<p>School - very rigorous school in seattle, graduated about 45 valedictorians last year. many students get into ivy-league/selective schools.
Class Rank - My class rank is kinda low because so many valedictorians etc. in a class of 371. My rank is like 85/371 </p>
<p>African American Male
GPA - 3.82UW 4.4W
SAT -1820 (590 M, 600 R, 630 W)
Low, I know. Took last year as practice only once w/out study. Am studying hard now for october sat.</p>
<p>Schedule - as rigorous a schedule that I could take
i am taking 4 ap's this year, my senior year.</p>
<p>EC's
Seattle Mayor's Youth Council - Pressed for change in communities, worked with city council and spoke with the mayor on a couple of occasions.
ACLU Club
NHS
Junior Statesman of America club
black achievers
basketball team freshman year(couldn't play for the rest of highschool due to injury)
Global Technology Academy - Took a trip to Tanzania, set up computer labs for impoverished schools there.</p>
<p>Work Experience
-Paid Internship at Microsoft last summer; worked in CSD Division with Lab and IT&Infrastruture.
-worked pt at circuit city as product specialist and sales
-worked pt at seahawks stadiums with events/promotions/and halftimeshow</p>
<p>“very rigorous school” with 45 valedictorians sounds like an oxymoron…</p>
<p>Being URM will help, but you need higher SATs to be competitive. 590 on math for someone interested in CS is VERY low. And you need SAT IIs as well.</p>
<p>Well there are so many talented kids at my school with 4.0’s that there can be mulitiple valedictorians.
how do my ec’s have “little focus/passion?” And what ec’s do show passion?? Just wondering. Also, what If I bring my scores up to like 2100 range, because I just took the october sat and feel really good about how I did…</p>
<p>I don’t know what Kyledavid80 is talking about with your ec’s because as long as you can show your passion for your ec’s in your apps than what they are exactly shouldn’t make an issue</p>
<p>Yea i think if you get your scores in the 2100-2200 range you will be in the running, but right now you are not. So hope for good scores, and realize that none of us are trained admissions experts and that once you cross the threshold of being a qualified applicant, its all chance from there.</p>
<p>I think there is too much emphasis put on SATs here on cc. While they are indubitably important, getting into Stanford doesn’t require a 2400 or even a 2300. To be honest, a 2000 is fine (my friend is African American, got a 2030, and is a national merit finalist. Double standards, yes, but don’t even get me started). </p>
<p>BTW, 45 valedictorians is not unheard of. Five years ago, some parents complained that their child got straight A’s and was not a valedictorian. So now, the requirements in our school district to be a valedictorian are that you have to have taken at least 2 honors classes per school year and have straight A’s in all of those classes to be a valedictorian. That person has a GPA of around 4.33. If you have a GPA above that, you are also a valedictorian. So now, even though I’m class rank number 1 in a school of 608, I have to share the title of valedictorian with 30 other kids. This is also why I hate complaining parents. Now, we have to recognize mediocrity because a couple of parents thought that their child, who never took an AP class in his life, just honors, has the right to be valedictorian. I don’t know how they calculate salutatorian, but I do know that we have about 25 every year. Lameee. I detest these "pity"awards that make everyone feel like a winner.</p>
<p>Sorry about that off-topic rant, I’m still upset about the situation. Oh well, at least I’ll get to speak at graduation.</p>
<p>Um, y’all need to stop being so condescending with his EC’s. The first time I read them, I got the impression that he’s going to stress the social justice/activism thing–I think that the City Council gig, ACLU, and Black Achievers roles testify to that. With higher SAT scores and really strong essays, you’ve got about as good a chance as most</p>
<p>We’re not being “condescending.” If he asks for an evaluation, he will get it. And it’s not as though we’re saying his ECs are “bad”; Stanford looks for a focus, and I don’t see one. You’re free to disagree.</p>
<p>*BTW, 45 valedictorians is not unheard of. Five years ago, some parents complained that their child got straight A’s and was not a valedictorian. So now, the requirements in our school district to be a valedictorian are that you have to have taken at least 2 honors classes per school year and have straight A’s in all of those classes to be a valedictorian. That person has a GPA of around 4.33. If you have a GPA above that, you are also a valedictorian. So now, even though I’m class rank number 1 in a school of 608, I have to share the title of valedictorian with 30 other kids. This is also why I hate complaining parents. Now, we have to recognize mediocrity because a couple of parents thought that their child, who never took an AP class in his life, just honors, has the right to be valedictorian. I don’t know how they calculate salutatorian, but I do know that we have about 25 every year. Lameee. I detest these "pity"awards that make everyone feel like a winner.</p>
<p>Sorry about that off-topic rant, I’m still upset about the situation. Oh well, at least I’ll get to speak at graduation.*</p>
<p>Well as long as your school will tell the colleges that you’re rank 1 out of 608 that’s all that matters. Who cares who gets called “valedictorian”. The real value of that term is if you actually are the number 1, which is the hook in college admissions.</p>
<p>Chances at stanford…probably really low to be blunt.</p>
<p>If you compare average class rank and SAT at stanford to your stats…you’re a bit too far down the ladder. Being a URM will only get you so far.</p>
<p>If you get a 2100+ on your retake, i’d say you have a decent chance. Make sure you get 700+ on at least 2 SAT subject tests as well.</p>
<p>Don’t forget, this is STANFORD we’re talking about here. People with 2300+ SAT scores and class rank in the top 2% with your level of ECs oftentimes don’t get in.</p>
<p>kyledavid80, i don’t see how you can make such a negative judgement on his ec’s. They look focused to me; with technology and humanities related interests. I think anyone that has worked at microsoft while in hs has a good enough ec list to me.</p>
<p>My observation is that students often don’t think to group related activities to show there is indeed a focus. I agree with greatone1, PROVIDED you group your ECs in that way eg: Computer Related Activities and and group your several related activities together to explicitly create the focus and coherence. </p>
<p>At least on this forum, I often see a long list of ungrouped activities, which don’t present the candidate to the best possible advantage, and give more of a laundry list appearance. With a little thought given to grouping, the positive impact would be greater.</p>
<p>However, I think the other posts are also relevant - do focus on improving your SAT scores, they are rather low to be competitive for Stanford.</p>