Just a good ol' chance me thread (Stanford lol)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

Hello boys and girls- its another round of judge my worth! Jk, anyways now that everything is pretty much set in stone, I’d like to see what I have a chance at. I’d like to major in Environmental Science or Environmental Engineering, and want to do something with renewable energies/ sustainability in the future! I’m white, from New York (Upstate reppin’). Just a heads up, I dont want to go to a ‘match’ school, thats why I have only one.

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):1480
ACT (breakdown):35 (35 English 35 Math 34 Reading 34 Science)
SAT II:Meh probs 730+ on Math II and Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.9 (i think)
Weighted GPA: idk but I have a 96.2 with strong upwards trend (97.3 between sophmore junior years)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): APES (5) AP World (5) AP Chem (4) AP Physics (3) AP Lang (5), AP Calc AB (4) AP Psychology (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):NA
Senior Year Course Load: Idk but probably 5 APs- Macro, Micro, BC Calc, Bio, Lit, self harp study and APES T.A
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None (This scares me lol) I might be getting NMSF tho

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Trained on the folk harp for 12 years now- it is my job, community service, and my passion. Have played at notable art galleries and venues within my area.
NOTE: Because I’m a folk harpist, not a pedal harpist, I could never join big-scale youth orchestras or participate in big-level competitions, That stuff is all reserved for pedal harpists… Idk if that’ll hurt me

-Partnership with a Top 30 University with a community outreach program I started this year. We also received substantial grant money. Program is to inspire underprivileged kids to love science by performing science experiments in the inner city. Have a solid group of 15 members, all top science students at school. We’ve done a couple of “shows” with a plan to do 7 more next year (11-12). We are doing physical/biological/environmental shows

-Speech and Debate (9-12): Have qualified for states twice, as well as Qualifications to National Tourneys (NCFL and NSDA once each)… captain next year of group of 40 kids or so… Also won districts and league in my event.

-JETS team (10-12) Its an engineering team. National qualifier this year, captain next year. Only team to qualify in New York Theme of this year’s competition was Environmental Engineering

-Habitat for humanity (9-12): I’m president this year, have organized a 5k and again this summer and raised some money.

  • Quizbowl 4 years

-Environmental Club (pres next year): 3 years- Will start Envirothon next year
Other less relevant stuff

Research/Internships (these are all 11-12):

-I am working on a project with undergrads and a couple high schoolers for a professor. Its purpose is to simulate DNA and epigenetics and the effects certain chemical properties have on it. It’s mainly coding-based. (Evolutionary Bio)

-I am researching the effects of nanomaterials on aquatic wildlife and ecosystem balance. My research will be presented at an undergraduate symposium as well.

-I am assisting a professor in her research for a report on how to market refurbished/ recycled materials to the public. The report will be presented to the United Nations international resource panel in just a few weeks!

Job/Work Experience:harp- have made around 5,000 bucks playing some odd jobs. I am a busboy at a restaurant and will be for 4ish months lol. I’ve tutored a little too.
Volunteer/Community service: 500 hours… 300 harp (I play in a group with 7 other harps and we’ve played at like every nursing home lol… this also includes my own stuff), 100 church, 75 inner city program, 25 misc.

Summer Activities: harp, internships, work

Reaches:

Stanford
Pomona
Cornell (CALS)
Rice
Tufts
Duke (maybe?)

Match:
Northeastern

Safeties:
RIT (Honors program?)
SUNY ESF (Honors program?)
Santa Clara (Honors program/ merit aid?)
WPI (eh why not)

2

You have some interesting EC’s and good test scores so you have a good chance at your schools! Good Luck!

Chance Back?talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/1994591-chances-at-penn-dream-school-advice.html#latest

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Your test scores and grades are pretty good (SAT could be better, consider taking in august??), but note that a lot of top-notch students will be applying to these schools.

Your extracurriculars are really good! Don’t worry that you don’t have a lot of awards, your other EC’s definitely make up for it. You definitely seem to have a lot of passion and commitment for your EC’s. You could write about your experiences while playing the harp, or about your experiences while helping out in the community.

What stood out to me the most was your internship/research. How did you manage three research projects at the same time!??? It definitely shows really good time management skills, especially teh fact that you have come up with results in each project.

I think you definitely have a good shot at many of these universities. Just focus on making your experiences stand out in your essays and you will be golden!

4

Dude your test scores look pretty good. ACT is perfecto to me. The EC’s and passion (folkharp, which sounds pretty hella amazing) are great! Ofc all ivies are reaches for everyone, but essays and recommendations can set you apart from everyone else. If you have a good experience with folkharp, you could talk about it in your essays. Good luck!

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@CoolestAsian I work 9-5 this summer on them haha, but for one I do grunt work and another I basically research out some chemical properties, so it’s not as killer as you think. Thanks for the chance

6

I too would recommend writing a really good essay including the harp. Stanford loves the “unique talent” of its accepted students. The folk harp is something that made me go “hmm, interesting”, and it will make any application reader do the same - capitalize on that. The background/identity/talent essay or the what matters to you and why essay stand out as two possibilities.

I think you’re a qualified candidate for Stanford. Not to say you’re getting in or you’re not, as essays, recs, and a midyear report will complete the application, but this is the kind of profile they like in their admitted students. Out-of-this-world grades, extremely active, one passion that stands out.

CAVEAT - as I am sure you know, they accept less than 5% of applicants. Qualified students, and even those with the “kind of profile they like in their admitted students” as I put it, get rejected. It does make me curious why you wouldn’t want to go to a ‘match’ school, when by its very name, it is a match for you.

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@mjr2013 yes match schools are a match to me. I will be average among the class and treated like an average kid. Eventually when I try to get employed I will look nothing but average to my employer. That won’t happen at the tippy top (employers will recognize the brand name) or the lower schools (I’ll be their shining star i.e I’ll get research, connections, recs, etc). A school like case or u of r is too good to get special treatment but no good enough to have a brand name.

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@mjr2013 ^woah that sounded cutthroat sorry… That’s just my reasoning with matches… It’s fine/ probly good if u don’t agree haha

9

A suggestion: you could emphasize your folk harp EC by submitting an arts supplement. Read the instructions carefully, and note that if you are applying REA with an arts supplement the deadline is mid-October. Good luck!