Finally - Chances!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hey all. I’ve been on these boards for the past two years but I just registered today to make my first post on my chances.</p>

<p>Personal Info
Asian (Taiwanese) male from NC
Upper-middle class (household income of ~$160,000)
Public Magnet (IB)
Prospective major in Bioengineering and Neurology/Cognitive Science/Psych for a career in Academic Medicine</p>

<p>Grades</p>

<p>UW GPA – 4.0/4.0
Weighted GPA – 4.86/5.00
Rank – 1/~350
Toughest Course load possible – school is 3 x 3 block (24 credits to graduate), but because I took several 0 periods and online courses I will have 33 credits by graduation:
- 10 IB’s
- 8 AP’s
- 8 Pre-IB’s
- 4 Honors
- 3 Regular (electives)</p>

<p>Test Scores</p>

<p>SAT I – 2200 – 720 CR, 740 M, 740 W. (*Note – this is my “power score” by combining 3 different sittings)</p>

<p>SAT II’s – US History – 750
- BioM – 740
- Math IIC – 720 (ouch)
- Physics – 700 (ouch again)</p>

<p>AP’s – W. History – 5
- US History – 4
- Bio – 5
- AP Comp Sci. A – 3</p>

<p>IB’s – Chem SL – 5
Math Methods SL – 5</p>

<p>Extracurriculars</p>

<p>1) AIDS Awareness Club – Cofounder and President (10th) VP (11th), Advising Member (12th). Very involved.
2) Quiz Bowl – President and Varsity Captain (12th), JV captain (10th). Team went to Nationals last year and is undefeated so far this year. Also help run our local high school and middle school tournaments.
3) Tennis – Varsity Letter past 2 years and very likely this year as well.
4) Chinese Cultural/Youth Association – Historian (9th) Treasurer (10th), VP (11th), President (12th). Does community service and cultural shows. Very involved.
5) School Newspaper contributor – off and on for all 4 years</p>

<p>Significant Awards</p>

<p>4.0 Honor Roll all 4 years
Intel ISEF Finalist (2006)
4th Place at State Science Fair in my category
1st Place overall and in my category at Regional Science Fair
Quiz Bowl 3rd at State last year (and competed at Nationals)
2006 Time Magazine Person of the Year (kidding, kidding)</p>

<p>Essays – I thought they were good. Creative, insightful, and humorous</p>

<p>Counselor Rec – Eh…..didn’t read it but our counselor isn’t very good. I’m guessing it’s very positive but generic</p>

<p>Teacher Recs – Again…….eh…. I picked 2 teachers that I thought knew me well (known me all 4 years and taught me 2 and 3 years respectively), but my History teacher talked more about how popular/sociable/funny I was than academics and my Physics teacher wouldn’t let me read his but I’m certain he did them all in one night and that they’re probably similar to my counselor rec (positive but generic)</p>

<p>Perceived Strengths – Course load/GPA/Rank, depth and leadership in a few activities rather than a laundry list, essays, ISEF, Quiz Bowl success, cofounding a club</p>

<p>Perceived Weaknesses – Test scores, recommendations, being a typical Asian male wanting to go into engineering/science.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance everyone!</p>

2

<p>You will be "in the running", and a lot will depend on how you presented yourself in your application. If your personality came through, and you look like someone adcom would like to meet, you'll have a reasonable chance. If it's all "positive but generic", it will hurt your chances. Being Intel finalist will help for sure.</p>

<p>In any case, there is nothing you can do now but wait and see...</p>

3

<p>thanks, any more?</p>

4

<p>I'm hesitant to make any kind of call here, so let me break it down:</p>

<p>Test scores are good, but since most competitive Stanford applicants' are, they're nothing special.</p>

<p>GPA/grades: these confuse me. You say you had a 4.0 UW and a 4.86 W GPA, both of which are extremely good. But frankly, your actual scores don't reflect that. You have 2 5s in APs, and a 4 and a 3, which makes you basically a good student, but not perfect (not a 4.0), and you have 5s in both your IBs (which is actually not even really above average for the IB), and the 5s are in pretty easy IB courses (SL Chem and Methods are not strenuous). This leads me to believe that there may be grade inflation at your school, which could hurt you.</p>

<p>Your ECs are very good, showing depth and leadership in areas related to what you want to pursue. However, as you said, it hurts that you're Asian, making you look like the stereotypical applicant.</p>

<p>I really don't know how to call this. I unfortunately think the grades may be a sticking point, despite your excellent ECs, but I really don't know.</p>

5

<p>Cofounder and President (10th) VP (11th), Advising Member (12th). Very involved.</p>

<p>how the hell did you lose leadership every year???</p>

<p>ECs are OK. rank is good, but really your test scores are sucky for stanford</p>

6

<p>I don't think Stanford cares THAT much about test scores, I got in with similar scores, maybe a tiny bit better. </p>

<p>But you have cool EC's I know a lot of Intel science fair people come here I know 4 personally and I think there are like 10 total in the class of 2010.</p>