What are my (brutally honest) chances of getting into Stanford:
Current cumulative GPA: 4.0
SAT: 2330
SAT Math II: 800
SAT Physics: 770
SAT Chem: 740
APs: 5’s on Calc AB, Calc BC, World History, US History, Chem, Physics, Computer Science (self-study)
Extra-curriculars:
12 years of martial arts: first degree black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Karate, and a third degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.
11 years of piano, won 6 consecutive national merits from the American College of Musicians
2 years of varsity tennis and 1 year of JV tennis
First place in state science fair 4 times
First place in regional science fair 5 times
Honorable mention in national science fair
Published in international high school journal of science twice
4 time senator in student government
Gold medal in national spanish exam
Head delegate of Model UN club
Qualified to take the AIME: got a score of 3
2 year member of National Honor Society
Founder and president of an internationally acclaimed organization that teaches kids how to code.
Created my own website that contains online lectures and exercises I made to help people learn to code.
Founded and facilitated online programming competitions for kids.
Had an internship at CMU computer science department
What do you think my realistic chances are for Stanford?
Your academics are fine, and you have some solid ECs. You need to pare down the laundry list a bit and organize your application to present a coherent narrative. What do you want to study/do? What is your passion? What choices have you made? What in your life demonstrates “intellectual vitality”?
No one can accurately chance you, but you have the makings of a reasonably strong applicant if you package yourself properly. I’d cut back on some of the extraneous activities and put your efforts into augmenting those which can make you stand out. What are your summer plans?
Yup. You are the wrong minority and you won’t get much aid either because probably your parents worked hard and save money by denying themselves luxuries and pleasures. That’s a crime in FAFSA universe.
Let’s put it this way. Stanford is a reach for anybody but you have as good of a chance as anybody of getting in. (Who isn’t the son of the Dean of Admissions or something.)
I’ll just roughly estimate your chances. Stanford has about a 5.1% acceptance rate. Stats wise you are one of the better applicants they will have, but you will be one of many with elite stats. I’ll say you have a 33% of getting in which could go up or down depending on your admissions essays/recommendations. My advice is try to show them that you have passion without directly stating it. You will get into a great school with your stats even if it isn’t Stanford.
^^ No one can accurately chance you. But of course you have a chance, and probably well above the average, if you package yourself well. Stop looking for certainty where it doesn’t exist. Focus on your life, make sure that you package yourself well in your applications, and keep your options open.
kUnfortunately, you will be applying along with a lot of high-performing kids who have similar interests as you - tennis, piano, martial arts, science fair wins looking to study CS. Your challenge will be stand out among the crowd. Think about ways in which you can do that. Best of luck!
I’ve done a lot with teaching others how to code as you can see from the latter part of my EC list. I feel like it should help me stand out and build a narrative for me as well