<p>Stanford is my number one choice, although I am also applying to HYPCCM, I would love to go to Stanford. I recently visited the campus and instantly fell in love with it and felt comfortable with it at the same time, and I desperately want to get in now (even more so than I already did). Anyway, here are my stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0 (4.43 weighted)</p>
<p>AP Scores:
-10th grade: Chemistry (4)
-11th grade: Spanish Language (4) English Language (5) Calculus AB (5) Physics B (5)</p>
<p>Schedule for senior year:
-AP Spanish Literature
-Senior English
-Advanced Calculus (Past AP level)
-AP Physics C
-AP Government
-AP Biology
-AP Computer Science</p>
<p>SAT I: 2230
-M: 800
-CR: 720
-W:710</p>
<p>SAT II:
-Physics: 800
-Math II:800
-Chemistry: 730</p>
<p>ACT: 36
Reading: 35
Science: 36
Math: 35
Writing: 36
W+E: 34</p>
<p>Extra Curricular:
-Key Club all 4 years:
~Secretary sophomore year
~President junior and senior year
~While president, the club doubled in size at my school
-Keystone volunteer group sophomore year on
~President for roughly a year then became too busy to balance key club and keystone and sports, so had to lower commitment
~Our group has started a crowdfunding project to help bring clean water and food to the people of Korah, Ethiopia.
-Total of over 800 hours of volunteer work.
-Held a job during the winters of freshman and sophomore year as a snowboard instructor.
-Volunteered as a junior staff at the Boys' and Girls' Club for ~250 hours total.
-Member of NHS
-Member of Mu Alpha Theta</p>
<p>Awards:
None above school level.
-Wolverine Guard (Recognition for completing 100 or more hours of community service in a year) sophomore, junior, and senior years.</p>
<p>Special Circumstances:
-Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer during my sophomore year, I was able to maintain my grades and activities while dealing with the stress and visiting her in the hospital and helping to take care of her.</p>
<p>I'll answer questions as well if they would help, thank you!</p>
<p>Academically, you’re a competitive applicant, meaning that your folder will move past your regional admission officer for further appraisal. As you’ve probably read on here, no one can tell you anything accurate past that. </p>
<p>You seem to have a genuine passion for service, which is good. Based on the people I’ve seen admitted and my own classmates, Stanford seems to really value sincere passion. It thinks that passion is a transferrable personal quality: people who are passionate about certain things are likely to be passionate about (and thus engaged in and good at) other things as well. Highlight your passion for service when you sit down to write your application. </p>
<p>At this point, all you can do is work on those essays. When you sit down to write them, focus not on getting in but rather on representing yourself authentically. The essays that stand out really are those in which a student’s genuine voice stands out, so discuss something about which you care in a writing style that reflects your own voice. Also, have a look at this blog:</p>
<p>[Confessions</a> from Stanford – ARCHIVED](<a href=“http://confessionsfromstanford.blogspot.com%5DConfessions”>http://confessionsfromstanford.blogspot.com) </p>
<p>I found that it really showed me how to let my voice come through in my essays. Plus, it also provides insight into the type of person Stanford is looking for. </p>
<p>On an unrelated note, I’m not entirely sure that your mother’s situation will help you. If you struggled academically (which certainly hasn’t been the case), then you may be able to justify your sub-par performance by discussing her situation. But since you did well, I don’t see how you’d bring that into your application. If your extracurricular activities related to science or cancer research, then I could see you bringing her story into the mix. Perhaps you should find a way to connect her story to your extracurricular activities. Students whose extracurriculars tell their stories are usually very compelling applicants.</p>
<p>OP. You are a very competitive applicant with a “focused” passion in service related activities which stands out…</p>
<p>…if Stanford is indeed your 1st choice I would not hesitate to apply REA…</p>
<p>…and as you begin to approach your essays think deeply and honestly about who YOU are…how YOUR values have been shaped over the years…how you, along with your FAMILY unit, continue to grow and INTERACT with the environment on a daily basis…how you react to adversity, how you develop integrity by choosing to do the right thing when no one is looking, how you become the peacemaker when no one dares to step in to stop a fight, how you stand up for people being bullied, how you choose to lead when others cower, how you challenge the status quo if the status quo is WRONG, how you admit to making mistakes and learning from them, how you grow each day to become a better person…</p>
<p>…essays can be of any style…but the most successful essays bring out the true authentic VOICE and CHARACTER of the INDIVIDUAL in an INSPIRING manner that cannot be explained anywhere else in your application…</p>
<p>Best wishes!</p>