My mom thinks admissions = bull!!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>My mom and I talked to a Stanford student, who said that the main thing in an application is to show your passion/s for something. Later at home, my mom implied that the student was talking crap. She said almost no one holds "passion" for studies. She said students study only to eventually earn big money. She said I needed either "big awards" like national and state awards (which I don't have) or stellar test/GPA scores. </p>

<p>How do I make her understand that the Stanford student is correct about showing passion? Is what she said partially true? My mom still lives in the olden days. Bak then in india, really smart people went to IIT. IIT selects people who have really high entrance exam scores. No EC or GPA or anything is involved. Only test scores. I think my mom thinks Stanford is the same thing...</p>

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<p>
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She said students study only to eventually earn big money.

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<p>Once you're become a university student, you'll realize that there's a lot of truth in this, no matter where you go. I've even been encouraged by teachers to keep myself motivated with the idea of earning money after I've finished my studies.</p>

<p>However, I think that universities these days do look for passionate students, and even the students who care only about making money make themselves look passionate about their studies in their applications (at least, the smart ones do).</p>

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<p>haha, i want more replies plz!</p>

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<p>The student wasn't talking about being passionate about one's studies. The student was talking about being passionate about something. Usually, frankly, the passion isn't about academics, although the activity can have an academic component. It's about dancing, theater, debate, tutoring, volunteer work, horses, sports or a particular sport, writing, reading, music, etc.</p>

<p>Schools today are looking for students who can "bring something" to the college community. Students who care about something and can add to college life.</p>

<p>Now a question: Why do you have to "convince" her? Is she saying that you can't apply somewhere? If not, just say, "Yes, Mama, you may be right", do your applications the way you want to do them, and see what happens.</p>

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<p>But she is convinced that I have no chance of getting in because I don't have "huge national awards"</p>

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<p>It's you who will be going to the University not anyone else...And if you are good enough (even without ''Huge National awards'') you will get in...</p>

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<p>Let me try to help. First, some background that is relevant - I'm from India too, I grew up there, went to IIT (which your mother cited) and am now the mother of a child applying to college this year. My elder daughter is in college, in her sophomore year at Harvard.</p>

<p>I did a LOT of reading about US college admissions because I sensed the process was very different from India, and of course radically different from IIT, which only looks at your JEE results. I have since applied what I learned, for several years, to privately estimate what type of school a student whose record I am intimately familiar with (not just grades and test scores) would get into, and find my estimates are pretty close. Note I didn't say 'which school' - that's an important distinction.</p>

<p>In the US, for the top schools like Stanford (and ONLY for those schools), admissions is holistic and therefore subjective and therefore outcomes are somewhat random. Which is why I said one can accurately predict what type of school a student will get into, but not which school. </p>

<p>To be specific about a school of Stanford's caliber, let's assume a profile of a middle-class student, who is not first gen college, who is not a legacy or a targeted minority or a recrruited athlete, who has attended a reasonably good school. What matters for this applicant? There are lots of shades of grey, but here's what generally keeps you in the game, but doesn't make you stand out - </p>

<p>i) Grades - they need to be generally As, in the hardest curriculum your school offered
ii) Test scores - usually over 750 on SAT I and Subject Tests</p>

<p>What makes you stand out amongst the many applicants with that profile (remember, all the elements of the profile I mentioned earlier matter - middle class, not legacy etc)</p>

<p>i) great recs
ii) ECs where you show you have a passion and have pursued to some depth</p>

<p>Change the profile, and what will make you stand out changes. If you are a Math Olympiad winner, you have already demonstrated passion for your subject, and don't need a stellar EC, but you probably need to show you do something other than study.</p>

<p>Hope that helps</p>

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<p>Is she forbidding you from applying to Stanford? If not, then there should be no worry. You apply and take your chances. There are many more kids admitted to Stanford and Harvard and other top schools than there are national awards for them to win. </p>

<p>Your mother may be right; you may not get into Stanford. That's the risk with schools with less than 20% acceptance rates. But you have zero chance of getting in if you don't apply.</p>

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<p>Yea . . . she is okay with me applying, but she thinks its a waste of time. She says i oughta focus more on maybe, UCB or even Caltech . . .</p>

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<p>I don't think you need 750 in each section for SAT 1. Get it above 2200, preferably over 2250, and it shouldn't be held against you. Just make sure you pick some extracurricular activity and EXCEL at it, because everyone will hve stellar scores and grades.</p>

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<p>What if you don't have stellar SAT scores, but they are relatively good for your school?</p>

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<p>SAT scores are only part of the equation. Some schools do consider the range that kids from your high school get; some don't. Assuming all else is good, unless you're way under the 25th percentile, or you can't afford the application fee, go ahead and apply. What's the worst that can happen? You don't get in. But you certainly won't get in if you don't apply.</p>

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<p>Chevda, I think you might be giving kid's a little too much hope. I'm not sure you realize how hard it is to get into Stanford. At my school, about 100 to 150 people get into Berkeley every year. Typically a 100 of these people apply to Stanford, and only 5 to 6 get in. To get in, unless you have legacy or minority status or something you have to have one or two fields that you've dedicated yourself to and are a beast at, in addition to strong scores an grades(which most of the Berkeley ppl had)</p>

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<p>Ailey, very good [url=<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4751098&postcount=7%5Dpost%5B/url"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=4751098&postcount=7]post[/url&lt;/a&gt;]!&lt;/p>

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<p>Absolutely. Listen to Ailey. I totally agree.</p>

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<p>
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She says i oughta focus more on maybe, UCB

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<p>Your mother is a very wise person indeed...;)</p>

<p>Seriously though, the student from the Farm is right. Passion for a particular issue or hobby will make you standout from a sea of other very qualified candidates.</p>

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<p>If your mom attends more than one college session, she will soon learn that ALL of the top colleges stress that they want to see a student's PASSION. Not necessarily about an academic subject. Just about something that 'speaks' to the student.</p>

<p>In fact, my husband, daughter and I, after visiting several colleges, soon became sick of hearing about the PASSION....</p>

<p>If she reads The Gatekeepers she'll have a better idea of the process. The 1st 100 pages was tediously boring, but then it got into the swing.</p>