Indians who applied to Stanford

<p>hmmm...this makes me worried.</p>

<p>what have you guys done to help the world around you!? Winning a lot of awards and having high scores helps yourself, thats not the kind of contributor that Stanford wants. Whats the point in taking someone who doesnt contribute to the world around them? its not just about test scores and winning this and that science award. its about being a good citizen and person...i hope at least.</p>

<p>This thread is racially biased.</p>

<p>@premeirbush, we are just giving what the OP wanted, our stats...I never said I was deserving of getting in over anybody else...but if you don't think its tougher to get in as an ORM, ur just ignorant..</p>

<p>its tougher yes, and there is a real reason behind it (cultural diversity is more valuable than fifty SAT points), but I just see a bunch of people listing personal accomplishments and awards with SAT scores and it dawned on me that none of them do society any good. Try helping the poor, not winning the science fair. dunno just a thought</p>

<p>premierbush, think twice, there are many indians who did a lot outside of school to help with their community as well as improve their own scores. I know one founded a juvenile cancer awareness-type club at her school, another one who volunteered as a tennis coach whenever he would go to india (on vacation, i might add), i myself considered my hook to be volunteering. we might have high scores, but many of us do stuff other than get those scores</p>

<p>premierbush,</p>

<p>Please stop arguing with people who were deferred or rejected. You keep trying to convince everyone why you were accepted over others. Just be happy with your acceptance and stop trying to prove your point. I feel everyone has a right to question why their admission was deferred or denied. We are all just trying to make sense of it. There is no question that MANY of the deferred/rejected has outstanding scores and wonderful EC's. Don't try to minimize these accomplishments by saying that STanford just doesn't care about those things. That is not true either. Stanford is a very competitive university and those things do matter. They had other reasons for deferring or rejecting, not simply because they don't care about those things. On another post you stated that those deferred/rejected only cared about themselves and didn't care about the community, what exactly have you done to better your community? </p>

<p>Please be careful how you talk to others. A persons character and integrity is very important.</p>

<p>I don't know why the people on this thread assume that they were rejected because they were Indian. What about the other people who were rejected because who had similar or better stats? How many qualified students do you think Stanford can accept??</p>

<p>lol we're just seeing a pattern</p>

<p>and don't try denying it please - the process is NOT fair. They do practice affirmative action and they do have (implicit) quotas against certain schools.</p>

<p>An admissions officer accidentally admitted to having a bias against my school. We are 59th in the nation and are 70% asian. Over 100 students apply each year and only ONE kid got in last year. 0 EA so far. </p>

<p>I don't see how you can assume that asians/indians do not care about the communty because we do!</p>

<p>I think if people look at the huge changes that elite colleges are making in admissions now by accepting students from all types of high schools, from different parts of the country and world, low-income (of all races), gender balance (which now favors males), and yes athletes, legacies (whose parents contribute significantly to these elite schools), and other categories, there are only so many spaces. Literally thousands of highly qualified students don''t get in. I read where Stanford anticipates 24,000 applicants for regular admissions.</p>

<p>This thread is depressing. I'm applying RD, as an Indian, with nowhere near the high scores I see in here. Just a quick question, where are most of you from?</p>

<p>ace and others, it's true the other schools you are applying to are just as selective, but they have different criteria, and the outcomes are independent, so the odds are additive in the main.</p>

<p>But do work on optimizing your presentation of what you have done. Today I reviewed my nephew's Stanford app (he is legacy, and was deferred) and saw that he had not done a good job of presenting himself. He had a long list of ECs, instead of choosing a couple of EC 'themes/categories' and wrapping a lot of smaller stuff into bigger categories. That makes more impact, and presents you much more clearly. I would recommend no more than 5 EC main line items/categories, with everything else rolled under those categories. Omit all the little stuff (1 hr/week in honor society, etc) that just clutters up your app and defocuses attention from the key items.</p>

<p>Your essays should also support your overall presentation and main themes, rather than be about tangential topics. For instance, if you want to emphasize your school spirit in your app, make sure enough of your short answers and essays have that as their main topic. And have only 2-3 themes - I think 2 is best - 1 academic and one non.</p>

