Disregard Affirmative Action, Accepted with 1840 SAT/Asian

Colleges & Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>I didn't have the best stats. I am neither a legacy nor an athlete. I just wanted to let you guys know that hyper selected schools like these will give you a chance. You should not give up hope because you failed to score that high SAT score or get a B in a class. Do your best and show who you are through your essays/application and I am sure they'll give you a shot. </p>

<p>Here are my stats. I know I have more extra ECs under my belt and other things that I wrote in my common application, but this is what I wanted to show without disclosing too much information. This is all I could recall from the top of my head from my senior year:</p>

<p>School: Public in Southern CA
GPA: 4.00 UW
Class Rank: 4/~500
Ethnicity: Asian American
Gender: Male</p>

<p>SAT I: 1840 (600 writing, 620 math, 620 critical reading)</p>

<p>SAT II: English Literature – 600
US History – 740
Math II - 720</p>

<p>AP Courses that I have taken:
9th Grade: Human Geography – 4
10th Grade: World History – 5
Chemistry – 4
11th Grade: US History – 5
Psychology – 5
Art History – 5
Physics B – 4
English Language – 4
12th Grade:US Government – 5
Biology - 5
English Literature - 4</p>

<p>College Credit Classes taken at Community College:
Intro to Poli Sci. – A
Poli Sci 2 – A
Calculus I – A
Calculus II– B </p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
=California Scholarship Federation 11th, 12th
- 2008-09 Tutoring Officer
- Life Membership Recipient
- 50 hours of tutoring/community service
- 3 hours/week even during season for sports (wrestling, track)</p>

<p>=KEY CLUB 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
-Over 100 Hours of Community Service </p>

<p>=Academic League - 12th</p>

<p>=Science Olympiad - 11th, 12th</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE:
=Summer School Assistant
- Chemistry Lab Assistant June 2007- July 2008
- Music Assistant – June – July 2008
- Office Aide – June – July 2007
- Ceramics Assistant – June-July 2007
- 8 hours/week</p>

<p>DISTINCTIONS/HONORS:
- 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 – Principal’s Honor Roll
-2008 Student Poll Community Service Award
-2008 Questbridge College-Prep Scholarship
-2008-09 Questbridge Scholarship Finalist
-2009 Top 5% of Class</p>

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<p>While everyone has a chance, it is important to qualify your situation as highly exceptional.</p>

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<p>Did you get your AP scores for this year already or is what you wrote just what you think you’ll get?</p>

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<p>^Emnm, with respect to the title of your thread, Stanford and other top schools do practice affirmative action with respect to low-income students; it’s not just a racial thing. I see that you were a Questbridge Finalist, for example; that is one factor among many taken into account in admissions, and part of the context in which things like test scores are viewed.</p>

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<p>I’m guessing he’s a current Stanford student, as he said:</p>

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<p>Yes, I am a current student at Stanford.
My socioeconomic status probably did play a part in the selection process, but I strongly felt that the essay was what I felt the most important part of the selection process.</p>

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<p>If you don’t mind, may I ask what your essay was about?
Thank you for the thread by the way. It was very inspiring :D</p>

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<p>I would love to see your essay too. This is very interesting and gives hope to me, an Asian.</p>

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<p>did you get into a UC school?</p>

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<p>Being a QB kid was what helped you get in. Honestly, essays are fine and dandy. However, they can’t ressurect the dead.</p>

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<p>^ I agree. There are alway these threads about success stories in college admissions, but there is always a catch as well. You can’t ignore the fact that without a hook, you test scores and affirmative action will play a big part in admissions.</p>

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<p>I guess I probably should change the title of this thread. I come to CC and see people using their ethnicity, SAT scores, or anything else as disqualifies. That really should not be the case and I honestly feel that it is a very minuscule part of the decision process.</p>

<p>Yes, I agree that QB did play a vital role in my application process but I feel it wasn’t the only thing. I guess I had that hook, but good stats do not differentiate you from the many numbers of people with the same or better score. </p>

<p>Nonetheless, I can’t say anything for sure. I am not an admissions officer so I could only speculate what they were looking for when they saw my application.</p>

