International Stanford Chance?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Heya,
I'd like to know what you think about my chances to get into Stanford U undergrad.
I've already applied, here are my stats:</p>

<p>Nationality: Middle Eastern (Israeli - Jewish) but have lived in Thailand for already 6 years.
Financial Aid: No
School: Private international school (in Thailand)
Relatives: my uncle got his PhD from Stanford in the 70s, went on to work at some very high profile jobs, been a president of a university, and is now a politician.</p>

<p>SATs:
SAT 1: M 700, CR 700, WR 770 = 2170
SAT 2: Math II 720, Physics 730</p>

<p>I have done my IGCSEs (UK system, highest grade is A* > A > B > C > D > E > F > G > U)
Maths Extended (done a year early) - A
Additional Maths (extra, instead of the 2nd year of Extended) - B
Information Computer Technology - A*
Geography - A*
Science Double Award - two A<em>s
English Lit - A
English Lang - A
Design and Technology - A</em>
Business Studies - A*</p>

<p>In school I do IB. My predicted grades are:
Physics Higher Level (HL) - 7/7
Mathematics HL - 7/7
Chemistry HL - 7/7
English A1 Standard Level (SL) - 7/7
Business & Management SL - 7/7
Spanish Ab Initio SL - 7/7
Theory of Knowledge - A, Business Extended Essay - A = 3 extra points
Total - 45/45 (highest grade possible)
*Also my course selection is the most rigorous that my school offers, and I believe it is in fact the most rigorous any school can offer.</p>

<p>ECs:
Founder and leader of Amnesty International Branch at my school (4 years)
Rotary Club Chairperson + Secretary (3 years)
Drama Club (5 years)
School Prefect (2 years - you can only do this for 2 years)
Leadership Pillar Leader (2 years)
Tennis non-varsity (5 years)
Round Square (an organization of schools that work toward the IDEALS: Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership, and Service) Conference Delegate twice (I've been sent once to Singapore and one to Canada for these conferences)
Guitar (6 years)
Volunteering - overall all I've got over 500 hours of volunteering under many service projects and Amnesty and Rotary...
Global Issues Network (2 years)
Initiator of the debating team (4 years)
House Captain (1 year, you can't do it for any more - otherwise I would)
^> went on to become the house competition coordinator (2 years)
I've set up my own company along with my friends overseas, we do graphic and web design for small-to-medium businesses in Pattaya, Thailand. (4 years)
I am a certified peer mentor (help kids with bullying, issues at home, etc...) (3 years)
IGCSE science tutor (2 years, since I finished my IGCSEs)
There are many more, due to the fact my school offers so many internal opportunities. The only problem is that we never compete nationally or internationally with other schools.
Don't know if this matters, but I've attended a computer programming summer camp on the Stanford Campus two years ago. Creating computer programs and games is a hobby of mine.</p>

<p>Awards:
I've won several awards from my school, hadn't had a chance to get any from other institutions:
-Academic Excellence 2009
-First in Physics 2009
-First in Chemistry 2009
-First in Spanish 2009
-First in Business 2009
-First in English 2008
-First in Geography 2008
-First in Information Computer Technology 2008
-Second in Mathematics 2009
-Round Square Award (IDEALS) - 2008
-House competition award (my house won, but I guess that's not really all my work)
-there were others in previous years but no point listing them...</p>

<p>Rank: 1% (i.e. first) in my class out of about 60 people.</p>

<p>Recommendations: Very Good
Essays: I thought were good and unique -
-Activity essay was about how I started Amnesty International after hearing Peter Dalglish (founder of Street Kids International, and an admissions officer at Stanford) speak at a round square conference)
-Main Common App essay was about a friend of mine, who I met during another round square conference in Canada. He is from the other side of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Israel, and how our friendship and the war that came shortly after we met helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses. It was a very humble essay with lots of critical thinking.
-Stanford Intellectual Essay was about the intellectual challenge posed by the Holocaust, what it means to me as a third-generation-to-the-Holocaust in Israel, my belief in God and how this challenge affects it, how it led me to work with Amnesty International (human rights) etc...
-Stanford Roommate Essay: about my move from Israel to Thailand on the day of my Bar Mitzvah, the struggle to adjust, how I overcame it, what I take from it and I somehow applied it to my roommate.
-Why Stanford Essay: that one was really unique. I opened with a reference to the video game Mass Effect, how it reflects the society I grew up in, about travel and gathering knowledge to improve society, and how all that ties in to the Stanford community - how it fits exactly to "my life's mission" and how I fit at Stanford.
*All my essays had a common theme (my home country) and in each essay I looked at it from different angles to answer the question.</p>

<p>I think that's about it.
Did I forget something?
Oh, yeah! Chance me for Stanford please :P</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch to all the repliers!
-TomBor</p>

2

<p>bump…
…
…</p>

3

<p>Perhaps I should add (after reading “what makes good ECs” thread) that I have initiated a sub project within Amnesty where and built a small school in the slum for destitute children, which was the main focus of my Activity Essay.</p>

4

<p>I think you have a great chance! your essays sound fantastic. i would have loved to read them. are you in college right now? as in…er, sixth form? i think? haha</p>

<p>your ECs are a bit unfocused, but nevertheless pretty good. you’re not really a legacy, because legacies i think only apply to undergrads and not grads, but it may help. </p>

<p>good luck! again, i think you have a great shot!</p>

<p>[chance</a> me back?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/866589-chances-columbia-again.html]chance”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/866589-chances-columbia-again.html)</p>

5

<p>Haha thanks.
The ECs… Most of my work is concentrated around service, and that is where I focused my activity essay and most of the other ECs I wrote on the app. Still, I wanted to show variety, a bit of each. However, the hours and the essays definitely show I am committed to service and environmentalism (my two favorite IDEALS.)</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

<p>(oh btw I chanced you back :))</p>

6

<p>Stanford-Reach(because it’s reach for everyone)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/859569-chance-virginia-tech-georgia-tech.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/859569-chance-virginia-tech-georgia-tech.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Michiganfall, I know that Stanford is pretty arbitrary when it comes to its admissions.
But what do you think about my stats?</p>

8

<p>stats? you mean sat and IB,i’d say your IB is very good but sat is on the lower side of stanford admission pool,but you ECs is very outstanding so we never know.</p>

9

<p>Great ECs, but nothing outstanding. Or maybe the sheer number of them de-values them as I read them : )</p>

<p>The ECs make up for the low end SAT score. Grades are great. Your low SAT score prevents you from having a great chance. It’s tough for internationals. Low-Reach</p>

10

<p>Bump… … … …</p>

11

<p>Anyone else?</p>

12

<p>sat too low…all i can say</p>

13

<p>Too low?
I know my SATs aren’t particularly high for Stanford, but they are certainly within the range according to the admissions statistics. Also, I have seen many people get accepted with similar and even slightly lower SAT scores.</p>

<p>I was under the impression that once you pass a certain threshold score then Stanford moves on to look at other things such as ECs, essays, recs, IB, etc… This is the first time I hear that my SATs are “too low” to get in at all. I know they are probably what detracts most from my application, but as far as I understand their importance isn’t as significant while applying Stanford as it is for other universities, and that they are just the basic “should we continue reviewing this application” test.</p>

14

<p>I wouldn’t listen to everyone else. You have a great shot.</p>

<p>Then again, it IS Stanford. I can’t guarantee anything, but your ECs and curriculum are really intense.</p>