<p>here's my advice, folks -
a) you can't change what criteria Stanford or any school is using, so your goal needs to be to get a good outcome
b) There's no point arguing with anyone on this thread. Some people are posting the same opinions on multiple threads all over CC, and you're going to waste energy debating them
c) What you need to focus on is making your apps the best they can be (see my suggestions and other people's comments earlier on this thread, plus there are tons of books available) by really taking another look at them to see if you have done the best presentation you can
d) You need to apply to a strong set of colleges, any of which you would like to go to, and IF you have done a good job of presentation, the outcomes will be independent of each other, and you are pretty certain to have a number of good choices in April. Note I didn't say you could be certain of any specific outcome - only that, if you apply well, you will have several great choices.</p>
<p>You're all terrific, talented people! You have so much going for you. As someone said, you had a million options on Thurs, and today you might have a million less one - that's disappointing, but not the end of the story</p>
<p>Again, I ask you... What have you done to better your community? You keep bashing posters who post great test scores and you keep saying that Stanford doesn't care about test scores or sat scores, they care about making a difference. So, what have you done to better your community?</p>
<p>Since last weekend, I have spent a lot time to study the Stanford EA results. Me too think it is unfair to Asian applicants. However, I agree with premierbush, to serve your society is a very import. He raised a very important question, many Asian applicants should pay attention.</p>
<p>Primie and John, what makes you think these Asian kids havent done anything for the community. This post started w/the quetsions - "List your stats". That's why the kids are posting their stats in this post. I am sure that they all have lot of community svc. My teenage son did ~800 hrs of public service. Do you think I have made my son do that? Not at all. It's very hard to make teenagers do anything unless they are self-motivated. he just loved to do the work. I see that the genral perception is - if you have high SAT GPA stats, you don't have time for the community. I just hope that the adcom officers are not like you.</p>
<p>dear premie, i know you love getting all this attention don't you? don't you just love firing up a bunch of already-disappointed students that feel unfairly-treated by a school they might have been dreaming of attending for seven years or more? as for the kid with the 1700, how do you know that none of us have done as much as he has for the community? Don't you realize that maybe if he makes his thread a little bit more radical by amping up his comm. service, more people will post and it'll become popular so people like you will bring it up on other threads? you seriously need to either educate yourself about what's going on, or get some asian friends; and i'm sure you'll say you have some and they might be anti-social or something, well, those are not the ones i'm talking about, pal</p>
<p>To the OP who said "what have you guys done to help the world around you!? ":
After being depressed for 2 days after being rejected by Stanford, my DD finally had beaming smiles all over this evening. You know the reason - she is single handedly organizing a blood drive in her school tomorrow and got 175 kids to sign up to donate blood. She came back and said "I can't believe I am the project manager for this drive. Most kids are scared to donate blood and I got record number of kids to sign up". Her smiles and enthusiasm today was more than I have seen when she got her SAT scores!
Irony is Stanford Hospital is the one coming to draw the blood! And she has no intentions of ever pursuing a medical career..</p>
<p>I would recommend that admitted students consider what it says about their character when they imply that they are morally or otherwise superior to those who were not admitted. While my daughter had the good fortune to be admitted, I would be embarassed, and ashamed of her, if she adopted this attitude. It's misguided and mistaken.</p>
<p>Getting a favorable admissions decision means you had some worthy accomplishments that, in the context of building an overall class with many different skills, interests and talents, qualified you to be included - that's it, no more and no less. Anyone who thinks it is a statement of moral or intellectual superiority has some serious maturing yet to do.</p>
<p>Sadly, when I've visited, many Stanford students seem to have a sense of elitism that I'd been told did (or does) not exist. (I met more than a few students who genuinely consider Berkeley students inferior in accomplishment, intellect, skill, and talent.)</p>
<p>^very true. It was on this website that I read one Stanford student wrote "state schools are so easy". I dont know if that student refers to UCB as one of the state schools.</p>
<p>I am a freshman at Stanford of Indian descent, and I looked at this forum occasionally last year when I was applying early action. I was curious to see how this year's round of applicants fared, so I checked out the forum and was interested to see this thread.</p>
<p>It was very distressing to see the large number of extremely talented Indian students who were declined admission. Many of you immediately jumped to the conclusion that Stanford discriminated against you because of your ORM status, and unfortunately, its true. Admissions officers do discriminate against the stereotypical Indian student. In my first quarter of Stanford, I've met many URMs an athletes that are simply academically inferior to you (the rejected Indian student), and it just isn't fair.</p>
<p>While this probably isn't consoling to you, college admissions are not supposed to be fair. Colleges admit a class that will provide the best experience for the members of the class. This does not necessarily mean they admit the most academically accomplished and talented class possible. Take Berkeley for example - because it makes admissions decisions on a largely numeric basis (who has the best SAT, GPA, etc.) it is predominately Asian, and has earned a reputation as a nerdy, un-diverse school. Because of Stanford's diverse group of students, I have met a lot of fascinating people from a variety of backgrounds, and really expanded my own personality. I can confidently say that my Stanford experience would not be as wonderful as it is without the URMs and athletes, and their contributions.</p>
<p>That being said, don't take Stanford's rejection too seriously. No matter what Stanford says, you still have your accomplishments and your intelligence, and an admissions decision is not a judgment on your life as a whole. If you've got talent (and from your stats, you obviously do), you will succeed no matter where you spend the next four years. A state school has its advantages too - classes will be way easier, and the girls will definitely be better looking!</p>
<p>SAT: 1560/2340 (one sitting)
SAT II: 800 Math2, 800 Chemistry
ACT: 35
GPA: 4.0 UW / 4.5 W most challenging course load in a magnet school
Rank: 4/400 good EC</p>
<p>I got accepted, and I think the reason I was offered admission over many of the brightest was because of the way I wrote my application. I have heard Stanford does not care much about your stats as much as your dreams and potential (which they see through your essays, recommendations, etc).</p>
<p>hey ap0194, congrats, but we all wrote stellar essays, do you really think that we would work years for this one moment and then blow it on the way we present ourselves in the app?</p>
<p>im not sure how well the essays were actually written. i mean i thought mine weren't that good but i guess stanford did. a lot of it is also luck. it depends on who's application they read before and after yours. im just new to this forum..but i honestly think the kids here are accomplished enough to get into at least one of the top shot colleges. gluck everyone.</p>
<p>I think far too much extrapolation is going on based on individual decisions. The fact is every college needs to build a class of students who have different academic and EC skills and interests. Stanford in particular sees a disproportionate number of strong math/science candidates, including Asian math/science candidates. Given they need a mix, you would expect to see a disproportionate number of candidates with excellent math/science profiles deferred or denied. You would see the opposite outcome at schools where they have a disproportionate %age of humanities focused applicants. It's not because you are less worthy, it's just that they are not going to admit an all math/science class.</p>
<p>I guess it's natural that everyone wants to believe their app had that super-special quality that got it accepted over other 'stronger' applications, but in reality, admissions officers can't and don't plumb the depths of applicants' psyches. Any adcom who thinks they can is seriously delusional. It's all about the number of people with your profile who applied. It's not more mysterious than that. </p>
<p>(provided, of course, you worked over your app and did the research to know how to present yourself effectively - some students don't, but that's a whole separate topic.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I guess it's natural that everyone wants to believe their app had that super-special quality that got it accepted over other 'stronger' applications, but in reality, admissions officers can't and don't plumb the depths of applicants' psyches. Any adcom who thinks they can is seriously delusional. It's all about the number of people with your profile who applied. It's not more mysterious than that.