Intl's at Stanford

Colleges & Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I've been looking at Stanford as a possible college for myself for about a year now. During the past two, maybe three months it has emerged way above a lot of other top schools (like the Ivy League).</p>

<p>I try to avoid "CHANCES LOL LOL PLZ" threads, but as I'm quite not sure of where I stand, I'm gonna give it a shot.</p>

<p>White Male from Northern Europe, no Financial Aid needed.</p>

<p>My SAT I's pretty good, 2200 with an 800M
SAT IIs - well, for some reason not that good, although I'm still quite pleased since I took them in December before I had completely finished my classes. Math Level 2 - 650 and Physics - 700. It is clear that I need to improve these scores somewhat (if for nothing else, just for my own sanity), and of course fill up with some humanities test like World History. </p>

<p>So far, so good. I have had my teacher write some rec's for me, and I thought they were really great (best student in 15 years, blah blah) and my councilor is from California himself and took great care and pride in writing about me. Essays aren't really a problem, since my mother is an English teacher and I can write quite decently for myself (plus, November 1st isn't exactly next week).</p>

<p>My grades are all A's, with a few A+'s in topics like history and economics (yummy) and phys, chem, calculus. My school is awfully small, and we don't rank anything or anyone. But out of the 25 (yeah, twenty-five) people in my class, I'm finishing number one. </p>

<p>As far as ECs and activites goes, I think they might prove me to be weak. I'm really interested in spaceflight and airplanes (also mentioned in one of the teacher rec's) and I'm class/("Russ") president. I also exercise three times a week, and I have put some volunteer hours into things like "learning old people about the internet, basic steps" to building entire web pages for some organizations. I'm also employed and work 15hr/week for a local kiosk (began this Feb). </p>

<p>But when I put these EC's up and compare them to what some of the guys on here pull out, I'm just put to shame. What exactly can be defined as an "EC" by the way, can it be something you do with just yourself or only a handful of people, or does it need to be a huge organization?</p>

<p>Do you think I'm competitive so far?</p>

<p>The biggest question I have, although, is somewhat more complicated. I'm finishing High School in just two weeks, meaning that I really should be off to some college already this autumn. But faith has wanted it differently - the Constitution of my country demands that those who are selected to be both physically and mentally fit (it's not really a big deal, anyway) to SERVE ONE YEAR IN THE MILITARY. I'm slated to begin this tour in January 09, which, if you do the math, means that I will have to spend some time this autumn going around in circles. I really don't have any master plan for what I'm gonna do - visit Stanford and Florida (viewing the STS-125 Hubble launch) for sure - and probably continue as a full employee at the kiosk.</p>

<p>How will the adcoms at Stanford think of me after reading this? I technically won't be able to enroll before the Class of '14, which means that I will have to apply for a gap year if I get accepted this December. However - the military might just be able to give me up after 6 months, which I really don't know yet. </p>

<p>Stanford will definitely be my early choice, but I'm kinda fustrated they don't automatically accept Nov SAT scores like for instance MiT does. </p>

<p>This post has turned out far more complicated than I intended it to be, but if you really got through it; please answer some of my questions. It would really help me out.</p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>If you are accepted, you could try to take some terms off. The year is split into quarters, named by temperate seasons. Most people take Summer quarter off. You could ask them to take Autumn 2009 off. I don't know if they usually let this happen though; e-mail the admissions office.</p>

<p>Edit:
Most internationals pale in the EC dimension, although there are limited admissions and a lot have international awards. They've been admitted since the dawn of time, anyway. Of course, this season is very competitive, but when you talk to graduates, you find that some were admitted almost just on academics.
The standard advice is to make sure you have one (or two, but not usually more) extremely strong EC in the sense that passion and time commitment are obvious. A job will be understood. The rest is just to show that you are balanced, and does not deserve emphasis. If you can group together your volunteer work under a coherent title, and if you can write a short essay on it, you should have it covered.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! You know, I didn't even know about there being such a thing as a "chemistry olympiad" (and the likes of it) before I started this whole application process, probably because I come from a small school which simply didn't inform any of its students that such competitions even existed. </p>

<p>I don't have anything exceptional to point at - except maybe my involvement in certian activities. Hey, I'm very satisfied with my grades - but I don't feel that I'm gonna get into Stanford because I got A's in this little High School in this little country of mine.</p>

<p>But when it comes down to international awards - I simply don't have any and it's way too late to begin the search now. </p>

<p>Thanks for your advice on the whole EC- thing! Once again I think the fact that I live in such a small community is hitting me quite hard when it comes to opportunities for all good kinds of ECs, but that's just the way it is.</p>

<p>GeekNerd, are you going to apply to Stanford as well?</p>

4

<p>
[quote]

GeekNerd, are you going to apply to Stanford as well?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm in Class 2012. International. Small country. Only 1 international award ever. It doesn't matter; there are only so many to go around, and it's the time commitment that counts. Only two serious ECs stated, (Math and Singing). By serious I mean one >400 and one >100 hours a year. I don't know if this is normal, but I see other people with extravagant lists of activities and I wonder how they do it. Afaik a musical in the August holidays can make a 50+ hour week and a math project 60+ and either can kill you so I think some people on CC are freakish in stamina and intelligence and they do all sorts of stuff that does not represent a big population. Not all applicants are like CC people.</p>

