I'm new here... Chance me please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hey everybody, I've been a long-time lurker here but have yet to post. I'm not entirely sure how this works, but I would appreciate it if a couple of you could take the time to offer your opinions on my chances for Stanford.</p>

<p>I've already been accepted to the honors program at the University of Kansas, so I have a pretty solid fall-back plan if the whole Stanford thing doesn't work out. I also applied to a few other higher-level colleges, but Stanford is definitely my #1.</p>

<p>-I'm a white guy, which surely doesn't help me much. :P
-First generation college student
-From a small-ish public high school in Kansas
-Class rank 1 out of approx. 130
-4.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
-32 composite ACT on two different occasions.
---Only a 7 on the writing, though.
-Have taken all the advanced classes we are offered. Sadly we do not have the ability to take AP or IB courses, but we do have "College Prep" and dual-credit college courses through a local community college. I think I'm mostly scared that my high school isn't impressive enough for my 4.0/class rank to mean much to admissions. I've tried to remedy this by taking a number of the dual-credit courses (college algebra, speech, comp, government, calc). I also took psychology at the college one summer.
-Senior year courses: Concert Band; Comp 1/Comp 2; Business Law/Forensics; Teacher's Aide; Calculus/Coll. Calculus; Coll. Government/CP Economics; Chemistry II</p>

<p>EC/Activities (because senior year is still going on I really only have details on earlier years, obviously)</p>

<p>• Football 9-12; Lettered 10-12, Varsity 10-12 (center and defensive end)
• Forensics 9-12; Lettered 9-11, State Qualifier 9-11, National Qualifier 10-11 (wrote and performed speeches with quite a bit of success)
• Student Council 10-12; Lettered 10-11, Class Representative 10, Class Treasurer 11, Class President 12. I have set up and worked on a number of committees. I think I specifically mentioned how I set up and currently run our school's official Facebook page. Just seemed unique, I guess.
• Scholars’ Bowl 11-12; Lettered 11, League Champions 11, State Qualifiers 11, Quest Competition Qualifiers 12 (Quest is a televised competition between SB teams in Kansas)
• Band 11-12; Percussion, Group Ensemble 11, City Band (Had no previous music experience, but love it. Planning on joining LSJUMB if accepted!)
• Pep Club 9-12
• National Honor Society 11-12
• Science Olympiad 12
• OHS Wall of Honor 10-12; Selection Committee 10-11, Ceremony 11-12 (this is our school's way of recognizing notable alumni. I've helped out a lot as a student representative for the program over the years)
• Peer Counselor 11
• Debate 9
• O Club 11-12 (our school's varsity Letterman's club)
• Make a Difference Day 11-12; Co-coordinator 12 (a volunteering program our school began hosting the last two years)
• Volunteering for Hope House and Salvation Army 10-12 (not sure on number of hours, but it's not anything impressive.)</p>

<p>Awards/Honors (don't have many because our school doesn't really offer many)</p>

<p>• All A Honor Roll 9-12
• Top 5% Honors 9-12
• Academic Letter 10-12 (not applicable frosh. year)
• Mensa (Joined February 2010)
• Daughters of the American Revolution Award 11
• University of Kansas Honors Scholar 12 (pretty much all Kansas students with a 4.0 get this award)</p>

<p>Letters of rec.</p>

<p>• Comp teacher/Forensics coach: Hopefully pretty good. I'm really close to her, so I'm confidant she gave me a good one.
• Algebra 2/Coll Algebra/Calc teacher: Again probably pretty solid. She's pretty much the smartest teacher I've ever had, so I'm confidant she wrote a great one.</p>

<p>Essays</p>

<p>I feel they were pretty solid, but not extraordinary. I mainly played up how I love being around lots of different people (why I'm active in a number of diverse ECs) and that I have always been self-motivated when it comes to learning.</p>

<p>Overall I think I've done as much as I can with the situation I'm in. I'm hoping I'm not overlooked because we're not offered much at my school. </p>

<p>Thanks for anybody who took the time to read this, I really do appreciate it. I hope it is not against the rules to just dip in and ask to be chanced, if so I apologize. I also apologize if this is a total mess, it's late and I'm a little rushed :D. Good luck to everybody applying! Hope to see you all at Stanford next year!</p>

2

<p>Hi Swafford,</p>

<p>I don’t do chances, but don’t worry about whether your high school offers as much as some others. It’s clear from your post that you made the most of what was available to you, and that is the context in which your application will be reviewed. Coming from Kansas might be a bit of a plus, too, if Kansas is somewhat underrepresented in the applicant pool. You sound like a very nice guy, so I wish you the best of luck.</p>

3

<p>overall, you’re a fairly good candidate, but fairly typical with no stand out of the crowd value. still you’re a good candidate.</p>

4

<p>Thanks, but I know what you mean when you say I have nothing that makes me stand out. Form reading through the Class of '14 decision page I can see that I’m definitely lacking something solid like that.</p>

<p>Also reading through that thread made me want to point a few more things out that may or may not make a difference. I couldn’t find a place to edit my original comment, so I’ll just drop it here:</p>

<p>-I believe Stanford superscores the ACT, in which case I’m actually closer to a 33. (34 english, 31 math, 32 reading, 34 science)
-Our school funnels kids to state schools/JuCos/Community Colleges. Students seldom try to go above and beyond. I think we’ve had one student go to Duke, one go to MIT, and in my grade we have a girl (probably) going to Georgetown. I’m the only Stanford applicant from what I know.
-Single parent family/low income (~25k)
-My CA essay was about my 8th grade math teacher who really inspired me to continue pursuing mathematics. I think it was pretty good.
-My Stanford short essays were also pretty good.
—The first was about chaos theory/the butterfly effect. I referenced a few books/movies and how I’ve been interested in the concept from a young age even before I knew what it was.
—The letter to a roommate was written really informally. I tried to show how open I am to pretty much anything and also tried to touch on the fact I’m from a small town in Kansas (under representation!).
—The final one about why I’m attracted to Stanford is solid, although I’m afraid it may come off as too standard, which would be bad considering how much I want to go there. I generically talked about how the school is academically challenging and well respected, but then about the diversity and student organizations available as I enjoy being around and involved in a lot of different groups of people. Then I talked about some of Stanford’s traditions and what makes the school unique which is what makes it stand out to me the most.</p>

<p>That’s about it. Thanks again for the comments. I wish I could just relax considering I’m going to have to wait another two months for decisions to be announced, but I want to go to Stanford more than just about anything.</p>

5

<p>Being from a tiny high school from middle-of-nowhere, being a first generation college student, and playing football (oddly enough- did you mention it in any of your essays?) will help you immensely. It’s always a crapshoot, though, so good luck!</p>

6

<p>Thanks! And if I remember correctly for my ECs I focused on forensics, football, stuco, scholars’ bowl, and band because I thought they gave a pretty good snapshot of who I am. I’ve actually played football since 2nd grade through youth leagues, so it’s been a pretty major part of my life, I’m just not good enough to play at the next level :P.</p>