White/Hispanic/Jewish female from WV, public schooling, with double legacy at Stanford (I know, confusing!)
Intended Major: Computer Science/Aerospace Engineering, maybe Political Science
Academics:
3.9 GPA weighted/UC GPA, 3.5/3.6 unweighted. I got 7 B’s in 16 class semesters sophomore year but turned it around and got B’s both semester of AP Bio and A’s in everything else. I’ve also taken 6 AP classes, not including the 5 I’m taking this year. Our school doesn’t rank.
ACT: 33 (35 English, 34 CR, 33 Science, 28 Math)
SAT: 1990/2060 (Superscore: 700 reading, 690 math, 690 reading)
No SAT II
Extracurriculars and Awards:
WV High School Swimming Champ/10xFinalist
-Club Swimming (11 years)
-NMSF
-National AP Scholar
-Scholastic Gold Key (Short Story)
-FPSPI Scenario Writing 2nd Place (WV)
-President of Art Club
-President of Young Democrats
-President/Founder of Jewish Culture Club
-Historian of National Spanish Honor Society
-Volunteer at the Synagogue
-Volunteer with various art programs
-Member of NHS (head of two subcommittees there), National Art Honorary, FRC Robotics
I wrote about my moderate/severe hearing loss and how it’s helped shape me as a person in a positive way for my Common App/second UC essay and about coming from a minority family in WV for my first UC essay.
@jman457 Thanks! That’s actually pretty reassuring. I feel like the math score was pretty low, but I didn’t want to retake it because I figured it wouldn’t be worth messing up my English score.
I believe your chances are good, not great because you’ve picked an impacted major.
Your disability is a hook at most of those schools. They receive federal dollars for you, so I assume you’ll get in to most of your targets; Stanford is a crapshoot even with the 33 ACT score.
With the UC’s, they don’t look at ethnicity; its against the law to use ethnicity/race for admissions to public schools in California (Affirmative Action is illegal in California). So when they look at your application, they will look at GPA and ACT scores first.
You do have to look at funding. The UC’s are California public schools and they don’t provide much in the way of financial aid to OOS students. You might get some federal monies for your hearing loss, but I don’t know if it will cover $55K per year. Can you afford those fees???
Also don’t submit your SAT scores, as #1 they are below the 25th percentile for your reach schools, and the ACT can get you out of subject test requirements for most schools. I don’t know why Mathfan21 said you have no chance at those schools when your ACT is above avg and your a double legacy.
@“aunt bea” Thanks for your insight! I think it’s probably my strongest point but I also don’t want to have them thinking I’m throwing a pity party because of it. Besides, I do want to get on based on my merits. And yes, one of my parents has become a facility member of a UC school, so I would get in-state tuition.
@jman457 unfortunately, @CCMThreeTimes is right. It’s not just Stanford, but the other schools too, I believe. Otherwise, I would have just tried to study for the ACT and aim for a perfect score. I think the problem is the 28 math, but it’s okay. I’m just going to submit and hope for the best, I guess.
Hispanic Female going for CS w/ double legacy at Stanford counts for something applying there. Yes - academics aren’t top notch and ECs are just ok. Won’t be easy, but you have some things going for you.
