s) the next 3 years. My school offers AP/IB classes which I plan to take as many as I can. I’m also a Youtuber and its my passion. I also plan on volunteering in a third world country next summer. Do I still stand a chance or is the “stanford forgives freshmen year” rumour false?
I also plan on getting a 31 ACT score and I will achieve that score as many times as it takes.
Anyone? 
Someone please answer, I’m kinda stressing out haha
It doesn’t matter if you got a 4.0 this year and perfect ACT or SAT, the chances of getting into Stanford are highly stacked against you. They have FAR too many well qualified students for the spots they have and, like many other “elite” schools, they give a massive advantage to legacies. No matter what you do, you cannot be so qualified that you are guaranteed admission to Stanford. Do the best you can from here on out and don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get into a lottery school. There are many great opportunities out there. You’ll have time to learn more about yourself over the next few years and you will be able to tailor your search based on lots more than the wow factor of the bumper sticker.
And, BTW, bumping same day is a bit of a faux paux. Bumping minutes apart is ridiculous.
Don’t stress your after finishing your freshman year as you still have a lot of time to define your High School experience. Furthermore, yes, you may be able to get into Stanford with a 3.4 GPA your Freshman year. Strive to get a lot higher of a GPA and take the most rigorous curriculum offered at your school.
Also try not to blame your teachers. Blaming yourself is the best way to learn to improve at anything in life.
Try scoring higher than a 31 on the ACT (Shoot for 34+). Or a 2200+ on the SAT.
Do extracurricular activities and things that YOU’RE passionate about. Please don’t do things just to satisfy Stanford. Remember that even if you don’t get in, you want to look back and not see regret of not doing what you loved.
Other than that, keep expanding on your passion. And don’t let adversity knock you down.
Stanford doesn’t actually look at Freshman year grades, so you’re fine on that aspect.
But as you should hopefully know, getting a 4.0 doesn’t make you an auto-in at Stanford, just as getting a 3.4 doesn’t make you an auto-reject. However, most people (95%) are rejected, so it would be a good idea to have the highest GPA possible.
You most likely won’t get in with a 31 act either.
Who is putting pressure on you to get into Stanford?
If you have to ask for chances, then you really don’t know Stanford. It is a lottery. The “third world” country thing is a fad and they’ll see that.
My three children are Stanford legacies. One of the three was waitlisted last year with all of the perfect score, grades and EC expectations.
Get good grades and do activities that you like, not to build an application; they will see right through that.
I don’t think your GPA is the problem, you’ll definitely need at least a 34 on your ACT. As others already mentioned, don’t do EC’s just to pad your application. Several admissions counselors have told me that they’d rather see a student who’s dedicated to a couple of EC’s for years (shows commitment and passion) than someone who’s all over the place.That said, even with a perfect score/GPA and “perfect” EC’s, your chances of getting into a highly selective school are still very, very slim.
Unlikely, your GPA is low also a 34+ on the ACT will help but remember that Stanford has holistic admission process so they don’t only look only ACT score or GPA. Nobody can guarantee you that you have a chance, just try your best.
Don’t blame teachers for your bad marks, you should reflect on what you did wrong & try to improve yourself, not pray for “easy” teachers. Also, don’t get your hopes too high with Stanford. You never have a high chance of getting in unless you win some prestigious international award. Do what you want to do & not what Stanford wants you to do & you’ll be a lot happier throughout highschool.
I hope you realize sometime before college apps that happiness doesn’t mean getting accepted into Stanford. You do you, and you’ll be happy with it.