Gahhh chances?

<p>After reading some of the chances thread in this section, my confidence has plummetted. Everyone seems to be on the verge of finding the cure to cancer or something. So, I'm wondering if I even have a shot. </p>

<p>I want to major in Economics, possibly double majoring (or whatever the equivalent to that is at Stanford) in Mathematics.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 unweighted</p>

<p>I think I've taken the most rigorous courseload offerred by my school, from 9-12 grades.</p>

<p>Freshman year (I took 10th grade classes my freshman year): AP World History, AP Art History, chemistry, English 2 Honors, Spanish 1, PE, geometry
Sophomore yea (My school decided to eliminate the accelerated program, which is why I was restricted to one AP class, but I was still allowed to take an 11th grade English class): AP psychology, biology, PE, Spanish 2, English 3 Honors, algebra 2
Junior year: AP English Language, AP Calculus AB (I took math analysis/trigonometry over the summer at a community collegE), AP US History, AP Biology, Spanish 3
Senior year: AP Physics B (my school doesn't offer C), AP Calculus BC, AP English Lit, AP Government, Art 1</p>

<p>APs: I've gotten 5s on all my APs except for Art History (4).</p>

<p>SAT: 2290 first time (800 W, 740 M, 760 CR) and 2320 second time (800 W, 740 M, 780 CR)
SAT 2: 800 Math IIC, 760 Biology, 740 US History</p>

<p>ECs:
-Art Club founder and President (11, 12). I spend about 5-6 hours a week planning Art Club activities, meeting with community leaders, holding meetings, etc.
-I work as a telephone counselor for a local social services agency (9, 10, 11, 12). I spend roughly 12-16 hours a month doing this, and I absolutely LOVE it. One of my essays (the only one I've written so far) is on this and how it's helped me develop my own personal philosophy.
-I also recently took over as the student President of the youth outreach group for this social services agency (12). We basically help to promote the crisis telephone lines in our community. I'm the one who basically recruits and evaluates members, holds meetings, finds outreach projects, and works as a liason between the outreach group and the social services agency. I spend 3-4 hours a week doing this.
-I'm the Publishing Editor for a newspaper that my friend and I started recently. It basically features all modes of expression by high school students in the community, including articles, movie reviews, sheet music, stories, etc.
-Varsity Soccer (9-12). I've gotten the Varsity Block Letter every year since 9th grade.
-Piano (since I was a child). I've won two program awards.
-Speech and Debate. I only recently joined as a formal member, but so far I really, really enjoy it.
-National Honors Society Parliamentarian</p>

<p>Work Experience:
-I work as an oil painting instructor for an arts studio. I got hired sometime in January, and I work roughly 4-5 hours a week
-I also recently got hired by one of the campaigns in the upcoming mayoral election. I'm really enjoying this as I get to meet different sorts of people and get involved in the political process</p>

<p>Community College courses (I take these courses out of pure interest, so I don't do any of the pointless homework. This is the reason why my grades are low):
Anthropology: B (The kick-ass research paper I did at the end of the quarter basically salvaged by grade form an F to a B)
Math analysis/trigonometry: A/A
Philosophy -- Logic and Reasoning: B (I only did the term paper)</p>

<p>I think all three of my recs are going to be pretty damn good. I'm hoping to submit some artwork, except I don't have a lot of it with me, so I might have to just submit whatever subpar stuff I do I have.</p>

<p>And, I think my essays will be decent, if not pretty good.</p>

<p>Sorry if this was long. I just wanted to give you a fleshed-out idea of what I'm involved in beyond simply "Art Club President." Thanks.</p>

<p>You don't need to cure cancer or close to it to get into Stanford (although we do have people like that). You look to me like a competitive applicant. My advice to you--besides the obvious stuff like keep your grades up, write good essays, etc.--is to stop psyching yourself out. Don't read chances threads. Heck, don't even read the replies to your own too carefully; the people writing them (and this includes myself) are probably not all that qualified to assess your chances. Adopt a less competitive mindset, where you think of your application as you showing Stanford what you can do, rather than trying to keep up with everyone else.</p>

<p>Hey -- thanks a lot for your advice. I think I need to stop psyching myself out too. It's just difficult considering the level of some of the applicants here. But, I'll stop reading chances threads -- they're not doing anything for me except getting me down. Thanks for the little pep talk :)</p>