Chance Me - Stanford 2023 REA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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Hello, I’m back again (I know, you all hate me) because someone informed me that I should make my information a little more digestible via lists as opposed to clunky paragraphs. I have obliged in the hope of a better response.

Also, I have a few questions on my application in the “Miscellaneous” section. If you’d kindly look at those as well as chancing me, that would be absolutely wonderful.


To begin: Yes, I have backup schools. Yes, I have other schools I'm very interested in (USC, U of U, BYU, Cornell, etc). Yes, I am going to work on my ACT score. Yes, I know Stanford is hard to get into. Yes, I'm positive it's my first choice.

~~Stats~~
UW GPA: 3.995 (one A- first term of my Junior year, should be the only one haha) 
W GPA: Around 4.4 (school does not report, but I calculated it), should be 4.49 by the time I submit application
ACT: 32 no superscore (36 E 29 M 33 R 29 S), taking again in July and aiming for a 34/35 (I have tutor helping me)
AP Classes: AP Human Geo (no score, 9th grade), AP World History (5, 10th), AP US History (no score available yet, should get 5), AP Lang (no score yet, we'll see how I feel after the 11th of May haha)
--Taking AP Calc, AP Art, AP Gov/Pol, and AP Lit senior year
Class rank: 26/411? (in the top 10% and should be way higher by next year, not sure of exact # but it's in the 20s range)

~~ECs~~
Model United Nations/ Model European Union (4 years by graduation)
--Won 2-3 superior delegate awards (State level) and 3-5 excellent delegate and honorable mention awards, invited to speak at the state conference opening ceremony. I also help chair at the junior high conference (so help run, not just participate)
March For Our Lives School Ambassador (2 years by graduation)
--Helped plan MFOL-related events including rallies, town halls, etc. Also hosted a school voter registration drive (registered 75 people in an hour) as encouraged by but not directly involved with the organization
National #ENOUGH School Walkout Planner (local, one-time things)
--Helped get approval from school admins to host a school walkout post-Parkland shooting. As a result, principal invited me to a gun safety conference held in the region and an invite-only town hall to discuss school safety (only 2 kids chosen from our entire school for both)
Swim Team (2 years by graduation)
--Varsity letter, "black shirt" team (higher than Varsity, only 8/45-ish swimmers chosen), made it to State team 1st year (did not place)
Small Business (3 years by graduation)
--Make about $500-800/year (not a lot but I don't have to work a lot, commission-based business), sell artwork, designs, and custom-made costume pieces
Korean Culture and Language Club Co-Founder/VP (3 years by graduation)
--That pretty much sums it up
National Honor Society (2 years by graduation)
--Active member, no leadership positions. Not much else to say here
Youth Planning Committee (1 year, local)
--Chosen by church for a youth committee (one of ~12/500), helped plan activities, etc. 
Work Experience (1 year)
--Worked at a Dairy Queen for a year and got a $2 raise and a couple small awards before I quit because head management was the absolute worst. I got along really well with my fellow employees and shift managers, though.

~~Goals/Hope to Achieve~~
School GSA Founder/President (guaranteed)
--Genders and Sexualities Alliance founder and president for next year, will work with school newspaper and faculty to provide LGBTQ+ students with more support and resources
GLSEN Student Ambassador (very possible but uncertain)
--Selected to talk about LGBTQ+ issues and work with GLSEN on media promotion, etc.
MUN Volunteer (likely?)
--Help with local/state MUN board. Also possibly win 1-2 more awards and maybe help re-establish and run Model EU again since one of the local colleges stopped supporting it :(
Refugee Center Volunteer (99%)
--Help out all summer at the local refugee center and do whatever they need me to because I want refugees to know I love and support them ok
Swim Team Captain (????)
--I'm crossing my fingers (it's definitely possible but you never know who will get elected)
Internship for Local Government (I really hope so)
--I received contact info for my city's mayor as well as a few legislators/representatives. I'm going to contact them about internship opportunities and I have some more inside ways of getting them to let me intern (thanks to the previously mentioned town halls), but politicians are unpredictable haha

