Chances at Stanford University

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I understand that you all probably have seen thousands of threads like mine: "what are my chances at ___ university?" However, after having pored over various threads, I'd like to get some feedback about ME. I hope this thread will not only be helpful to myself, but also to others with similar stats and aspirations who wish to attend universities like Stanford. I greatly appreciate any thoughtful responses anyone has to offer!</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 730 reading, 800 math, 710 writing (will retake)
ACT: just took - probably in 34-35 range, but could be a little lower
SAT II: 800 Chemistry</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.9</p>

<p>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/50 (My school doesn't rank, but my counselor said I have the highest GPA in
my class)</p>

<p>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing huge, but...</p>

<p>National Latin Exam I Gold Medal
National Latin Exam II Gold Medal
National Latin Exam IV Silver Medal</p>

<p>Badminton Duke Open U14 Gold Medalist (this wasn't in HS)
FTC Robotics team Think, Design, and Control awards
Various event awards at Atlanta Hobby Robot Rally (annual hobbyist robotics competition)</p>

<p>Violin student, Orchestra (Regional/local Orchestra Co-concertmaster)
Badminton Club team (at UNC)
FTC Robotics team (captain)
Small Hobby Robotics club at school (founder)
3D printing small business at school/community (founder) - sales aren't stellar and business is unregistered, but the idea
is quite novel
Student Council Junior class representative</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at UNC Hospitals (3 years)
Summer Activities: Robotics projects, self-taught calc AB, internships, Stanford EPGY </p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): NC
School Type: Private Independent School
Ethnicity: Asian American
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None</p>

<p>More about me: I'm very passionate about engineering and innovation, and I my transcript and ECs all seem consistent with my interests. I'm going to work on my essay over the summer and expound upon my passions as much as possible - hopefully it'll be good. </p>

<p>Some specific things I'm wondering:
1. Are my standardized test scores good enough? At the moment, I'm lower than 50th percentile for writing and critical reading for my SAT, and though I'll take the SAT again and hopefully improve these scores, how much will that improve my application overall? How much do test scores actually matter? I understand admissions is holistic, but is there are score threshold beyond which the scores stop mattering? </p>

<ol>
<li><p>What happens if my scores in specific SAT/ACT sections go down? Stanford superscores, but they do see everything. Will it hurt me if I go from an 800 Math to 730-750? Or if my ACT score is a 33? </p></li>
<li><p>What can I do to improve my chances? I understand that without hooks, college admissions is a crapshoot, but is there anything I can do to make sure I'm a top applicant? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

2

<p>Dude Stanford’s got like a 6% admission rate lol even if you ■■■■■■■ cured cancer you’re not guaranteed admission</p>

3

<p>He never asked for “guaranteed admission.” He asked for feedback, what he can do to improve his chances and the questions at the bottom of his post.</p>

<p>By the way, if you cure cancer, you are guaranteed a job at a national research institute - much less Stanford. </p>

4

<p>No hook
Admit rate 5%</p>

<p>Very high reach to impossible.</p>

5

<p>Guys I do realize that the admission rate for HPYS is extremely slim. I’m only asking for what I can do to become a competitive applicant.</p>

6

<p>It is obvious that @cjwu382 is in realization of the slim acceptance rates at those top schools. </p>

<p>You can and should always try to improve your standardized test scores unless they are perfect. Nonetheless, I think yours are enough to give you a competitive chance of acceptance. </p>

7

<p>You may want to improve your test scores a little bit. Also, Stanford recommend taking SAT2 Math2. Try to score 800 there. Other than that, continue your effort in EC and spend a lot of time on the essays.
For Stanford, there is not a guarantee way to get in unless you have multiple legacy. Many students got better stat than you and got rejected. So try your best but do not put much hope on it. Your stat is right among the crowd of other applicants.</p>

8

<p>I think you have pretty good ECs - they’re very consistent with your interests. I would focus on raising your scores a little bit, maybe aim for over a 2300 for Stanford? As for super-scoring, I honestly don’t think it would hurt you to go down in one section if your super score ends up higher.
There aren’t many other ways to guarantee that you have a better chance - just make sure you have good essays and recs. Attending a good summer program would also help.
Chance me back?</p>

9

<p>Bump. I got a 35 on my ACT. Is it worth retaking the SAT or ACT again? I feel like my chances of doing better are kind of slim.</p>

10

<p>Not at all. </p>

11

<p>35’s a great score. Focus on other parts of your app, I’d say</p>

12

<p>Ok, excellent. Thank you for the feedback guys. :D</p>