<p>Internationals typically have less quantity in extracurriculars, but superlative grades. I don't know if this comparison matters, but MIT, which is relatively open about their process, says that the "single most important" piece of data is your transcript (summary of academic performance) in admissions.</p>

<p>
[quote]

I don't have anything exceptional to point at - except maybe my involvement in certain activities. Hey, I'm very satisfied with my grades - but I don't feel that I'm gonna get into Stanford because I got A's in this little High School in this little country of mine.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You have a job! Isn't that something to write about? Can't it get you a strong recommendation? They say they consider you in context, so I think it isn't a long shot to think you've taken that kiosk and done well with it. Commitment matters, and certainly you could show responsibility too.
"Certain Activities" is a start - but it needs a better name than that. Look out for a veteran member of the forums to help you some more. Intelligently selected PMing helps.</p>

<p>Now I don't want to mislead you (I may already have done that) but I think that "what other people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself". Your essays are important, but they're not determined yet; you say you have awesome recommendations (best in 15 years! my teacher refused flat out to say something like that for anyone; I got "top 3 this decade") and that is ... awesome. Now just acknowledge that the admissions are unpredictable, and be merry.</p>

5

<p>Wow, congrats on making it to Stanford! </p>

<p>Yeah, I guess you're right all along. I completely forgot about my job - I'll scramble and see if my boss would be kind enough to write a few paragraphs about me. I think that I certianly show responsibility, being around that kiosk all alone (It gets robbed once or twice every year, so with some luck maybe I can get that on my resume too). Just kidding.</p>

<p>I actually have an activity that pushes 500hrs/year, and two that are around 100hrs.</p>

<p>Thank you!
:)</p>

6

<p>Nice discussion...EirikV, I really know how you might feel. The college preparations of European students are less complex than those of Americans. It is also remarkable that you do not need so many qualifications for Oxbridge, UK. </p>

<p>I'm also thinking of my chances regarding my EC's and so on. I've thankfully still one year to prepare myself and to write those SAT's and the TOEFL-Test; anyway I do not consider them to be a problem. However, I'm worrying about the "academic honours" section. Naturally, I did my AP's with 5, but that's not so mentionable now. I have received - up to now - just one/two awards and I really don't know whether they are "academic":</p>

<p>This school year I have founded a little company with a few fellow students on the basis of a project by an institute. We are producing a book for kids, which should support their language-learning process; we even translated it into other European languages. Our idea is very successful: we have not only established a record with regard to our sales etc., but we have also received the regional and national award of the best company this year - out of 380 companies. Furthermore, we will represent our country in the European competition - a privilege. I am acting as CEO.</p>

<p>I hope I didn't exaggerate in my description and, you know, every winner of a national competition represents his country...</p>

<p>Well, is it an academic honour or should I participate in other national competitions like mathematics or languages?
Maybe you should know that I want to study economics/business management (maybe in combination with maths), which I also study at university beside school. </p>

<p>I appreciate any responses and assessments.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

7

<p>If I could go back in time, I would probably have tried to qualify myself for the national chemistry olympiad team. Not only because I find chemistry (at least at this level) to be very easy, but also since it would give me at least some kind of proof that I'm one of the country's top students.</p>

<p>However, we do have national exams, and I've gotten A's and A+'s on every single one of them - I sure wonder if that counts (there aren't a lot of people who get top grades in those exams). AP's aren't even offered in my country.</p>

<p>I think a CEO position would at least demonstrate some leadership ability - and since you can document that it indeed was a success, it would definitely be something to write about. What did you learn? What challenges did you (and your friends) face? </p>

<p>Most of the colleges I've checked out claim they're looking for things like passion, commitment and so on. Perhaps this would show better if you participated in activities you really love - not only acitivities/honors simply because you think they'll gain you a upper hand when competing for an admission. But for us internationals, the difference between having some academic honours and not having anything might count a bit in the whole admissions game we're trying to play.</p>

<p>I'm not the right person to respond to this - I haven't even applied yet. </p>

<p>But I've read statements from several colleges and representatives claiming that almost all of their international undergrads have won some kind of award in their homeland. Per Matt McGann, MiT: "Almost all international students admitted to MIT have earned some form of regional, national or international distinction in areas from leadership, music and art, to scientific research, academic competition and athletics. Because we can only admit 5% of the international applicants, students must be extraordinary in some way. In addition to the above listing, I might also add service, academics, entrepreneurship and creativity, among others." </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Where exactly are you from? I thought Switzerland was the only country in Western Europe that still has mandatory military service. (Have fun by the way, I hated it!)</p>

<p>I would retake your SAT Subject Tests and if you write a great essay you definitely have a shot.</p>

9

<p>@Rister_Chutophs</p>

<p>For instance, Germany has mandatory military service, but with the possibility to do community service as alternative. However, it is quite longer.</p>

10

<p>Sweden, Norway and Denmark all have madatory military service for those citizens who qualify. I think I'm going to have a good time - primarily because I know a bunch of people at the place I'm going. :) They also have the community service opt, although that is for primarily for 'em pacifist guys.</p>