Chance Me (only 3 years of HS)

Hey friends! I feel a little annoying posting a “chance me,” but I feel like my application has a lot of holes in it because I don’t have an 11th-grade year… I did a Dept. of State exchange last year and am making up all of my classes as a senior. Because I didn’t have an 11th-grade year, I missed out on some of those typical admit stats like NHS or being an officer of a club. I digress…

I’m a Questbridge finalist, and I ranked Stanford as my top school in the match.
ACT: 33C, 36R, 34S, 33E, 29M
GPA: 4.33 (4.0 UW)
AP: Human Geo (5), Government (3)
Senior Courses: AP Lit, AP Lang, APUSH, Honors Bio 2, AP Bio, APES, Honors Pre Cal, AP French, Econ, Personal Finance
Prospective major: Earth Systems

Accomplishments/Awards: SSEP Experiment selected to go to the International Space Station (eighth grade), Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Youth Ambassador to Germany, Honor Roll
Volunteer: 400+ hours at a montessori school, conservation work in Bavarian Alps, teaching German to refugees
Internship: Local urban community farm
Work: A local climbing gym
ECs: Captain of climbing team, NAHS, NFHS
Other free time stuff: Environmental activism organizing (Rise for Climate), yoga, hiking

Recommendations: Waived, but probably 9/10ish
Essay topics:

  • Thermophiles in Yellowstone (ideas of beauty in science, contrast in size b/t the spring and the microorganisms)
  • Biographical essay (finding passion for learning, spelling bee, dad’s drug addiction, falling in love with climbing, going to Germany)
  • Teaching German to refugees (the women’s dedication to learning the language, the hospitality they showed me)
  • The link between culture and environment and why environmental solutions require consideration of both and an interdisciplinary mindset
  • Letter to Roommate mostly talked about my weird environmentalist habits, how I hate styrofoam, why I like mornings
    Short Answers: Apathy and climate change, Historical event was Salem Witch Trials (more data as to what caused it), wanting to take the extremophiles introsem