Please re-Chance my daughter

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>I originally posted this in May and did get many responses, most negative, but I'm still thankful for them. But we are still going to try..why not! Some asked why Stanford well as parent the 100% need based financial aid is a great motivator. For my daughter it's her ambition to enter politics and when she looks at her role models they are all ivy league grads etc...Plus it far from home and many memories and I don't blame her for wanting far away as possible.</p>

<p>She is my first one applying next year so we are new to this whole process. If I ask redundant questions I apologize. We are from Wisconsin so our schools lean to ACT scores, should she take the SAT as well?</p>

<p>ACT Scores:
English 29
Math24
Science 21
reading 27
Writing 9/12</p>

<p>As you can tell math and science not her strong point but we are working on it!</p>

<p>GPA 4.04 weighted(3.98 unweighted)
In top 4%</p>

<p>All honors classes, 6years math, 5 yrs science.
AP us gov 5, comp. gov 4, Stats 3,
AP bio & lit this year</p>

<p>EC.
Class VP 1 year
Class Pres 2yrs
Student Council pres. 1year
JSA pres 2yrs. and founder of schools JSA chapter(Junior Statesman of America)
Selected for Bager State Girls on elected Governor!
Spanish NHS
Forensics 3 years</p>

<p>Intern Russ Feingold campaign, Volunteered for Scott Walker Recall, Alberta Daling recall, Intern Sandy Patch for Senate and Barrett for Governor.
Fellowship Obama re-election campgaign
I am hoping that being an intern at the age of 15 and all here state politics involvement is a "hook".</p>

<p>Personal challenge: My husband died her freshman year and she has been a "parent" to my younger children so I have been able to work. It has been a motivation for her to excel and become involved. It has also made us fall below the Federal poverty level. I think her essay should be about this or is that to whinny?</p>

<p>As you can tell her politics are on the left side so please don't hold it against her, will Stanford?</p>

<p>ANY feedback appreciated! I am alone doing this and our schools aren't very supportive to anyone who is applying out of state.</p>

<p>Thanks!! </p>

<p>Someone asked in the other thread how did she get to be an intern? Well she was volunteering since 14yo and worked her buns off. Finally was invited to interview and got her first internship!</p>

<p>Sorry if I sound like a biased , proud Mom but I really am !(thought her ACT score sucks!!</p>

<p>Original post: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1333811-please-chance-my-daughter-does-she-have-hook.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1333811-please-chance-my-daughter-does-she-have-hook.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>No need to take online “chance” that seriously, diorbust. Consider the background of the posters providing you with the evaluation: high school students who may be even younger than your daughter, and fellow parents who may not even have more experience than you do. Best to take everyone’s words as kind hearted advice freely given while processing them with your own judgment. </p>

<p>My impression from reading your daughter’s profile is that her academics are on the low side for Stanford, but not so low that it’s totally not worth applying. I see there lots of dedication for politics, high level of maturity in caring for her siblings and being responsible. </p>

<p>But also consider this: as a large national university that draws from all over the country, Stanford will only take a few students from each area, with a disproportionally large number of applicants vying for very limited spots. When you look at all the high school seniors in the country, there are way too many with highly exceptional talents in different areas, so your daughter, though a great applicant, may or may not stand out from that pile. That’s the odds. Very rarely is someone considered to have a “good chance” at Stanford unless they i.e. hold national or international level awards and have mind-blowing grades, or have very rare circumstances that make them stand out.</p>

<p>I would encourage her to apply widely to a whole range of schools, especially those that are need blind and full need, and see where it takes her. I also think the level of maturity she exhibited in caring for her siblings so that you can work is truly admirable, a personal experience/quality that she should come to embrace. </p>

<p>As to how to word this to her advantage, perhaps check out the Questbridge website? they used to have good essay samples, not sure if they still do.</p>

<p>All the best!</p>

3

<p>Some people perform better on the SAT, some better on the ACT. It might be worth giving SAT practice tests a try to see where she stands, especially since I don’t think there is a science section on the SAT. </p>

<p>Stanford leans left, so she’s okay there. </p>

<p>Your daughter is very accomplished. As Hazel mentioned, though, Stanford can be very choosy. They can admit students similarly accomplished to your daughter but also who have stronger test scores. That said, they do take students with lower test scores, probably more often than those with lower GPAs (they understand the limits and inequities of the American educational system, and are looking for those who excel given their circumstances). </p>

<p>It’s not the end of a potential political career if she doesn’t attend an ivy-caliber school for undergrad. In most districts, it’s probably better for a House candidate, for example, not to go to an “elitist” school. Sure most presidents these days have Harvard or Yale somewhere in their resumes, but there are dozens of other political notables who didn’t, or at least who didn’t start off there. Look at your own state: Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, Ron Johnson to name a few. Though I doubt these men are her role-models, it just goes to show that an Ivy-caliber degree is not a prerequisite for politics.</p>

4

<p>She did look at the SAT but is in such an ACT mind set its hard to really consider it but I think you should give it a shot. Funny you mention Walker since he started at Marquette and NEVER finished.</p>

<p>I agree about the whole Ivy league thing. However with cost of college she is really looking at " most bang for your buck."</p>

<p>Thanks for the quest bridge site, I can’t believe I missed that one! I also can’t believe our conselor, who knows our situation, NEVER mentioned it.</p>

5

<p>It’s hard to say what her chances are. She, of course, has a chance, but there’s no saying how big that chance may be. While she does have some nice stats, her ACT is a little low, as well as her experience with APs (but that depends on how many APs her school offers.) Apply early and go for it though–you never know.</p>

