<p>My daughter is a junior in HS and would love to go to Stanford. She had a hard time transferring in her freshman year because we moved from Washington D.C. to Pennsylvania and she had a hard time adjusting which resulted with a low GPA for 9th grade. Then this year my daughter had to double up in math classes making it a harder load her her to handle. Which result with yet again another low GPA for the year. My daughter really wants to go to Stanford, and I was wondering if there was ANY other way my daughter can stand a chance of getting in? She also plays tennis which can help to her advantage I'm assuming. I was also wondering if any parents could advise any community service she could partake in to help her out as well. </p>
<p>Any advise or guidance you can give about Stanford acceptance, community service would be appreciated.</p>
<p>A school like Stanford is a long shot for ANYONE. You mention tennis - playing on the school team, or nationally ranked player? I think the only way it would be an advantage would to be a player at a national level. </p>
<p>Take a look at the Common Data Set for the stats of entering students to get an idea of the test scores and GPA of admitted students to see if you’re in the ballpark. You might want to look at the Stanford thread under Colleges to look at the profiles of students admitted.</p>
<p>Lots of students want to attend top colleges - but getting in is only part of the battle. If you’re admitted, the level of academics at a top school is often very rigorous. </p>
<p>As far as community service, follow your passions and incorporate and develop something you care about into something that serves others.</p>
<p>A friend at work had a really high SAT high GPA son get rejected from Stanford and MIT. He is going to WPI. As college query said Stanford is a long shot for anyone. Nothing wrong with setting your sights high, but use the next year to look for and visit other STEM schools. Have your daughter stay overnight if possible and sit in classes. I will bet there are other schools out there that she will fall in love with in case Stanford doesn’t become a reality. There is no magic EC or volunteer opportunity that will get your D an auto-admit to Stanford. Let her persue the things she loves to do and do her best in school. As is commonly heard on CC “love thy safety”.</p>
<p>My daughter is a rising senior and I think is where your daughter was a year ago. She had her heart set on big name out of state and very hard to get into schools. There is nothing wrong with that but within the last few months as we are getting really serious about school, she and I both realize the chances at Stanford and similar schools are ridiculously low even with good stats. </p>
<p>She currently has a 4.0 is ranked 1st in her class with a not too bad Act and mediocre sat that she is trying to improve (mostly math section) she will be applying to our in state flagship and probably two other instate publics. She will be applying to lac’s where her stats put her in the top
25%. She still has a few reaches like Kenyon and Oberlin and that is fine but please don’t set your heart on just one school. Good luck!</p>
<p>Stanford takes its sports very seriously, so she would have to be a good enough tennis player to be recruited to have sports be her ticket into Stanford, which is a lot different from someone who is merely good. </p>
<p>Stanford doesn’t count Grade 9 grades which will work to your advantage. But the fact that Grade 10 grades were also “low” (you don’t define what “low” is–for some on CC, it’s getting one B, LOL!) is problematic. Our local CA high school has a few students who have been accepted to Stanford. They have often been in the top 5 kids in the class–even the URMs who are accepted are in the top 10% of the class!</p>
<p>There is no magic bullet as to what community service to perform that will be get you into Stanford, as college_query said.</p>
<p>We aren’t trying to be Debbie Downers and dream killers–just being realistic. </p>
<p>I think that it’s a big mistake for kids to fall in love with any university that has a single digit acceptance rate (Stanford, Ivys, etc) . You need to help her to tone down the love and expand her horizons to entertain other less-selective schools. Yes, apply to Stanford–but find those schools that you know she can get into and that you can afford (“safety schools”) first. Then apply to Stanford, Harvard and the University of Mars–whatever.</p>
<p>The only people from our school who have gotten into Stanford are legacies, have political connections and/or are recruited athletes. The top students never get in. I agree with others that setting your heart on a single school (especially one where the odds are strongly against you) is foolish. She should pursue her interests and then sell who she is to colleges and find a set of colleges that is likely to appreciate her particular talents.</p>
<p>There are lots of great schools out there that are like Stanford, depending on what aspect of the school is attractive to her. If you can describe what she’s looking for a bit more, we can probably suggest some comparables.</p>
<p>The only student from my D’s high school who was accepted in Harvard in the last four years (over 100 applied) was also accepted at Yale - and denied at Stanford. Might have been because he was Asian, of course.</p>
<p>mathmom, That is also true of my kid’s HS. They send kids all over and kids would love to go to Stanford but no luck. Wonder why? They are not Asians btw.</p>