Does doing a program run by a college while in high school increase likelihood of acceptance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

Hello CollegeConfidential,
I was recently accepted into the Stanford Reischauer Program for Japanese studies for my junior year. I was wondering whether completing this program would increase my likelihood of getting into Stanford as a college. Would it increase my chances of getting into other prestigious universities in general?

2

Compared to an otherwise equally qualified applicant who did something else with that chunk of time, IMHO, no, it’s not going to be a boost for college apps. If you otherwise would have done nothing with that chunk of time, doing something is likely better than doing nothing.

3

Always do your ecs because of passion, interest or personal growth. When doing it is for padding it is obvious. It won’t fit together to describe you. If this program fits the criteria it will the reward you in and of itself.

4

Ec’s that demonstrate a long term commitment to various ideas, concepts or interests are much more impressive than a list of names.

5

It does not hurt, though, either, as far as I can tell.

6

We have been told by other schools (Brown) that it does not help; don’t know about Stanford.

7

Here is the idea - an academic thing that is neither tested nor graded is very difficult to evaluate. That’s why it doesn’t really help. They already know you are a top student. A better use of extra time would be doing something that didn’t involve school at all.

8

This. Taking Japanese studies at Stanford will not help you in admissions to Stanford. You could take a similar program at any other college, and it would be just as valuable for Stanford admissions – an EC that fits you. The point is that the program EC may help, where you take it will not.

9

No not really. A lot of programs that are run on Stanford campus over the summer basically pay to use the stanford name

10

Older thread now. But no.

“Always do your ecs because of passion, interest or personal growth.” I’d qualify that. Depends on what those choices are. You may adore somthing that has zero meaning for an admit.Or dismiss an activity/experience/choice that does matter to them.