I’m currently in the summer before my senior year and I’m wondering if I have any real shot at Stanford or if I should focus on gettting into more realistic colleges. I understand that the college admissions process is extremely subjective, but I’m just looking for a general idea of if I’d be a competitive applicant. If it helps, I’d apply as a Microbiology major.
-GPA
Unweighted: 4.0
Weighted Academic: 4.46
Weighted Total: 4.42
-SAT
1420 (confident I can get this to a 1520 tho, this was a first attempt)
-APs
Taken: Euro(5), APUSH(?), Spanish(?), Lang(?), Calc BC(?)
Will Take: Lit, Human Geo, Psych, Physics, stats, Enviro Sci
-Class Rank: 1/437
-ECs
Stu Govt [4 y], Spirit Commissioner 2 y
CS Club [4 y], Co-pres[2 y]
Boy Scouts [9 y], Eagle Scout Award
NHS[4 y], Co-pres[1 y]
-Job Experience
Job as server at local retirement home1 y
-Volunteering
Key Club [2 yr], 4 hr/mo
Tutor for my high school [3 yr], 8 hr/mo
Bingo Calling and misc events at local retirement home[1 y], 100 hrs (had to stop when I got hired as server)
EDIT: I’ve added a year to some extracurriculars that I know I will be in next year.
The only way you wouldn’t have a shot is if you didn’t apply.
To add, because that post could be taken the wrong way:
Stanford admits sub-5% of applicants. This is known. But the only way to know for sure if you ARE the 5% is to apply to BE the 5%.
Do you know how many people would have been accepted to Stanford had they applied, but didn’t apply because they were scared off by the stats, or thought themselves not good enough? No one does! Because they didn’t apply.
But I would be willing to bet they exist.
Your stats and resume are great, and you would do great at Stanford. Does that mean you’re in? Of course not. It’s still 5%. But 5% is not 0%.
TLDR/ Yes! Apply!
You have a shot with just your stats and ECs. Did you place at national competitions or publish 17 research papers? Nah. But they accept plenty of kids without those crazy stats.
Best of luck! You have a good shot.
You sound like a great student for Stanford. Hopefully you will shine on your essays and you have a shot. That being said they turn away more qualified applicants than they accept so do make sure you find some safety schools you will be happy at. Apply and give it a shot but do remember there are lots of other great schools out there and you will go on to accomplish many things no matter where you go. Good luck!
Thank you all for the feedback! I will definitely apply and make sure to write the best essays I possibly can.
Demonstrating some form of intellectual vitality is most important. What is yours? Worth thinking about.
Posting chance me threads on these forums return little answers of actual value or substance. You will only get empty remarks of affirmation.
If you really want to understand your chances, search up admitted student profiles. See where you fall in the ranges. This method generally works for most colleges (about 95% of the 3000 institutions of higher ed in the country).
HOWEVER,
With the acceptance rate at stanford at less than 4.6%, all the top students have an equal chance of getting in. After the “joke applicants” and the clearly weak students are filtered out, the admissions officers can literally roll dice or draw cards to determine who gets in, and still have an amazing freshman class. At 4.6%, you can have 20 applicants out of 20 applicants all rejected.
Try to get your standardized test score as high as possible and write compelling essays. You really want to give the admissions people a clear picture of what role you will play on their campus.
Good Luck.