<p>is it possible to get into stanford without a "passion"? im curious as to whether its possible to brute force stanford admissions with usual ECs and awesome test scores - assuming the applicant isnt a urm.</p>
<p>^ I don’t think you can “brute force” admissions at any top schools on the basis of near- perfect test scores/grades plus usual ECs, since plenty of applicants will present with those. (Caltech may be the exception, since it is more numbers-driven than the other top schools and doesn’t practice affirmative action.) Chances of admission are greatly enhanced (for non-URMs and otherwise-unhooked applicants) if you combine high scores/grades with a talent or accomplishment that demonstrates sustained commitment and focus over a long period of time.</p>
<p>im sure some people will get in with seemingly no focus or passion and just academics/test scores, but it is definitely the exception</p>
<p>I didn’t really have a “passion” in any specific activity or things like that, per se, but I do think they can tell if you have a passion for something. Maybe it won’t be clear in your list of EC’s, but maybe in your essays they can tell that you are passionate about something outside of one specific event.</p>
<p>I believe Stanford more than any other top 10 school is looking for the difficult to define “passion.” It’s the best way to explain the long list of applicants with perfect SATs and tons of ECs that get rejected. It helps explain why so many applicants with the generic stellar credentials don’t get in to Stanford. I suspect it also explains why Stanford produces more graduates who are leaders in their field than any other school save Harvard; they look for students with passion.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Stanford–What factors affect decision beyond academic measures](<a href=“Stanford--What factors affect decision beyond academic measures - YouTube”>Stanford--What factors affect decision beyond academic measures - YouTube)</p>
<p>At around 2:38.</p>
<p>Depending on whether Stanford interpreted my interests as ‘passion’, I may have.</p>
<p>I definitely had brute force: 2400, 4.0, many EC, etc. And I’m not URM.</p>
<p>They may have either interpreted either of these as a passion:
-clarinet playing. I’m pretty good, and I submitted the arts supplement, but I wouldn’t describe it as passion, and I bet Stanford wouldn’t either.
-microbiology. I took a summer course and wrote my big essay about how I want to cure infectious diseases. I probably wouldn’t call this passion either (since it only developed in the past year), but I wrote my essay in such a way that they MIGHT have seen passion in it.</p>
<p>In conclusion, there are probably a few applicants who get in with incredible intelligence and drive, but little passion.</p>
<p>yes. i got in and i literally wrote in my essay that i have no clue what i want to do.</p>
<p>ME! :)</p>
<p>Lol my ECs were all over the place.</p>
<p>
Or because of it’s unique location in Palo Alto and beyond that, just being the only “HYPS” level school on the West Coast.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah Stanford’s pretty much the only choice if you don’t like East Coast weather and social conservatism…
[I guess there’s Rice but no one likes Houston either…]</p>
<p>Clarification: I wouldn’t confuse “I don’t have a clue about what I want to do for a concentration/major or career” with not having a passion. If you tell Stanford that you’re not sure of your academic plans and, that in your spare time you lounge around the house killing time watching reruns of Sanford and Son or 24 (very diverse choices, I know), I can just about guarantee they don’t want you there. You can demonstrate a passion or interest and not specifically want to pursue those activities as a career.</p>
<p>One of the slightly annoying things about Stanford, and it permeates their presentations, is that you should explore and sample a variety of courses to figure out what you want to do once you get there. I think they do this to stay in sync with the HYP approach. Point is you don’t necessarily have to know your major, but at least have demonstrated dedication and some level of passion.</p>
<p>I know someone who wrote their main Stanford essay on having “no goals”, the essay essentially went on to describe someone who is so present minded that goals don’t make sense to them. But also so present minded that they are able to perform at a very high level in athletic, academic, and artistic competitions because they are completely in the moment. And of course a resume to back up these claims.</p>
<p>So the “passion” is for performing! And Stanford loves high performance students who love to check out new subjects/opportunities as SunDiego points out.</p>
<p>PrincetonDreams, if you don’t mind my asking, what were your stats like?
And everybody else - how specific does a “passion” need to be? Is poetry too broad? Thanks!</p>
<p>hopefuladmit, poetry is a perfectly good passion. Not too broad at all.</p>
<p>//I have a passion for broads. Is that too broad??</p>