Hello All,
As you can probably deduce from my name, Stanford is my dream school and the only school that I really feel strongly about wanting to attend. To give some background, I am a Black-Vietnamese student living in a single parent household. I’m not going to list off all my stats but my un-weighted GPA is 3.92 all AP/IB classes with a 35 on the ACT. A LOT of people at my school tell me that I am for sure going to get into Stanford due to being black with a 35 ACT but I know that there is nothing “for sure” with Stanford admissions… Anyways, I made this thread to ask how others have coped with the agonizing wait until the big day. I was recently 1 of ~250 people to get early accepted to Vanderbilt (Mosaic Program) so I have some peace of mind in knowing that I’m a competitive applicant but now I just can’t stop thinking about why I haven’t gotten an early letter from Stanford. Can anyone else relate to this hyper-nervousness/hysteria that I’m experiencing or am I the only one? Lastly, how does one deal with rejection from their dream school because in all likelihood I will be rejected (based on fact that acceptance rate most likely going below 5% this year)?
Why specifically is Stanford your dream school? Often people idealize a school when it’s actually not drastically different from one they already got into
I am drawn to stanford because I am extremely interested in Physics (pursued some physics research in highschool) and plan on pursuing research in college. Stanford has SLAC and emphasizes getting Undergraduates involved in research. Plus, I visited the campus and the atmosphere is much more laid back and people don’t wear their egos on their sleeves. I’m sure that I could be happy at other colleges but I don’t like the idea of settling for a school that isn’t the perfect match for me like stanford is.
Yale was my dream school. I applied SCEA and got deferred, meaning that I’m probably gonna get rejected in the regular round.
How do you take it? Well, there’s no way you can brace yourself for a rejection/deferral. No matter how much you can look at the stats, there’s always that sliver of hope that you will be accepted. There’s nothing worse than having that sliver of hope completely crushed. After the initial point, it’s a very hard 1 to 2 days. Then, you look at all the other options you have, all the scholarships you were offered elsewhere, all your friends (who probably also got rejected), and you leave it in the past.
It’s not easy, but it’s not life-ending.
Honestly, I’m just saying that a lot of people fall in love with the idea of falling in love with a university. The truth is, you can’t tell whether you’re a “perfect fit” for a university based on a campus tour. Besides universities with definite “personalities” (BYU, MIT, Alabama, etc.) most (especially top-tier) universities are very similar. I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect fit for Stanford… it’s a very diverse place.
As for what @stanfordhopeful4 said specifically… besides SLAC, most other top universities have the things he/she mentioned. As for the laid back atmosphere… it may seem like it’s laid back, but in reality it’s anything but. The tension is just hidden really well. Google “Stanford Duck Syndrome” if you want to know more.
Cheer up; you might get into Yale yet! My friend who applied last year was also deferred but then she was accepted RD.
i feel exactly the same way as you @stanfordhopeful4
You need to get a little perspective on this for your sanity’s sake. Do you really expect a letter from Stanford? Because unless you are a highly recruited athlete, I do not understand why you would, especially as you seem cognizant of the low acceptance rate. There is nothing you can do but wait, as everyone else is doing. I know how tense all you seniors must be at this time, but thinking about it to this degree is not going to change anything, so you might as well distract yourself with living life as normal. And please do not obsess about Stanford. You’ve done what you can, and life will be what you make of it, no matter where you go to college. Best of luck.
Yeah, honestly, I always say it’s normal not to get accepted… nobody gets accepted. Bright, not bright, everyone gets rejected. Except once in a blue moon somebody makes it through… that’s not the norm at all. It’s like hoping to win the lottery… no matter how many tickets you buy, you just probably won’t make it and it has almost nothing to do with you. Yes, I was accepted, but I attribute a large portion of that to luck… I was qualified, but it depended on so many other factors (like where I was in the stack, what admissions officer read my application, etc. ) that I honestly don’t think I’m that much more qualified than like 20% of applicants.
Also, I barely know anyone who isn’t happy at the college they’re at… whether they’re in their safeties or top choices. The few people I know who are unhappy are actually spread pretty evenly among top choices (Yale), realistic choices (Northwestern and Notre Dame) and safeties (state school). And it’s mostly their fault… it’s all about your perception. Not so much as what college you go to as what you do there.
That’s true and logical. I have succeeded in detaching myself from Stanford in the meantime as I look more and more into Vanderbilt and see how lucky I am to have been admitted early. I can only hope that my work in high school has truly separated me from the other black applicants and wait until all my other decisions come. As a wise person on CC once said, “Don’t fall in love with a college until you’ve been admitted.”
I think there’s nothing wrong with falling in love with a college.
But I will say this. Be careful and don’t allow perceived notions to dictate your opinion. Stanford was my dream school for a long time in high school. Now that I’m here, Stanford is pretty different from what I perceived of it in high school. Would Stanford still have been my dream school if I knew Stanford as I know it today? It’s tough to say.
Duck syndrome exists. But it is slightly exaggerated.
@guccigirl Interesting—can you elaborate on the differences you’ve noticed? We all hear about how great Stanford is, but getting some details about its negatives (in addition to duck syndrome) would be helpful. For example, do you think being on the quarter system is a plus or a minus? Students get to take more courses, but having exams three times a year could make the overall experience a negative.
Yes, that would make a good thread. One can hope it would be helpful to many of the applicants here.
I’ll make it a new thread.
@Planner have you made a new thread? I’m willing to post on it. Also, I would just like to make clear I still love Stanford, but Stanford is not what I originally imagined it to be.
@guccigirl Thanks! I did, but not much was happening on it. I’ll comment again on it to bump it.