<p>As of now, my top choice for college is Stanford. I'm getting towards the end of my Junior year now and I need to know what I can do between now and November to help my chances. These are the stats I will have by the time I apply:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.8-3.9W, (depends on if Stanford includes 1st semester senior year grades, do they?)
At least top 15%
SAT: 1960 (didn't study but will study over the summer and retake)
African-American/Native American Male
Low-Income
First Generation</p>
<p>ECs:
Class President (2 years)
Site Council Rep (4 years)
"Step Up" Club Founder
Key Club (3 years)
CSF (2 years)
Link Crew (2 years)
PTSA Member
Local Performing Arts Foundation Member
NAACP Youth Member
WASC Leadership Team Member
Wrestling (2 years)
Ultimate Frisbee (2 years)
Interact Club (1 year)
Guitar (5 years, might do a music audition)
Around 200 community service hours</p>
<p>Awards:
Student of the Month (2x)
Ventures Scholar
Who's who... (should I include this?)
Honor Roll (every semester)
Certificate of Invitation to CSLC (couldn't afford to go)</p>
<p>Summer Programs:
CADA/CASL Leadership Camp
Camp Royal
Experience Berkeley
Boys State alternative (does that mean anything?)</p>
<p>Senior Classes:
AP Gov/Econ
AP Lang
AP Art History
Physics
Leadership (required for Class Pres, V.P., etc)
Calc and a third year of Spanish at my local CC.</p>
<p>So what can I do (besides bring up my GPA and SAT) to increase my chances?</p>
<p>Does anybody have any ideas?</p>
<p>Hehe, your Weighted GPA is under 4.0 and your SAT is 2000. Umm.. and you are.. aiming for...... Stanford(?).</p>
<p>"Hehe, your Weighted GPA is under 4.0 and your SAT is 2000. Umm.. and you are.. aiming for...... Stanford(?)."</p>
<p>Well their average GPA is 3.9 and my SAT will be higher when I retake. Plus I have other factors like URM, First Gen, and Low-Income working in my favor so I don't understand why Stanford seems like such a huge reach for me to you. Care to explain?</p>
<p>Well it's not like you're the only African American or Native American applying. Sure, you may be one of the ONLY applicants who are BOTH African American and Native American, but Stanford won't be able to count that as a separate ethnicity, would it? So it's no better than being either African American OR Native American. With that, your chances at Stanford are still slim. Your SAT score is very low, your activities are generic, your awards are very weak, and nothing stands out about your profile beyond your ethnicity. Some people will respond to this thread and just say that Stanford is a crapshoot for anybody, but I believe in this case your chances are slim. Make sure you have a good number of safeties and matches.</p>
<p>So, I guess the constructive answer to your question is to do something you're passionate about that is a unique extracurricular activity, and work hard on the SAT/GPA. Make sure that your essays rock.</p>
<p>"So, I guess the constructive answer to your question is to do something you're passionate about that is a unique extracurricular activity, and work hard on the SAT/GPA. Make sure that your essays rock."</p>
<p>That's what I'm looking for, thank you. I realize that I don't have the greatest chances but the point of this thread is to find out what I can do in the time I have left to increase them. Please keep your responses focused on that. Thanks.</p>
<p>stanford, harvard.. for some reason seem to select UNIQUE people with backgrounds like yourself and not the regular 2400 kids.</p>
<p>i know you wont believe it now
but you'll realize the difference between stanford and berkeley .. is almost none.</p>
<p>Yeah, just bring your SATs up, and do something special over the summer. And get good recs/interview (I don't know if they have them for Stanford--I'm guessing they do) and essays. But definitely apply, because you never know. I'm sure if I posted my stats on this website, everyone would say that I have no chance of getting into schools that I've gotten into already. So basically SATs and do something in one of your ECs--but don't start something new just because.</p>
<p>Stanford does not do interviews. Yet.</p>
<p>"Well their average GPA is 3.9"
you mean UW, W that's way off.</p>
<p>Stanford GPA:</p>
<p>10-11th grade, core classes and foreign language. Unweighted.</p>
<p>You really need to work on your SAT scores. URM will help you, but only so much. Unless your rank is high in the top 10% (preferably top 5%), you'll need a reason for them to pick you, something to make you stand out. Of course, scores won't get you in, but they can keep you out. Aim for 700+ on all sections.</p>
<p>You might be a URM/first gen/low income, but here's the thing. They have to be confident that you'll do well; they still won't accept someone that they don't think will succeed. Prove to them that you'll succeed. 5% of the admitted class last year had between 3.5 and 3.75 unweighted, and considering your weighted GPA it's likely you fall there. </p>
<p>Middle 50% last year:
Verbal: 670-770
Math: 690-780</p>
<p>Assuming you have an equal distribution of test scores, I'd assume you'd have around + or - 660 on each section. Most people with those test scores that were accepted had very impressive ranks.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that there are many minorities/first gens with even better stats that will be in the applicant pool. I wouldn't include Who's Who on your awards list, btw.</p>
<p>Under Represented Minority</p>
<p>My only advice is to ignore the rude and unconstructive posts on this thread. Whenever you ask for your chances on CC so many people will say that you have no chance at all. You always have a chance of admission even if your stats are lower than the average. I mean an average SAT score of 2100 means that 50% of the students scored less that score and 50% scored above. So many people act like you will never get in unless you score above the average. I have read a lot of posts where people have gotten accepted into their reaches when people on this site told them that they would never get accepted. I made it into my reach school even though my stats were far below the average. Don't let what anyone says on this site discourage you. </p>
<p>Just write great essays and pull your test scores up. Your EC's are pretty good athough I would not list Who's Who (it is sort of a joke). And just remember Stanford is a reach for everyone. Some perfect people are rejected while some of the lower scoring people are accepted. </p>
<p>Oh and remember to do something constructive this summer. Don't just hang out. Get a job and do something unique if possible.</p>
<p>curing cancer would help your chances, plus it would make a lot of people very happy</p>
<p>
[quote]
My only advice is to ignore the rude and unconstructive posts on this thread. Whenever you ask for your chances on CC so many people will say that you have no chance at all. You always have a chance of admission even if your stats are lower than the average. I mean an average SAT score of 2100 means that 50% of the students scored less that score and 50% scored above. So many people act like you will never get in unless you score above the average. I have read a lot of posts where people have gotten accepted into their reaches when people on this site told them that they would never get accepted. I made it into my reach school even though my stats were far below the average. Don't let what anyone says on this site discourage you.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I hope you didn't include me in your sweeping analysis, my post was just giving facts I'd gathered, and clearing up a few misconceptions (namely, the weighted vs unweighted GPA average at Stanford). I'm not saying the poster has no chance or that the poster has to be above average to get in, I'm just saying that they are below the stats of most accepted students--and that improving those stats would increase their chance. I don't claim to have the final verdict on a person's chances.</p>
<p>Increase SAT's a LOT for a good chance =]</p>
<p>one thing to remember is that some adcoms will pay less attention to SAT score if you're poor or a URM (i think this was in the link in the thread for the article about acceptance at LACs). So, while you should still aim a lot higher for the SAT, I wouldn't be as worried as some others- but still, over 2000 would be a lot nicer.</p>
<p>Murasaki: I think that he or she was referring to the earlier posts that I reacted to, at the start of the thread.</p>