I heard that Stanford admissions officers spend only 5 minutes on each application. They spend 4.5 minutes out of these 5 minutes reading the essays. They only spend 30 seconds to see if the scores/GPA/activities are “in-line” for admission into Stanford.
This is worrying because I spent a lot of time on my extracurriculars and have a successful business that gets thousands of dollars. If the officers don’t really put much time into seeing it…
I heard that not every application is read by an admissions dean. If your scores are not “in-line” for Stanford and you don’t have any explanation or something amazing in another area, you might just get rejected on the spot. Only a handful (maybe a couple thousand) get into the hands of Admissions deans for them to read and they spend a majority of the time on essays to get an idea of who the student actually is and determine fit.
But the people looking at your app will 100% see your business.
They’re remarkably good at sniffing out disingenuous profiles. If you did it just because you thought it made you look good for admissions, you’re going to be disappointed.
No, I don’t do anything for the sake of colleges. I know no matter what college I go to, I will succeed. Doing something just for it to look good on college apps is a waste of time. Instead, people should focus on their grand career plan and what they want to do for the rest of their lives. People should keep experimenting with new activities and see what stands out to them and pursue their interests with relentless dedication. If I started a business just for it to look good on college apps, then it would not have gained thousands of dollars of revenue because it wouldn’t be important to me and I would give up on the first failure.
I created something because I found a challenge in my life and found a creative way to help me overcome it. I thought the product would help others as well and sold it online.
Pretty much whatever I do, I do it because I like it. I guess then it shouldn’t matter how much time admissions officers spend on your application because they will have ample time to decide whether or not you fit in the school.
I have heard about 8 tp 15 minutes. They would spend longer if they felt they needed to.
“If the officers don’t really put much time into seeing it…”
^^Is that a question? They spend as much as they want/need to. And the other applicants are in the same position. They are running a university, not a business. I’m sure your business is a nice feature but it may not be the most important part of your application.
@rdeng2614 is that true for most competitive schools? So how do they even determine if there is a good reason why you are not in line? I would assume it would take 5 minutes at least
I don’t think there is a uniform system across all schools. Duke has been fairly open about how their process works, and it’s probably somewhat similar to the way a lot of top schools do things given the huge volume of applications they receive:
Applications are initially screened by a reader (usually a regional admissions officer) and checked against a list of important areas and relevant criteria (curricular rigor, grades, scores, essays, recommendations and extracurriculars). Each application is summarized in a paragraph, with strengths and weaknesses noted. About half are found to be non-competitive. The other half get 2 full reads, with one by a member of the Adcom.
Stanford has also been fairly open about their admissions process:
Some applications can be screened relatively quickly and rejected. Some can probably be screened relatively quickly and fast-tracked through admissions. A large portion are competitive but come down to a numbers decision, and may come down to a committee vote and/or how hard an Adcom member lobbies for a particular applicant.
@mjrube94, I’m certainly no admissions effort, but I just think this reflects people’s misunderstandings about SAT scores.
Scores are just one element that colleges look for, and what matters is that they check off a box - nothing more. If you are below the 25-75% mark it is a red flag, though not an insurmountable one. But as long as you are in that range, it checks off a box for most top colleges. Getting a 2400 isn’t any different than getting a 2350 or 2300, or probably less. No one gets admitted to a top school based on a 2400 SAT score. They still need the curricular rigor, grades, essays, letters and extracurriculars to at least be competitive, and preferably to distinguish themselves.
Stanford - and most other top schools - look for more than getting a perfect score on a 3 hour test that doesn’t particularly mean much about ability to function in a competitive academic environment over time. It’s not that surprising. It may also possibly suggest that people who obsess about test taking may do so to the detriment of other elements that colleges value, but that’s a bit of a speculative leap.
Some decide with no human doing the admission reading at all. Community colleges admit all. Most CSUs have an admission process that can be done by a computer program.
Regarding the SAT score issue that you raise, this passage may be relevant:
All you have to do is reach a threshold with your scores. A 2400 score doesn’t get you anything in terms of bonus points, it just means you met that one threshold.
@RiceEater108 For top schools, once again, they will look at your EC’s definitely. What I meant was that if you had horrendous grades or test scores like a sub 2.0 and a sub 1500 SAT score, they might just automatically reject you without even looking at your EC’s and essays.
I’m assuming you’re a good student with mostly A’s and B’s so that shouldn’t be a problem.