<p>A little reworking of the material you already have can work wonders. </p>

<p>And make sure that, with every question you answer on the apps, that you can see what they have learned about YOU in your answer, not about the topic. They don't care to learn about world peace from your app, or the pros and cons of nuclear energy, they want to learn useful and insightful things about YOU, that give them a reason to admit you, since it makes you stand out in an authentic and unique way from other applicants. So whatever the qs you are answering, make sure when they have finished reading your answer, that they have learned something more about you and how you think.</p>

<p>And don't forget Cornell which has a very strong eng program, but is more predictable in its app process than some others.</p>

<p>Ailey</p>

<p>Excellent advice! You should be a college counselor!</p>

<p>After reading the amazing credentials of so many students including Indian Americans who have not made it to Stanford or other highly selective institutions in early decision I wanted to share some information. The fact of the matter is that most colleges want to maintain a diversity in the student body. The Indian American student body is by far the most competitive group with highly exceptional students therefore if you are an Indian American than unless you are super genius you will have to do something to differentiate yourself in this pack.</p>

<p>My son who got admitted into Stanford had similar or even slightly lower academic credentials than lot of the other Indian American kid in the pool. We suspect that he got into Stanford because of how he put the application together. In the application he came alive. His essays had nothing to do with his extra curricular activities, his answers to rest of the questions clearly demonstrated that he will be part of and enhance the Stanford community and how Stanford was the right place for him.</p>

<p>Ailey wrote: "So whatever the qs you are answering, make sure when they have finished reading your answer, that they have learned something more about you and how you think."</p>

<p>I would add that you should also make an effort before the next application is submitted to discover how your 'voice' might be perceived by admissions officers who don't know you. Get someone who is truly objective about you to read your essays and short answers. I know several very brilliant students who were shocked to be rejected by Stanford, and later recognized that their writing conveyed an unappealing arrogance. With that recognition they modified their next applications and were later accepted at equally selective schools.</p>

<p>Stanford doesnt advertise the ethnicity distribution part which they should. Then all the Indians wouldn't apply to stanford. I truly believe that the bar has been unfairly raised for the Asians(including Indians). I see the pain thru this thread!!</p>

<p>Premie, I think you are quite ignorant about the world around you. Just look around and see how these Asian families are promoting the community. I live in a town that has more than 50% Asian population.The Asian parents are giving volunatry hours equally like any other parents in schools. Pls talk to someone and get some eductaion for yourself for god's sake before you make this kind of comments. Remember that despite thier background, these Asian families are trying to learn the new culture and trying to intergrate into this society. Things are double tougher for them.</p>

<p>Premie, I hope you realize the kids that "win these science fair awards" are most likely the ones who WILL change the world when they grow up. Unless you are retarded, you can understand that these are the kids who will be doing research for cures, medicines, etc. So, please refrain from making those idiotic statements anymore.</p>

<p>Also, I would like to point out that Stanford accepting URM's over highly qualified applicants isn't a difference of "50 SAT points" as you claim...if you can see the other thread in this forum, the young individual who was "Mexican American" was accepted with a 1700. That's at least a 300 point difference, which is quite significant and you cannot argue against that.</p>

<p>@ predator: you can also see quite a bit of good that that mexican american was doing for the world.
@ haters: look i dont want to label every indian as not contributing to their community, I am just seeing what you rejected/deferred ppl have posted about yourselves and credentials and I just see scores and awards but not much service (my opinion). But even if Stanford practices AA and its harder for Indians to get in than African Americans or Native Americas, there is good reason behind it. Can you imagine a campus that is 70% Asian and the rest White or some other predominant race (for whatever reason, legacy, money, etc.)? It would be dull, and would not do the one thing that college is supposed to do: Prepare students for success in the world around them so they can improve it. What would you know about other people in this world if your college experience was with people all from the same culture. Yes, you can have Indians, Chinese, Pakistanis etc. but without Africans/S.Americans there isnt rep. culture</p>