Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>What's up guys -- I was wondering if anyone could give me a sense of where I stand right now in terms of my chances for admission to Stanford. I am currently a junior, and a legacy.</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
School: private, 180 students, rigorous
No GPA or rank, but I am among the top 3 students in my class of 55
Courseload: I have gotten all "As" (no A+ awarded)
APs by the end of my senior year: French Language, US History, Environmental Science, Music Theory, Biology, Calculus, Physics
In my senior year, I hope to conduct two independent studies, in Green Architecture and in Cognition Studies/Subconsciousness.</p>

<p>SAT: 1910 (Will take the ACT, and hopefully bring this up)</p>

<p>ECs:
Nonacademic in-school:
Founder and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, (10, 11)
Executive coordinator for the all-school sustainable vegetable garden, (11)
Peer mentoring, French tutor (9, 10, 11)
Peer leader for the Outdoor Education program, (11); led several outdoor trips through Appalachia with 60+ middle school students
High School Forum, elected class representative, (9, 10, 11)
Tenor and piano accompanist, High School chorus, (9, 10, 11)</p>

<p>Interscholastic Sports
Varsity Tennis, No. 3 Singles (9), No.2 Singles (10, 11)</p>

<p>Community Involvement
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 50+ hours of community service, (9, 10, 11)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Academic Activities
Intensive journalism course, Summer@Brown Pre-college program, (Summer 2010)
Rassias Language Immersion program through Dartmouth College; family stay, intensive French language and literature course (Summer 2009)
Piano student, Peabody Preparatory Institute through John Hopkins University, (5-11)</p>

<p>Employment
Started a photography exhibition business, collect and showcase work from student photographers (10, 11)
Office manager and assistant to the Director of Education at religious school, (8, 9, 10, 11) -- attended the school, had a B'nai mitzvah with my twin brother and was confirmed in May 2010, a culmination ceremony for 12 years of Judaic studies classes every Sunday and Wednesday</p>

<p>Awards:
Very prestigious award from my synagogue for academic and community leadership
Prestigious scholarship for community service and green initiatives
6 achievement awards for piano through Peabody Preparatory Institute</p>

<p>Recs:
I won't read them, but I would say they will be very strong. Teachers appreciate my genuine passion for learning, my incredibly strong work ethic, my curious and ambitious nature, and sense of maturity. They also value my leadership in classroom discussion, and engagement and effort to motivate the community and spark my peers to action.</p>

<p>Essay:
I love to write. It is one of my passions. Hopefully, this will stand out. As far as topics, not a clue yet...</p>

<p>Visit: I will this year</p>

2

<p>Get that SAT up.</p>

3

<p>Any other advice? Stanford is huge, and wildly competitive, but do you think I stand a chance if, let’s say, my scores rise a hundred points by next fall … or if I did a bit better on the ACT?</p>

4

<p>Not very good unless you bring that SAT score up significantly.</p>

5

<p>If you get around a 2250 on the SAT or a 34 on the ACT, you’ll most likely get in since you are a legacy.</p>

6

<p>Legacy means little unless your parent is a major donor (> one million) or prospective major donor. EC’s are very solid, SAT’s should be in Stanford’s middle 50% for a solid shot (e.g. 10-15% vs. 6-7%).</p>

7

<p>Everything looks great except SAT, which doesn’t really matter that much anyway. The middle 50% of Stanford applicants have:
680-760 CR
680-790 M
660-760 W
According to 2008 edition of Princeton Review’s 368 best colleges. So try to get within that range.</p>