<p>For anyone curious, I am a 2013 undergraduate. This means that I am going to be a sophomore in the following fall quarter.</p>

<p>And yes, I did get into UC schools: UCI, UCSD, UCLA, and UCB</p>

<p>As much as I would like to post my essays, I’d rather not disclose them publicly.</p>

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<p>My friend, a current Stanford student, got a 1970 and his family income is about 80k a year. He’s also Asian. He only took 3 APs: Bio, Calc BC, and World History.</p>

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<p>Did your friend have any other “hooks”? He sounds pretty unremarkable.</p>

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<p>You can’t really say he is unremarkable unless you know him.
Maybe he designed a nuclear reactor or something. I wouldn’t
call that unremarkable.</p>

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<p>I think you guys are jumping the gun in your characterization of Emnm as “a QuestBridge kid”. For example, his 11 4’s and 5’s on 11 APs are a powerful validation of his academic ability, even if his SAT’s aren’t. With the right approach and careful preparation, the SAT is a test that can be gamed. Not so with an AP—you need to know the material. I don’t consider my own high SAT scores as irrefutable evidence of my intelligence. Personally, I respect a high GPA much more because it shows not only intelligence, but the willingness to work hard, a trait that is highly correlated to college success, and a trait that Emnm possesses in large amounts. For example, I happen to know that Emnm set and accomplished some incredible personal goals during high school – things that could only come across in an essay, which, by the way, Stanford places a HUGE emphasis on, both from first-hand knowledge (talking to my admissions counselor) and Stanford’s own Common Data Set. I just don’t think it’s correct to say that Questbridge was necessarily a game-changer in is application. If, for example, he hadn’t known about Questbridge, and therefore had not applied, would he be a different person? No. I think that the qualities that allowed him to become a Questbridge finalist are the same ones that got him admission to a top 10 school.
Note: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that Stanford was need-blind, as in they didn’t look at your economic info until after your acceptance. Can anyone confirm this?</p>

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<p>hotjava, those are good observations, and I don’t think anyone was suggesting that the OP’s Questbridge status was the only determinative factor in his acceptance. However, Stanford, like most of its peer schools, does practice socioeconomic affirmative action to some extent. Re: need-blind admissions, while Stanford is indeed need-blind (for domestic applicants), if a student puts his Questbridge finalist status on his application the adcoms will obviously know two things about him: (1) that he comes from a relatively disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstance; and (2) that he is a promising student by several measures. Questbridge is apparently a very competitive program, and finalist status can serve as a hook.</p>

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<p>It seems as if the majority of people place a lot of emphasis on grades, the SAT and the other tests you can take but in all honesty though they are important you don’t need a 4.0 or be a valedictorian or have any “remarkable” awards like copyxmkii is implying</p>

<p>I scored a 1970 on the SAT
a 20 on the ACT</p>

<p>writing 700
math 620
reading 650</p>

<p>not your typical stanford scores right?</p>

<p>There was also no AP or IB classes or any honor classes at my school
I wasn’t a Questbridge kid and most certainly not any national merit scholar</p>

<p>I was not valedictorian either I was 4/117 and my school was a joke </p>

<p>my GPA was not a 4.0</p>

<p>I showed my personality and genuine desire to go to this school and even though the people on this discussion might tell me my case was an “exceptional” one I think there are a lot of kids who were in the same situation I was. Grades are important, no doubt but they don’t want a bunch of number crunching math wizzes here, they want well rounded people, trust me I think I know</p>

<p>Stanford 2013</p>

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<p>^Definitely not your typical Stanford scores, as is apparent from the Common Data Set. Those scores are very, very low. You must have had something that Stanford wanted, though, whether it was URM, low income (you wouldn’t have made Questbridge with those scores, but you mentioned your school was terrible and offered no AP or even honors classes), geographical representation, or some other institutional priority. I’m not trying to denigrate anyone, but we should help other people be realistic about their prospects. There just aren’t “lots” of kids with those scores gaining admission without significant hooks.</p>

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<p>I would have to be one of those people; your stats are simply well below Stanford’s averages, and so calling your situation exceptional is fully warranted.</p>