So, my dream school is Stanford. I’m going to have a ~3.8 uw gpa through junior year. with 3 B’s sophmore year, and all As junior year. I take the hardest possible course load at my school as well as chinese as a person within a family with no native speakers, and having never left the east coast. I also speak portugese and esperanto, As for ECs, I’m an eagle scout, competed in Cyberpatriot since 7th grade, program president for last two years, founding officer of Esperanto club, Model UN, SCA, 2 years varsity basketball, 2 years Chinese culture club, National Merit Scholar and 2 years robotics(head of automation). Additionally I have an app released. I also used to be morbidly obese pre-freshman year, and lost 60 pounds to make the basketball team, and my dad went to college but both of my brothers had learning disabilities.
I have a 1550 SAT.
Am I a good applicant for high tier schools like stanford, or should I stick to applying for state schools? (I’m a VA resident)
You can of course apply to Stanford or other Top 20 schools but realize it is the equivalent of purchasing a lottery ticket. Much more important at this point:
- Find out from parents what the budget is (they should run Net Price Calculators on websites of a few schools you are interested in); and
- Craft a list that starts with an affordable option, that you really like and would be happy to go to, and you are basically guaranteed to get into.
Once those two steps are done, you can start adding “dream” or reach schools. Recognize that Stanford has just about the lowest admissions rate in the country. Zillions of super well-qualified, talented, motivated kids get rejected. Is your profile compelling? Totally. Does that translate into higher odds of admission to Stanford? Most likely no.
One more piece of (unsolicited) advice: This may be a happier process with a better outcome if you steer clear of the “dream school” label and mindset.
Stanford is a long shot for anyone. Why not try some schools not quite as selective as Stanford, but that nonetheless have stellar reputations and offer excellent undergraduate educations? Think about schools that aren’t quite in the HYPSM tier, like Emory, Wake Forest, Georgetown, USC, Rochester, and Boston College. All of those offer excellent educations and might have a different feel from UVA or William and Mary. What would you like to study? Do you have any career plans? All of that should go into your college choice.
Absolutely apply to Stanford and other schools that strike your fancy. But also do the real work that entails finding schools without the panache and name recognition that can give you want you want from college. That is the true challenge of a college search. Anyone can just take the familiar names off a prestige list. Who doesn’t want to get into Stanford? Finding schools less well known with the qualities you want is much more difficult
If you read through some threads here, these gems are sometimes where even top students find are their choices, so look very carefully and thoroughly.
Go for it. But keep it real and have Stanford as one of your reaches, with plenty of matches and safeties on your list. Stanford has a less than 5% acceptance rate. You’re smart enough to realize what your chances are.
Learn more about what Stanford looks for. It’s far more than scores and some hs clubs. The competition for a spot will be merciless and you have to be on your game.
You choose where to apply. They choose whom they want. Learn what that is, from what they say and show.
I think that Stanford would be blessed to have you as a student. Why ? Because of your creative intelligence & humbling experiences of dramatic weight loss & learning about life from your brothers.
But, also apply to Virginia & College of William & Mary as they are outstanding in state options. (Wm. & Mary has a joint degree program with St. Andrews in Scotland.)
Applying to top schools is honestly so unpredictable. There are so many qualified applicants and only some get in. But definitely give it a shot! I think your stats are in the ballpark for what Stanford’s looking for. However, apply to some matches and safeties too, like other posters have said.
You can probably get in at some top 20 school or top tier LAC. Stanford is unlikely, but there are many other good options out there. It is hard to tell much with only this much info.
Stanford is a reach for everybody but also a possibility too. Every year there are stories of kids being rejected at all top 20 schools but Stanford, check out this year’s, very heartwarming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIULw3jtvNU
I think the OP has a chance too. As long as he has safeties I’d say go for it.
Some targets for the OP would include Wake Forest, Emory, Rice and Vandy. All Top 10-25 schools where OP’s stats would make him a viable candidate.
From OPs background, he seems to match what Brown is looking for as a student, although that is an extreme reach as well. And Chicago should be targeted as well.
A good LAC should also be considered and given OP’s in foreign languages, Middlebury would be a candidate as well.
Agree with Georgetown, although they highly recommend 3 SAT Subject Tests, meaning that it’s prettt much required.
You have about a 4% chance. There’s nothing wrong with applying, but keep one thing in mind. There’s a difference between getting into a big name school and “prestige chasing.” When you put your self-worth on prestige, it can get self-destructive and it often leads to very bad financial decisions. Worse than getting rejected from a “dream school” is getting accepted. More often, kids will commit to the school without question, and find out later that the school is a bad fit or unaffordable. Shop around and research schools based on your interests and career goals. It’s you that is accepting the school, not the other way around.