What can really make the application standout in front of eyes of Stanford? My daughter has stellar academics but so so ECs (not in leadership roles). Is there any chance for her? What does Stanford look for in a student?
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/
https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=66225
Why is getting into Stanford so important to you and your daughter?
She needs tippy top grades, and tippy top SAT or ACT…and outstanding essays and outstanding letters of reference. Even with that…95% of Stanford applicants do not get accepted.
Students get into Stanford, not a particular department so you are thinking about this wrong.
Stellar academics are somewhat a commodity and not a big differentiator. When reading the application, something needs to stand out where an adcom says “we want this student!”.
Both sons of a friend of mine are recent Stanford grads. As you know, it’s freshman class is small. My friends sone were both from a diverse suburban Chicago school. My understanding is that the second boy’s acceptance had no relationship to having a brother at Stanford. They were each valedictorians, each had (near) perfect ACT scores and took the highest level of classes available. One was a national chess champion, the other highly ranked. They both were in marching band, spent a summer in Central America with the Amigos program, had leading roles in school or community musicals, played sports. Much time went into the essay. Beyond that, my friend had a conversation with an administrator at Stanford who shared that several years back they shifted how they looked at applicants after realizing that the social feel on campus wasn’t what they wanted. Now they are very interested in character and social-emotional skills as well as the academics and extra-curriculars. They want nice people, brilliant and nice. All schools create a geographically balanced and diverse class. Taking all this in account, there just aren’t enough spots at Stanford. #2 in one of the boys’ high school class desperately wanted Stanford, but didn’t get in. I like my daughter’s HS’s philosophy: College isn’t a prize to be one but a fit to be made. Good luck to your daughter.