Chances at Stanford, please...

<p>Definitely been my top choice for a while</p>

<p>school uses blocking, and no the school isn't difficult. I'm incredibly lazy.</p>

<p>GPA 9-11: 3.68W(awful weighing system: 4.333 for an A in an AP)
GPA 10-11: 3.938W(again, lol) stanford GPA
Freshmen:3.196UW(no AP, 1 Honor)</p>

<p>Sophomore:3.791(no AP, no Honor)[1Ap and 1 Honor was offered]</p>

<p>Junior: most AP anyone took
English 3: A/A-
*Pre AP Physics B: A/A
*AP US History: B+/B/A-
*Pre AP Calc AB: A/A
*AP Biology: A/A
*AP Statistics: A/A
Speech III: A
Spanish: A/A</p>

<p>*:Weighed course, A=4.333 A-=4.0 B+=3.667, etc</p>

<p>Class Rank: at the moment, probably top 12%. I'll hopefully get to the 10% after the first semester of senior year(based off of an assumption that I won't be lazy...)</p>

<p>ACT: 34
SAT: 2300
SAT II: 790US, 770 Biology, 800 Math IIC
PSAT 220</p>

<p>AP Tests: At least a 4 on Bio and US(only took those)</p>

<p>ECs:
*Speech and Debate 3 Years LD Debate, nats qualifier
*Medical Club 3 Years
*AIME (like it means anything, right?)
*Stanford Debate Camp - Advanced Seminar
*Attending JSA Georgetown Session - Advanced program
[If I like JSA, I'll probably start a JSA chapter at my school...]
*NHS 3 years
*Internship at a local Law firm</p>

<p>My ECs reflect interest in politics, while my grades reflect interest in math & science... @_@
Should I even bother with Stanford?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Should I even bother with Stanford?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, you never know.</p>

<p>I'm going to apply--I'm more concerned with chances, however...</p>

<p>X9521-I don't think anyone here can tell you whether or not you will get an acceptance letter from Stanford. Honestly, apply, write good essays, and hope for the best. There's nothing more you or the Stanford CC cand do and say.</p>

<p>Okay chances. The GPA is, obviously, hurting you, but make sure to show a specific passion for something in your essays -- e.g. politics.</p>

<p>I don't see how the GPA is hurting me at all. I have a 3.95 without the Freshmen year. Is my class rank the only thing that's substantially hurting me? The leadership will factor in next year with the starting of a chapter of JSA at my school.</p>

<p>What? You have a 3.95 weighted. It should be in the 4.5 W range.</p>

<p>Your GPA is not hurting you. Stanford will take out your grade 9 GPA. Your class rank however, depending on how your school ranks, may hurt you a little bit. </p>

<p>My school begins calculating GPA (all UW below) in grade 10, not grade 9. I did pretty bad in grade 9 as well. Without calculating my grade 9 GPA, my GPA will be 4.0. With my grade 9 GPA, my GPA will be 3.65. As you can see, my GPA in grade 9 is pretty bad. I am ranked 1/266 in my grad class.</p>

<p>Don't worry about your freshman GPA. Stanford will not put grade 9 GPA into consideration.</p>

<p>Stanford will also put your unique weighting system into consideration.<br>
Also, when we are giving advice, we expect you to consider. Not all people will tell you "you have a shot" or "you're brilliant". There will be some negative and depressing comments, but people spend their time reading your stats before they call.</p>

<p>Your rank will probably hurt you a little bit.</p>

<p>Don't underestimate AIME or AMC. Those competitions mean a lot to universities.</p>

<p>Pretty good GPA and strong scores, and ECs that have a focus instead of the usual laundry list. I'd say you actually have a pretty good shot. What did you get on aime?</p>

<p>iAppler: you're ignoring that his 10-11 GPA is 3.938 -- and that's weighted, which means it (ideally) should be much higher.</p>

<p>Unweighted is 3.82... that's with 5 AP classes - our weighing system is god-awful.</p>

<p>If you're a girl, it wouldn't hurt to list that you took the AIME. </p>

<p>About 90% of accepted students are in the top 10% of their graduating class. the remaining 10% probably include a good number of athletes and students from incredibly competitive schools where the top, say, 35% of students go to incredibly good schools. There needs to be something in your application that makes you stand out, which would probably be the essays. Work hard on the essays and you may have a good chance.</p>

<p>** kyledavid80: You are ignoring this applicant's unique GPA calculation. It is IMPOSSIBLE for this applicant to get a 4.5 in weighted GPA.</p>

<p>And also, GPA is not the main point. Your class rank/percentile is. You can get a 3.25 GPA and get a top 5% and still get in. In this case, the applicant's weakness is not his/her GPA, is his/her percentile.</p>

<p>GPA varies by schools/teachers/students/grades/work habits/etc...</p>

<p>This applicant's school counts A- as 4, not 5. The school also counts A as a 4.33, not 5. This student I believe, has successfully thrived in his school as far as I can see.</p>

<p>x9521: I strongly recommend you to apply. Your AIME will help you (a lot). Your main objective is to improve your GPA, and consequently your class percentile. I recommend you NOT to apply for ED. Try RD just to give you time to raise your GPA. This can be disadvantage if you slack off. Your SAT is pretty decent. </p>

<p>Also, may I know your ethnic background? </p>

<p>In addition, Stanford will understand your upward trend. Your essay will be the key as well.
Stanford will recalculate your GPA. On Stanford's application form, it specifically says that "Weighted GPA PREFERRED"; it would be your advantage if your counselor submit weighted GPA.</p>

<p>On a scale of 5 instead of 4.33, your GPA would probably be really high.
**</p>

<p>actually stanford stopped recalculating gpa for next year, because they're doing common app. They'll just take what the high school gives them. Which means his class rank is what's going to be most important.</p>

<p>I actually just emailed them and they said that they still calculate GPA the same way.</p>

<p> If Stanford stopped re-calculating GPA, thousands of applicants would be at disadvantage. My school only calculated our grade 10~11 (and 12 midterm) GPA. </p>

<p>Could you paste that email here? Who was it from? I heard otherwise from a regional admissions officer.</p>

<p>"Don't worry about your freshman GPA. Stanford will not put grade 9 GPA into consideration."</p>

<p>They might not put emphasis on freshman grades but those grades will still show up there on the common app, unlike before with the Stanford app.</p>