<p>Advice, please. </p>
<hr>
<p>I am a second semester junior and would like to know what I should do to increase my chances of getting into Stanford.</p>
<p>Stats so far:
-Catholic private school
-African-American/Korean female
-3.5 gpa (upward trend, honors and AP classes)
-Co-captain of Varsity cheer squad
-Varsity cheerleader, 1 letter, 4 awards (10th, 11th, and next year)
-Over 200 Volunteer hours with the Red Cross (9th, 10th, 11th, plus this summer)
-Catholic student leadership program at school (11th grade and next year as well)
-Volunteer to feed homeless people breakfast about once a month (11th grade)
-Chair of speakers committee for an African-American summit hosted at my school. Also organized a toy-drive and raised over 50 toys for a children's hospital by my school!
-Volunteered at a military medical training center for 60 hours (11th grade)
-Volunteered at a charity dinner that sponsors the organization where I feed breakfast to the homeless (11th grade)
-Relay for life (11th grade)
-NOLA service trip- going to Louisiana this summer with a group of kids from school to help build houses for Katrina victims!!!</p>
<p>Other:
-12 years of piano lessons
-certified in CPR </p>
<p>Senior year schedule:
AP Language
AP Lit
AP Pyschology
Spanish 4
Anatomy
Intro to Calc</p>
<p>Scores:
SAT- took in May, not happy with my score..retaking in October for hopefully a 2100
ACT- taking in June, hoping for a 30
Subject tests- Math 2c, Lit, and maybe Math 1 or History for the third test...depends on how I feel on test day; aiming for mid 700s on each.</p>
<p>Plans for college:
Study pre-medicine and major in English. I plan to become an Emergency Room Doctor after college and want to do a lot of volunteer work in Africa. </p>
<p>Last words:
I visited Stanford last summer after months of researching about the school and absolutely LOVED it! Stanford is my hands down first-choice school and if I do not get in there then I will be attending a state school, which I would also be happy at. I am super passitionate about helping people, and I am very out-going when it comes to volunteering. I am also a good leader and hope to use my skills to become the best person I can be for others!</p>
<p>Your ECs are very strong and could get you in anywhere, but you’re very limited by academics. Unfortunately, a 3.5 under almost no condition will be acceptable for Stanford, and a 2100 is on the low ends. A 2250+ or 33(ACT) would be much more ideal, and see if your GPA could be raised (to the minimum) to a 3.7 UW. If that is possible, Stanford could be a possible low reach for you. You have a lot of leadership, but not a lot of academia.</p>
<p>Yes, I know. I transfered from an easy public middle school to a very hard private school so my freshman year grades were about a 3.3. I have had around a 3.7 each semester since then, and that is with adding harder classes and more activities.</p>
<p>I could definitely try for a 2200 and 33. Is there anything else I could add for academics? My school doesn’t have many academic awards, but I will try to do some essay contests. </p>
<p>Thanks for your response! I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>If they have any distinction awards or Honor Societies, that would probably help as well. But it really is just your scores and your gpa as a whole. You do have two major hooks (bonuses) - you are a very unusual breed if I may say, and a minority in both - and you are an intelligent cheerleader (Those exist!?!?). Both are uncommon and would help your application somewhat.</p>
<p>If you had a moment, chancing back would be appreciated 
</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/933115-chance-me-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/933115-chance-me-will-chance-back.html</a></p>
<p>Alright, I just chanced you! What are my hooks besides being a minority? I am first-generation as well if that helps any. And yes, smart cheerleaders do exist :)</p>
<p>Stanford is a legacy school. Either you know people, or you’re an extreme genius. Stanford is a beautiful school and everything but with a 3.5 im not too sure you’d get in. I know i really wanted to go to Stanford as well but theres no way that will happen, even though ive had ten relatives graduate with PhD’s. Whatever.</p>
<p>Try looking at a UC, i bet you’d fair a lot better there. In the meantime, what the hell, apply for Stanford. Don’t have any regrets.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. I am still going to keep trying though.</p>
<p>I would say a great shot since you’re URM. Really unique.</p>
<p>Well, thank you. But I would prefer if people just focused on my capability and personality versus my race. I have a whole more to offer than a check mark in the ethnicity box of a college application. But thanks.</p>
<p>Chance a junior for Stanford
15%</p>
<p>Well the acceptance rate at Stanford is hovering around 7%…so thank you!</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re going to get in… your scores and your GPA are too low.</p>
<p>
That’s good. But how is your rank? Your transcript?</p>
<p>
Is your school competitive?</p>
<p>
Please… get those scores. Prediction is not good.</p>
<p>
Maybe write an essay about it?</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Your 3.5 GPA is definitely your biggest concern. Even if you totally pwned the SAT/ACT, it would still drag you down, and short of all A’s from now on, it’s going to be REALLY hard to pull it up to a 3.7 in the short time you have left in high school. As someone mentioned, you better convince them that your high school is really, REALLY difficult. That where rank/percentiles/quartiles come into play. Since you didn’t mention your rank, we can’t take that into consideration, but a high rank would cast a much kinder light on your GPA.</p>
<p>For Stanford, your EC’s are somewhat lacking. Cheer is obviously a passion, so you’ll probably want to emphasize your achievements there. Your dedication to community service is great, though. Your ethnicity might also help, though I’m not sure how much. Maybe try working it into an essay?</p>
<p>Still, short of absolutely PHENOMENAL essays and sky-high test scores, Stanford is probably out of reach. =/</p>
<p>I’d have to agree with Silverwing you really are gunna need some killer esays and at least somewhat higher test scores.</p>
<p>No, my school does not rank. It’s not as competitive as some of those top-notch schools in New York and such, but virtually everyone graduates and goes on to four-year colleges. But my class in paricular is quite intelligent. We have already had one girl get a 2300 on the SATs and a handful with 2200s. Most people I have talked to scored around a 1700-1900. </p>
<p>Essays will definitely be my strong point because I love to write, and I think that my essays will be my last chance to show Stanford who I really am as a person and how I’d contribute to their school. My reccomendations should be strong also.</p>
<p>I am taking the ACT and SAT subject tests in June.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? You all have been very helpful so far.</p>
<p>your gpa and sats are awfully on the low end for stanford, but you have great extracurriculars!
id say that youd need at least a 2250 to make up for your gpa, as well as sat iis above 750
if youre going to take math2, theres absolutely no need to take math1
you might as well just take a history sat instead to show how well-rounded you are (not just science)
i wish you good luck!
chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/932434-chances-stanford-columbia-brown-northwestern-jhu-accelerated-med-programs.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/932434-chances-stanford-columbia-brown-northwestern-jhu-accelerated-med-programs.html</a></p>