Help! I've got 1 year to improve!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>I'm currently a Junior at a public high school in California and Stanford is my dream school.</p>

<p>I was just wondering if any early admits or current students had any advice on how I could improve myself within the next year in order to improve my chances of getting into Stanford.</p>

<p>Indian Female
Junior at a public high school in California.
Straight A Student
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA (by the end of this year): Approximately 4.381
Rank: 1/354 (will most likely be valedictorian)</p>

<p>Last year, as a sophomore, my course load was:
Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus
AP European History (Scored a 5 on the AP Test)
Journalism
Honors Chemistry
Honors English
Spanish 2</p>

<p>Also, during my sophomore year I scored a 223 on the PSAT.</p>

<p>Last winter I applied and was accepted into both UC Berkeley's ATDP (Academic Talent Development Program) and Stanford's EPGY (Education Program for Gifted Youth) summer programs, but I turned down Stanford in order to attend UC Berkeley. At my high school, AP Chemistry and AP Biology are both offered 1st period so it is only possible to take one of them. However, I am really interested in science so I spent 6 weeks at UCB's ATDP program this past summer taking AP Biology classes for 3 days a week, 8 hours a day.
I got an A in the AP Biology course over the summer and received credit for it.</p>

<p>This year, as a Junior, I scored a 226 on the PSAT (M: 75, CR: 75, W: 76).</p>

<p>SAT (taking in January): Practice tests indicate a score of 2250+</p>

<p>This year my course load consists of:
AP Chemistry
AP English Language
AP US History
AP Statistics
Student Assistant
Spanish 3</p>

<p>I am hoping to receive 5's on all of the AP tests I take this year.
By the end of high school I should have taken 11 total AP classes.</p>

<p>I took the SAT Math IIC last June and scored a 780.
I will be taking the SAT II's for Chemistry and Biology at the end of this year.</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
-Played Varsity Lacrosse since freshmen year and will continue to play throughout high school
-ASB Secretary this year (the first Junior to hold an ASB position in 9 years)
-Danced Indian classical dance for 12 years now
-Avid participant and even a founder of several clubs on campus, some of which I hold positions in</p>

<p>Any help/advice/recommendations you could give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>don't put so much emphasis on your scores. yes they're good, but everyone applying to stanford as well as the more competitive schools will look nearly the same if not better.</p>

<p>my advice would be to start figuring out what your passions are and why you even want to apply to stanford before calling it your 'dream' school. many applicants flunk the admissions process because they A) don't have true passions and it shows through their extracurriculars (too many diff. activities) and essays and B) give generic reasons for wanting to go to a certain school.</p>

<p>yes, i agree, scores and etc. are important. but not nearly as imp. as your ability to learn about yourself and to realistically realize what you're interested in. don't apply to stanford just cuz its a good school.</p>

3

<p>I know in my previous post I didn't exactly elaborate as to why Stanford is my dream school. It has nothing to do with the school's prestige level or any or that. It has to do with the amazing oppurtunities that I know the school will offer me. I live relatively near the campus and have visited it many times. Last year I truly fell in love with the school when I was given the opportunity to meet with some students who gave me a tour of Stanford's biomotion labs and let me help them as they demonstrated various experiments, which I found fascinating.</p>

<p>And thanks for the advice. I understand that scores aren't everything, but as I am new to the forums I wasn't really sure what else to post when asking for advice since scores and grades seem to be what everyone else is posting.</p>

4

<p>It seems you're putting all the emphasis on academics and that combined with the fact that you're Indian wanting to go into biology doesn't help you. However, I think if you apply early you'll up your chances and your scores are pretty good in the Stanford range. I don't think there's much you can do to "improve" since you're a good candidate, because you don't have a hook and you can't really do anything huge in a year. The Secretary and club things are good, but I don't know if Lacrosse is going to help that much because (no offense) it's a joke in most schools, at least for girls.
That being said, just keep up the grades and I think you have a reasonable chance as anyone does. If you're looking at Berkeley, I think you'll get in easily. Keep in mind though, I personally know a whole bunch of people with your scores and higher that didn't get in, and one with lower that did. I don't really know what made the difference so just hope for the best.</p>