<p>It really is all a guessing game. My son graduated Stanford last June (was in at Early Action) and my daughter just got accepted in Regular decision after being deferred in Early Action. As students they were quite different…Son gpa 3.7ish daughter 4.9. Son - maybe 3 AP classes, daughter 10 all with A’s! Son, some EC’s with nothing too impressive, daughter - off the chart EC’s including nat’l awards in writing, plays, and scripts. Both had ethnic hook and just slightly above average test scores. I would have thought they would have snagged daughter at first glance and son would have been the one deferred but it was the other way around. Son was Class of 13 and daughter Class of 18. When son applied there were about 26K freshmen applicants, this year 42K. </p>
<p>I got into Stanford and 3 other equally competitive schools with a 1940 SAT, which by the looks of it after reading through this thread is relatively low. However, I did a lot that I’m guessing balanced this score out: a GPA of 4.7, 12 AP classes throughout high school, 5 additional courses at my local community college, every academic and volunteer based school club/organization, and sports year round all while coming from a low economic first generation college student background.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how admissions officers look at scores and stuff compared to the area one comes from, but that might have been a factor.The average SAT score for my school district is something like 1400. </p>
<p>So SAT scores aren’t THE deciding factor.</p>
<p>I know a you-tuber that got into Stanford w/ a 1400 something. I know what you are think but she is an AMAZING poetic writer. </p>
I feel like Stanford is more lenient over SAT scores than other ivy leagues. I have never heard of someone getting into Harvard with a score lower than 2000, that’s one of the reasons I am getting more attracted towards Stanford now. My cousin got into Cornell with an 1800, that’s the absolute lowest I have heard of someone getting into an ivy league school with a score lower than 2000. Part of the reasons why Stanford is not considered an ivy league is because of it’s funny admissions criteria. I have met people who got into Stanford with a 1700-1900. One of my relatives got into Stanford with an 1870, but her EC’s were incredible. She had started her own business and what not. So Stanford is a very contemporary university looking for students that have a passion for learning or a passion in anything unique. I am definitely going to apply to Stanford, don’t get fooled by my username lol
@Harvarddreamss. Please don’t be fooled and deluded by believing in some straw-man anecdote about someone being admitted with certain “low” scores…they are far and too few to rely on…
…Yes, Stanford is not in the ivy athletic conference. Thank goodness for that…or else they would be known simply as the intelligent “mediocre” athletes…rather than intelligent Olympic/professional level athletes…
…Stanford is in a league of its own…
@harvardreamss You’re correct that average SAT scores are lower at Stanford than at many of the Ivies (HYP and Columbia) as well as a number of others including Chicago, Caltech and MIT . . . not huge differences (the difference between Caltech and Stanford is 70 points combined on reading and math) but I think it does show that, at the margin, Stanford weights SAT scores a bit less than other schools.
The story below has the data.
You have to watch that anecdotal stuff. I know someone who said right from Frosh year that she didn’t know how she got in Stanford with a SAT of 570. When discussed, she always had the lowest. Fast forward 25 years and we are laughing about it at her house, so she goes and dredges up her score report and it’s actually a 750.
Referring to the title of the original post, Stanford does not accept SAT scores. Stanford accepts students.
You can check the common data sets with data from last year http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2014
Stats for reading, math and writing SAT scores in percentages:
500-599
5.42
2.85
3.89
400-499
0.21
0.14
0.21
ACT for Composite, English and Math percentages
18-23
1.44
1.70
1.18
@gravitas2 I am not 100% sure why Stanford isn’t considered an ivy league school, but I do strongly affirm that Stanford does not solely rely on grades.
^^no kidding
...Stanford is the most "holistic" elite institution when it comes to grades and test scores compared to its peers...just look at the common data sets...but, don't let the numbers fool you...
…what you don’t seem to understand is that Stanford does not “only” compete within its own elite tough PAC-12 athletic conference (not the mediocre “ivy” athletic conference) but with schools in all the other major conferences when it comes to each individual team sports like gymnastics or tennis…
…the admissions office have to admit the top student-athletes in the country (there aren’t that many to choose from each year…those who have the top national athletic talent along with the top grades) to support each team that can compete at the highest level in the country…to win the Learfield Sports Directors Cup 20 years in a row (top prize in the country for national collegiate athletics programs)…
…yes, there are some students admitted each year with not-so-stellar grades or test scores…but, many of these types of students fit in “certain categories” that must be addressed each year…URMs, significantly low socioeconomic status with little opportunities, some athletes in “certain” sports, some students who are very “angular” having very high scores in certain areas and weaker in another area…but, all of these students bring something “special” to the table that cannot be explained by grades or test scores alone…
…and those here on CC will never be privy to that special “intangibles” that Dean Shaw and the admissions staff are looking for…
Following up on gravitas2’s point, the Ivy League is an athletic conference.
Also, I think the admissions officer who came to my school said it best: “SAT scores matter less than you think but more than you like.”
Test scores are not accepted, people are.
I know four people who got into stanford and all of them had 2300+
Don’t listen to people who say scores aren’t important.
@jasonkos I know someone who has a 2300+ on his SAT, a perfect ACT score with perfect SAT subject test scores so no… scores are obviously not the most important thing. They do play a factor but they are not the biggest factor depending on the school.
You really have to be careful when believing posts about people that got in with incredibly low SATs. For example,
@Geniusbob posted on this very thread (on 1/3/10), “Got in with a 1790,” yet on 03-26-2010 he posted that he was rejected and had a 2390:
"I was REJECTED 
SAT I: 2390
MATH: 800
CW: 790
Writing: 800
ACT: 35
SAT II - Biology: 800
SAT II - US History: 770
SAT II - Chemistry: 800
SAT II - Math: 800
SAT II - Latin: 780
SAT II - German: 760
PSAT: 240 (National Merit Semifinalist)
GPA: 4.08 (unweighted)
16 AP classes with 9 A+s
APs:
AP US History
AP US Government
AP Art History
AP European History
AP World History
AP Studio Art
AP Chemistry
AP Biology
AP Physics
AP Human Geography
AP Calculus
AP Statistics
AP Economics
AP German
AP Latin
AP Psychology
Community service: 657 hours
Student council: Class President, Vice President (Freshman, Sophomore)
ASB President, Vice President (Junior, Senior)
4 Varsity sports.
Mocktrial Team, Brain Bowl Team, Rotary Club, Film Club, Glee Club, National Merit Society (President for two years).
Good news: I got into Yale, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Brown, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Cornell, Wesleyan, Amherst, Williams, UC Berkley, UCLA, USC, NYU, Claremont McKenna, Pomona, CalTech, University of Chicago, and Oberlin. So many!!!
I guess it’s down to Yale, MIT, and UCLA…"
SATs are very important, look at the common data sets.
However I know someone who got into Stanford with a 1450 SAT…
…But it was the old SAT from years ago.
@qpqpqp Hahaha! Yeah, 1450 on the old SAT means 700+ on each section - which would give you a 2100+ score in the current SAT.
The SAT was “re-centered” some years back. Getting 1400/1600 in the old days was harder than getting 2250/2400 is today. Getting 1400/1600 used to be in the 99th percentile!
Perfect scores are much more common now, and the average is higher due to the recentering. The only really valid comparison is the %ile ranking.
The lowest score a person I’ve seen get into Stanford from my school had a 2230.