<p>I've always been an excellent student. I have straight As, a 3.90 GPA, I'm 3rd on class rank and I am a part of all of my school's AP classes. I have one little doubt though...
You see I have a lot of extracurricular activities (National Honor Society, Student Council, Class Government Historian, Missionary Youth, Church Choir Member, I was Editor of my school's news paper) but I hear schools like Stanford look for students who focus on a certain areas. I've included all my extracurricular activities on my application, but I'm trying to focus the application on my passion for writing and on my writing experiences and awards (without diminishing the importance of my other extracurricular activities) by making them stand out in my essays and in the short reply answers. Is focusing my application this way going to help me? What are my chances of getting into Stanford?</p>
<p>I've included my scores on a reply below.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to say without you providing us with any SAT/ACT/SAT II/AP test scores. I think focusing on a specific passion is beneficial, but you definitely need to have good test scores as well. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Test Scores
SAT:
Writing: 600
Math: 520
Reading: 520</p>
<p>I plan of retaking the SAT on November, so hopefully these scores will go up.</p>
<p>AP:
English Language: 3
Foreign Language (Spanish): 5</p>
<p>SATII: I plan on taking them in December
(English Literature and Spanish)</p>
<p>Because Stanford is, well, Stanford, the “base” consists of high SAT scores (usually 2200+), rigorous course schedules (AP/IB), and a high GPA. Is your 3.90 a weighted or unweighted GPA?</p>
<p>I think that focusing your application will definitely help, but do keep in mind that there are other factors that can speak more. My counselor told me that extracurriculars only make a significant difference when you apply to a prestigious school where just judging people on their test/school scores isn’t enough - therefore, focus your application on your passions, but also try to aim for the best academic scores possible. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!
Hopefully my test scores will go up with my next SAT.
And I’m not sure if my GPA is weighted or unweighted, I think it’s weighted (I don’t have a very good counselor so I’ve had to do most of my research and she didn’t tell me if it was weighted or not)</p>