<p>I have been pouring over college information and stuff about applying to college and I determined a long time ago that I will shoot for Stanford. In your opinion how can one stand out in the application process at Stanford? I've heard it is basically all luck if your even remotely high achieving in high school due to sheer volume of qualified applicants.
Thanks</p>
<p>I won’t lie, there is a bit of luck involved in this whole process, but it’s a lot less luck than some people think. The easiest/most obvious way to stand out is to write about something unique in your essays. I kind of made it my mission to be different when doing my apps and it worked for me! (Stanford 2015!!) Every time I read an essay prompt, I asked myself “What would the average student write about for this essay?” I’d write my ideas about that down on a list, and made sure I STAYED AWAY from those topics, and instead wrote about something different. For example in the “intellectual vitality” essay, instead of writing about something educational or academic, I wrote about how I made a mashup of Lady Gaga songs. As weird as that sounds, when I talked to my admit officer during one of the regional receptions, it turns out she LOVED that essay. For the common app essay I chose the prompt of explaining an obstacle you have over come and how it’s affected you, and I wrote about the first time I wore my Speedo on my swim team, and I had admit officers from several of my schools compliment me on that essay. </p>
<p>Basically, a lot of people think you have to write about some kind of once in a lifetime experience in order to stand out, when really all you have to do is take something small that is somewhat interesting and show how it makes you different or unique.</p>
<p>@just20706 that Mashup of Lady Gaga essay sounds interesting, Can I read it? I’m an incoming sophmore in highschool btw.</p>
<p>Great tips as well, hopefully when my time comes I’ll be prepared[</p>
<p>just20706, I sincerely laud you on your admission to Stanford University. You truly deserve it. By the way, may I also take a gander at that Lady Gaga essay you wrote? It sounds particularly interesting, as starr8nn put it (you may send it to me through CC with private messaging).</p>
<p>you can message me it as well!</p>
<p>You stand out by being yourself. It’s not as hard as people make it out to be…</p>
<p>After this year, two things that I learned about admissions: 1) There’s definitely some luck to it. An 8% acceptance rate speaks for itself. 2) Everyone has something different. Know what your strength/unique ability is, and capitalize on it. What weird combination of things do you have that 33,000 other people, most who have amazing SATs and GPAs, don’t have? 3) Be honest in your application, do your research on why you actually want to go to the school (because “it’s Stanford” is not a reason at all), and you’ll most likely end up some place that you belong. </p>
<p>If you put some time into your essays, have ECs that reflect your interests, ambitions, and uniqueness, and overall put together an application that is an accurate reflection of you - then send in your application with hope and a prayer and see what happens.</p>