Chance of getting into Stanford REA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

International student from UK
Normal high school

  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional):
    Male, Indian

Intended Major(s)
CS degree

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
1550 SAT (800 Maths, 750 English) (first time)
Don’t have class rankings but would be top in CS and Maths (related to teacher references)
Don’t do GPAs

Coursework
Don’t do APs of course, predicted 4 A*s in A-Levels, and already received A in AS-Level Further Maths
Subjects: Maths, Further Maths, Physics and CS

Awards
Qualified by Maths Olympiad
Competed Nationally in Chess
Finals in county for cricket

(Nothing special tbh, mainly because I focused on my ECs)

Extracurriculars
Started a 6-figure business, which is built around finding exploits in websites, and reversing complex algorithms made by multiple NASDAQ businesses (can’t really go into it too much, but it’s all legal of course)

Created multiple open-source projects, featured on articles and used by thousands

Know over 5 programming languages

Competed in hackathons (couldn’t do any IRL due to COVID)

Main volunteer at a place for disabled children and their families. Do many things to make it exciting, such as having the police and ambulance come so the children could use the hose, check out their cars etc…

Created an AI chess engine that can play chess at a competitive level

Essays/LORs/Other
Essays: 9/10. I’m generally good at writing essays and being able to express myself in words, as well as tell stories.

LORs:
CS: Great connection with teacher, has already given me a stellar recommendation for my UK university applications, 10/10

Maths: Again, a great connection with the teacher however I’ve only known them for a month, 8/10

Further Maths: Same with the one above, however I feel I have a much better connection, 9/10

Cost Constraints / Budget
Can pay tuition, so no financial aid required

Schools
Stanford REA
MIT
Berkeley
Harvard
Carnegie Mellon

NOTE

You’re probably looking at this thinking I’m reaching for the stars here, and you’re correct. I will be applying to universities in the UK, however if I do get into any of these I will be going to them.

I’m wondering, what could I also do to improve my chances? I understand my awards aren’t the greatest, but I had to sacrifice quite a lot of my time on my business, as well as dealing with COVID lockdown.

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What about room, board and other expenses? Cost of attendance at Stanford is $82k, plus you’ll have significant travel expenses. Can you afford full cost or only tuition?

The cost at all the other private schools you’ve listed is very similar.

All these schools are very hard to get into, so difficult to chance you - but likely low single digit percentage.

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I agree with @DadOfJerseyGirl that your chances are in the low single digit percentages. For an international student applying to Stanford, MIT, or Harvard that is actually quite good – but you will most likely end up at one of the excellent universities in the UK.

A bachelor’s degree from the UK plus a master’s degree in the US is likely to cost you less in total compared to just getting a bachelor’s at one of the top US schools without financial aid.

It makes sense to me that you would only consider coming to the US for a very highly ranked university. The UK has quite a few very good universities.

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Thanks for the info @DadTwoGirls DadTwoGirls! Yes I can pay full expenses, and also I will probably not get into any from the US primarily due to being an international, but is there anything I could do to increase my chances at this moment in time?

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@DadOfJerseyGirl *

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First, the cost is pretty high, we’re talking about over $300,000 over four years, and that will not include travel. Do your parents have that kind of money?

Second, your chances at Oxbridge, Imperial, or UCL are far better, and these are the equivalent to any of the USA universities, are far cheaper, and will take less time.

Your chances at any of the USA universities are pretty low - there are a large number of students applying from the UK, and all are very competitive. While your academics are very good, your lack of serious awards and distinctions is a definite issue.

That being said - if you can afford to attend if accepted, apply, but don’t have high expectations.

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If you want to maximize your chances, focus on your essays. Don’t look at them as individual essays, but rather as pieces of a quilt that together tell a compelling story about you. In my experience with our S and his classmates all had interesting stories that revealed their intellectual vitality, likability, and quirkiness.

One of my sons essays used chess to show how a lust for winning corrupted his love of the game - “winning was everything, I longed for the moment in the game when my opponent knew I had crushed him - the look of despair in his eyes was my trophy -that’s when I knew I had to quit “

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Building on that point: step back and look at your whole application: what is the overall narrative arc of your app?? what is the picture that mosaic of all the application elements add up to? think about what you what you want to convey, what isn’t obvious from your stats, coursework and ECs? Help the AO reader connect the dots through your LoRs. If you haven’t already, talk to your teachers about what traits you are trying to highlight (or, better, do up a cheat sheet of specific examples of experiences in their classes that demonstrate the characteristics you are trying to highlight). Then, through your own essays, add the color commentary that takes you from a 2-D applicant to a 3-D student that they can imagine on their campus.

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