6

<p>I think your daughter has a chance at Stanford. I couldn’t quite make out from your post, but she was elected as Governor of Badger Girls State? If so, I think this is a great credential for someone coming from the middle of the US. It’s reminiscent of Bill Clinton being elected Governor of Arkansas at Boys State, and then President of Boys Nation.</p>

<p>I’d advise that she should write her essay about some aspect of her political involvement. That will make for a strong essay, most likely.</p>

<p>The responsibilities that she’s had at home would ideally be covered in the letter from her Guidance Counselor. There might be a spot on the application where she could mention them in response to a short question.</p>

<p>Since she’s had 5 years of science, I’d suggest that she obtain an ACT prep book from a local library, and work through the science sections. The overwhelming majority of the information that is needed to answer the questions can be found in the material in the science section itself. Not too much background knowledge is needed. The ACT science section tests heavily on graph reading (helpful in politics, too) and logical thinking (helpful in politics, too . . . or, well, maybe not). Then she could re-take the ACT in the fall. If she could push her ACT composite score up to 26-28, it would probably help her chances.</p>

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<p>I think Stanford will discount weakness in standardized tests if you daughter can write about her passion as long as her GPA is in the ballpark as in mostly As than Bs.</p>

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<p>I must say a 25 is low. i mean really low for stanford. She dose not need a 36, but a score around 31 would be a lot better. At stanford the 25% tile is 31 and 75% 34. That means 75 %of the excepted students had above or at a 31.</p>

<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>

9

<p>A few years ago, Stanford admitted someone with SAT 1700+.</p>

10

<p>If you really study Stanford’s own website, you’ll get plenty of hints at what sort of kids they like enough to take a longer chance on. It’s more than very passionate about one sort of activity. Balance matters. Their first question is not, does this kid realllly want to go here? It’s can this kid manage our programs and standards? The high gpa with low ACT can suggest the hs isn’t rigorous. With the hordes of super-qualified, they then can cherry pick the kids who best seem to be their type. The favor you can do for your D is to help her id safeties where she can study poli sci and public policy- and do well- and have time to stay active in political work.</p>

11

<p>I think a good safety for her would be UW-Madison it is a great college and the in state discount will be good for her. This is my safety as well. Good luck to your D but I have to agree with the low ACT score. The science section is really similar to the reading section so being bad at science doesn’t matter.</p>

<p>Good luck fellow Wisconsinite</p>

12

<p>Thanks Youngster! Madison is her primary hope and Stanford is her reach school. I have to say I hate the standardized test. Her ACT in no way reflects her abilities, she is a horrible test taker. When she does the practice test and doesn’t pay attention to the clock she sores over 30! But when the pressure is on she falls apart and questions everything. She knows how important the score is and just can’t get past it. It’s almost like a disability to some extent. She has studied hard all summer and retook the ACT in September and the math section was brutal! Kids were crying during and many didn’t finish. So we wait for those results now and pray. She has done every practice test/workbook we can find. She’ll try again in October.</p>

<p>This whole process is frustrating! I think how Michael Jordan didn’t make his HS varsity team until his junior year and can’t help but think how many kids are denied a chance at college because of some hiccup in their HS career.</p>

<p>Sorry about the rant! I haven’t told Kate about this post/site because if she read some of the threads she it would be heart breaking to her.</p>

13

<p>My heart really goes out to you, I know what it’s like to lose a loved one.</p>

<p>That being said, the scores are a bit low but if she can stand out I’m sure she can make it in! Will be praying.</p>

14

<p>There are loads of alternate schools that offer financial aid. Spend plenty of time on the whole list rather than such focus on Stanford. Throw Stanford in as dream school but start working the rest of the list. It’s a long shot for most kids.</p>

15

<p>UPDATE:
Well the last act she said was the hardest but she got a 27!!!</p>

16

<p>Chances are very unlikely.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

17

<p>In my opinion, the only way your daughter is going to get into Stanford is if her counselors and her teachers writing the recommendations stress strongly the challenges she has had being economically challenged and with the hardships of the death of her father and her having to take on a parent role in the household. You should write a letter to those writing her references, a different letter to each person, detailing her hardships that those writing her references can use. THere should be no holdback on this and be a real tear jerker. Your daughter should hardly mention the hardship, just barely touch on it, if at all. It’s better than others blow that horn, not her. Her hook is doing so incredibly well academically even with all of this happening in her life. </p>

<p>Really her test scores are not in the ball park and without that situation brought to the forefront, I don’t see how she would be accepted.</p>

18

<p>Another update:</p>

<p>Because of this thread we discovered Questbridge and applied!</p>

<p>SHE IS A FINALIST!!!</p>

<p>I know it’s very doubtful she’ll get a scholarship but just by being a finalist has been a great reward. At least she has a “chance”!</p>

<p>Pray for her on Oct 27 the final ACT! </p>

<p>…and she was also nominated by her high school for the Presidential Scholar Award!</p>

19

<p>Good luck to her, I’m also applying this year. I’m going to be honest though, idk about her chances. I scored 34 on the ACT, got 5’s on five AP tests, have a 4.86 weighted, have a lot of extracurriculars, and my counselor told me that I most likely won’t get in. It is just a really hard school to get into. I’m not expecting anything, but you never know. your daughter has a chance too. i think her personal challenge will put her on level ground with applicants like myself with higher scores but who havent faced any real challenges. just remember that there are tons of other great schools out there that would accept her. its not all about what school you attend, but how hard to work when youre at that school good luck!</p>