ChanceMe Stanford [REA] Class of 2024

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

Currently Junior, so UW GPA should be higher next year. I’m using an acceptance/waitlist/defer/reject decision format and adapting it.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1600
ACT (breakdown): 36 (35 R)
SAT II: 800 Math L2, 700 World, 780 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.663
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 20
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human (5), Calc (BC: 5, AB: 5), Physics 1 (5), World (4) [Pending Macro, Bio, Lang, C Mech, USH, CSA but I think I will get 2 4s max on them in Macro/USH]
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, Lit, USGov, Physics 2, Physics C E&M, Chem
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Google Code-In Winner, USABO Semifinalist, National Merit, eCybermission Regional Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  1. Science Olympiad (Captain hopefully next year)
  2. Biology Olympiad (VP)
  3. Model UN (Officer to President)
  4. Community Service Club (Co-President)
  5. Youth Symphony/All State Violist
  6. Math Team
  7. Computational Biology Internship at prestigious lab [this summer]
  8. Open Source Development
  9. Varsity Bowling
  10. Robotics
    Job/Work Experience: Restaurant Host / Cashier / Server, Tutor
    Volunteer/Community Service: 120 hours+ (not going to laundry list, pretty standard activities)
    Summer Activities: sophomore year- volunteered and worked; junior year- summer internship, drafting review paper for publication
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): will probably write around 7-8 since I’m not a natural writer
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): probably around 8-9

Teacher Rec #1: Biology, has a lot of good things to say, will be a stellar rec (9)
Teacher Rec #2: Lang, has good things to say, good rec writer but not as strong as 1st (7-8)
Counselor Rec: doesn’t know me that well, but will have good things to say (6-7)
Additional Rec: maybe my internship mentor who is a lab PI (no rating because haven’t done internship)
Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Will need to
Intended Major: Computational Biology / Bioinformatics
State (if domestic applicant): TN
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 85k-100k range
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none really, asian male ting.

Reflection

Strengths: good focus in STEM field (bio) while still being well rounded,
Weaknesses: asian male going into STEM

General Comments:
I’m going to be focusing like 80% of my energy on colleges doing the Stanford app/essays, since it’s my first choice and I’m applying REA. I hope I’ll be able to put a good app together and the rest is up to luck.

2

Also, for Model UN and Biology Olympiad, our school hosts competitions for the local area.
We have our own Model UN conference (5th iteration next year), and we are doing a BioBowl for the first time next year.

3

You’re an exceptional candidate and no one here would tell you otherwise. Yet again, it’s still Stanford and the best of the best still don’t get in so don’t be upset if the outcome is not what you hope for. I wish I could tell you perfect grades would get you in there, but with how competitive everything is nowadays, I just cant. Work hard and keep your head high. If you are looking to go to California for college for STEM I would look into Santa Clara University, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Cal Tech, USC, UCSB, Cal Poly SLO, UCSD, UCI, UCD, USD, LMU, SJSU (as a backup) are also all good options to look into as well.

4

Asian males who I interviewed who got in were able to display a strong humanistic side, even STEM. I’ d say if you played bluegrass you’d be a shoo-in, but I’m only half joking.

5

@Turnippman Thanks for the tip. I’m not expecting a guarantee at all.

@DHMchicago i think I kind of get what you’re saying. I’m assuming that my LORs and essays would display that.

6

Great stats. Is there anything you can do to to improve your recommender #2 or is that the best you can get (rated 7-8). Also, plan on meeting with your counselor a few times to get better acquainted. Perhaps a meeting to discuss where you are applying to (and when), as well as which teachers you are considering for recommenders.

7

@Rivet2000 Yes I was actually just thinking about that. So instead of taking another AP course next year I’m planning to TA for this teacher, and I think my counselors are definitely going to be the weakest part of my app because I haven’t really gotten to know them, so I’ll do my best to interact a bit more there.

Thanks.

8

I’m TAing for my AP Chemistry Teacher. Do you think that would that count as an EC as well?

9

I’m TAing for my AP Chemistry Teacher. Do you think that would that count as an EC as well?

10

well how did you do so well on sat? Was it your first time?

11

@“zero/one” I just had lots of practice with the ACT/PSAT that I took the SAT once and just aced it. It was also a relatively easy set of problems (curve was brutal but ig u dont have to worry when you don’t miss anything)