Chance Me for Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey, I’m applying early action to Stanford, and it’s my dream school. I was hoping someone would chance me for Stanford (or any other pretty good school like UNC, Vandy, the ivies)

SAT I: 1520 (not very good i know)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 790 Bio (M)
ACT: 36 composite (36 writing, 36 math, 36 reading, 35 science)
Unweighted GPA: 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.35
Rank: Top 3%
AP Scores: APHG (5), AP Stats (5), AP World (4), AP Physics C Mechanics(5), AP French (4), AP Calc BC (5), AP English Lang (5), AP Comp Sci (5), APUSH (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP English Lit, AP Physics 2, AP GOPO (US & Comparative), African American History, Linear Algebra, Anatomy
Awards:
National AP Scholar – 2016
National Merit Semifinalist – 2016 (ongoing competition)
Math Science Technology Distinguished Scholar - 2016 (School-wide award for 14/460 students)
2nd Place Statistics & Bioinformatics Award at Regional Science Fair -2016
Accepted to All-State Orchestra: 2014, 2015
Accepted to All-County Orchestra: 2013,2014,2015

Subjective:
Extracurriculars:
President of Science National Honor Society (2016) - member (2014-2016)
President of French National Honor Society (2016) - VP (2015) - Member (2014-2016)
Solo Violin Study (2005-2016), Local Youth Orchestra (2009-2015), and orchestra at my high school (2013-2015)
Beta Club (2014-2016)
FRC Robotics Team (2014) --> helped found the team; captain of logistics
Math National Honor Society (2013-2016)
Tutoring (2013-2016) : both in school and privately in math, science, violin, English, ACT
Cross Country (2013-2015)/ Track & Field (2014)

Job/Work Experience:
Paid Internship at a cancer research center
Private tutor

Volunteer/Community Service: Over 100 hours for honor societies, volunteer with a violin group (playing at soup kitchens and nursing homes)

Summer Activities:
Paid Internship: summer 2015
3 University classes (top in my class in all and all As): summer 2016
School Supply Drive for Students in Need: summer 2015

Essays:
Common App: 7/10 (it’s alright but not amazing)
Stanford Essays: overall 7/10 (again, I put in a lot of work, but I’m not the best writer)

Reccomendations:
Pre-cal and Calc Teacher (teacher for 2 years, aided for him this year): 8/10
Bio Teacher (teacher for 2 years, I really excelled in this class): 9/10
Private violin teacher (He’s taught me for 10 years, told me he’d write a stellar rec): 10/10
Counselor Rec: 10/10 (she knows me pretty well, and I talk to her a bit)

Other:
Financial aid: Plan to apply
Intended Major: Biology (maybe cellular or molecular)
State: KY
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: pretty high
Hooks: URM, first generation American (parents are immigrants)

2

I think youll get in, but at a high income bracket and no merit scholarship at Stanford or ivys, you need to be prepared to pay 60-70k per year. Better ideas are, if money’s an issue, schools like UNC, vandy, rice, Washington university, ect. All of those schools offer scholarshipsand the reason for them is to take students like yourself away from the Ivy League schools.

BTW, just submit your ACT. No need to submit both.

Being a semifinalist(maybe finalist), robotics team founder, all state orchestra, president of those societies, GPA, course rigor, and your ACT will be the most impressive to Stanford.

I don’t think having tutoring in subjects and act is something to brag about. Sure it’s an EC, but it’s not impressive unless you tutored students in those subjects.

3

I believe OP meant that she did the tutoring of others.

OP, you will be a very strong candidate. Aid will depend on what “very high” means; Kentucky and California are very different. :-j I don’t think anyone can count on Stanford as a safety, but you have as good a shot as anyone. If you like an outsider to look at your essays (my wife grew up in Louisville and went to UK, so I have a bit of a soft spot for the state), feel free to PM me.

4

Yeah, I meant that I tutor other students in those areas, since they’re my strengths. Overall, I’m much better at taking the ACT so I focused on that score, but doesn’t Stanford require that I send in all SAT/ACT scores I’ve taken? If so, I’m just worried that my SAT score may be harmful.

5

You have the base, impressive qualifications to potentially get into Stanford and other elite schools, but if you’re being honest that your essays/supps aren’t that great, I would strongly strongly advise you pay for the help of a professional essay consultant. With a high stats/impressive applicant like you, your writing can make or break you. A boring/lacklustre essay can be the reason for a “no.” Standford especially actually genuinely cares about the essay/supplements–I know a few students who got in partly on the strength of their writing (meaning, unlike you, they had lower test scores but they wrote A+ essay/supps).

6

You sound incredibly impressive… If you aren’t getting into Stanford, I honestly don’t know who is.

7

Welcome to the Farm!! I think you get in no problem but @proudterrier makes a great point. They genuinely do care about the essay.