~Hooks~
--Part of LGBTQ+ Community (pansexual nonbinary, but we're simplifying here)
--My school experienced a school stabbing, which lead me to be very involved in school safety, March For Our Lives, etc.
--super white (jk jk I know that's not a hook at all)
--Crazy liberal in the heart of conservative Utah (ok I'll stop)

~Miscellaneous~
--Applying as Undecided but as a likely PoliSci major
--Applying REA (as title states). Do you think my application will be good enough that REA is a good idea?
--I should be able to get really good recommendations from my AP Lang, AP US/World/Gov teacher and a fantastic one from my counselor. I'm trying to decide if I should get another letter from my swim coach or from the MFOL supervisor from our chapter, but both would definitely have really good and helpful things to say. Assuming I do choose to include the extra letter, which one should I go for? My coach would be able to highlight some personal achievement/growth really well and she knows me a bit better, but the MFOL supervisor fits the "theme" of my application a bit more (and she would still be able to write an excellent letter). She also happens to be part of admissions at U of U, and while this isn't how I know her or why I'd ask her, I don't know if this will look odd or not. What do you think?
--I'm working on my essays now but they'll hopefully turn out well. Based on the information I've provided here, do you have some suggestions for essay subjects that could really highlight parts of my application?
--I realize there's a lot of info here that I can't all include in my application. How can I condense all this stuff to fit in my application? How do I separate awards from clubs without losing the value of either?

Well, that’s basically it! Any feedback would be incredible. Thank you guys for taking the time to scan through everything!

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4.3%

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Hi @thehawkarisen, Stanford Class of 2022 here!

As you mentioned, improving your ACT should be a top priority, Unless you have a hook (URM/legacy/first gen… a hook does NOT include the fact that someone was stabbed at your school) you need at least a 34 to be seriously considered. You didn’t mention SAT IIs or NMSF which are musts. Your AP’s are acceptable, but I’m curious as to why you don’t have a score for human geo.

EC’s are super important for any of HYPSM. Your extracurriculars are all over the place (MUN, Korean Club, planning committee, swim team, founding GSA) and don’t really meld into a cohesive narrative that will impressive the adcoms. Instead they look like the all too familiar ivy try hard who is a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. As I’m sure you’ve gleaned from other threads, top institutions tend to value ‘pointy’ students over well rounded ones, unless you did extremely well in academics at national level (completely perfect stats). You say you want to be a polysci major at Stanford but besides MUN (extremely common) and MFOL activism (local level and various one-time things), none of your ec’s specifically show the passion for poly sci or even one specific subject/idea.

And like you mentioned, I would not include some of the minor activities you mentioned on your app. I didn’t include MUN/ YIG awards though I had plenty because they are dime-a-dozen. If you have specific leadership positions, definitely include those.

“Do you think my application will be good enough that REA is a good idea?” You should go for REA/ SCEA at your number one, first choice, dream school. Don’t let the admission statistics at a school sway you.

Pick the rec of the person who knows you more and is a good writer.

Write essays about what you love and what you can write well about-- no one on this thread can or should pick a topic that fits you.

If you have any questions or need other advice, feel free to PM me! Good luck!

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@mohave Thank you!

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@mohave (sorry, I tried to edit my comment but it wouldn’t let me, so here’s the rest of my response)
I did not take the AP human geo test because it was ninth grade, and while in retrospect I probably should have, I’ve heard that Stanford doesn’t look at ninth grade scores as strongly so I’m not too worried about it.

While I understand that you feel like my ECs are a bit everywhere (and yes, some of them are but those are likely to be left out of my application), a GSA, MUN, helping at a refugee center, MFOL, and even Korean Club (which I doubt I’ll even put down) all tie into what I feel shows my passion for more liberal politics and my involvement with groups and communities that give me experience with the direction that I would like to take a polisci degree. I want to show these connections through my essays, too. Hopefully that made sense to you!

Also, just as a note, I actually do work state-wide for MFOL and I may end up getting “promoted” to work across the nation along with our other lead organizers. It’s a bit bigger than it seems!

Honestly though, you gave fantastic feedback and I really appreciate it! I’ll take what you said into consideration for sure.