BUT… I only have a 700 on the bio subject test. I was planning to take math 2 and bio this November, but Stanford says that they might not receive it in time.
Should I apply REA still or RD with my subject tests finalized? If I apply REA, I’m primarily depending on my essays to get me in.
Definitely RD. That Bio score NEEDS to go up or else you know how stingy those admission officers are. And while you’re at it, make sure to take Math 2 as well as German with listening. I heard those SAT II’s bring your chance up anywhere from 2%-6%. But overall, here are my chances, REA: 9.674% RD: 34.283%±3.207% (if you want to find the calculator I used to compute these chances, just search “Stanford Undergraduate Chance Calculator”, it’s a new thing they decided to do this year)
@dontyoutellme And do you also know what else is new this year? Getting rid of fakers like you. Please don’t waste my time. This thread/question is immensely important to me.
If Stanford says they might not get your subject test scores in time doing early action, then do regular action. They need 2 subject tests, well not technically but they are highly recommended so thats as good as required. And your essays are a very important part of Stanford Admissions, more so than most other schools. Stanford gives you an intellectual vitality rating as 1/3 of their admission decision on you as an applicant, and that rating comes about half from that intellectual vitality essay supplement you wrote for them. Everything else in your application looks great except for the no subject test scores yet and if I were you–I would base my decision of whether to apply early on if I thought that my application could be improved between the two application periods. If you think it can be improved then wait, if you think your GPA can’t increase or will actually decrease during the time span then apply early and send in the subject test scores after your application is submitted, which they will look at before your decision is made.
My advice to you is to apply regular decision. More time to work on essays + bringing up your sat 2 scores, with extremely limited differences in acceptance rates. As long as you think you can keep up your GPA & not get into any trouble between now and RD deadlines, there’s not much of a point applying early to Stanford when you could apply RD with practically no harm to you and get extra time to polish your application and essays.
But my advice might be a little biased though, because this was my thought process when I personally switched from Stanford REA to Yale SCEA. (I’m in a similar situation as you with the sat 2 issues.)
@Runners Your saying that Stanford bases the intellectual prompt as 1/3 of a persons admission? Where did you find this from? And for my school, our first semester grades won’t be sent to any college in time for early or regular decision because our first semester ends around mid-late January. So in that case, would you suggest me to still apply REA and hope that my essays will overcome my subject tests? I talked to various people, like the CollegeEssayGuy, and he said that my common app was “Stanford” material lol.
Very difficult predicament, I am by no means an expert but I would personally wait for RD anyways because the acceptance rates are similar and you will have your subject tests for sure, plus more time to perfect your application stylistically. Can your high school counselor help with this decision? I know that they seem always insanely busy but they usually are glad to help. Stanford doesn’t just use the essay as 1/3, but they have a general category of intellectual vitality that is approximately 1/3 (this info. may be outdated but I will check and pm you) and they use the essay as a part of that 1/3 and they get the rest of your intellectual vitality from the level of commitment you have shown, recommendation letters that show how interested you are in the classroom and anything else they can garner from the application (they are trying to weed out the kids who get straight A’s from the kids who get straight A’s and actually desire to learn and aren’t just getting A’s to satisfy parents or to get into college). I will pm you my source.
Thanks! And yeah, I’m planning to talk to my counselor first thing tomorrow. I have to decide on this matter ASAP since the early deadline is right around the corner
Just step back a bit and realize that Stanford is a long shot for most everyone. Is there really a significant difference between 10% and 12%? In my mind neither is all that great. Is there another place that you’d like to go instead since you can only have one REA/ED private choice? It also depends on the applicant pool this year too.
If you need to improve your test score, do not apply REA. It rejects over 80% of applicants directly and you will have no chance for submitting new score. There is little advantage by applying REA there anyway unless you are recruited or with legacy.
Just something to think about, I’m pretty sure you are wrong about them not seeing your first semester grades for RD. My semester ends at the same time as yours and my counselors have to send a follow-up with my updated grades, which is received during their decision process.
I’m really glad you are planning to talk to your counselor who hopefully is best qualified to advise you on this. Also, doesn’t Stanford RECOMMEND two subject tests? It isn’t required. Quote from the Stanford University admissions page on testing, “SAT Subject Tests are recommended but not required. Applicants who do not take SAT Subject Tests will not be at a disadvantage…”
Ask your counselor if you should apply early and leave off the subject tests? Take them in November as planned.
I would say don’t apply to Stanford REA based on the information you have provided. The difference between REA and RD admissions rates at Stanford are not as high as at other similar top colleges. When you consider that athletes and legacy probably apply REA, it would mean that the unhooked student does not have great odds in the REA round. Looking at your detailed stats, you have interesting activities but not a lot of in-depth research or other accomplishments that would speak to intellectual curiosity. D was deciding between Brown and Stanford last year for the early round and she picked Stanford and was rejected with better test scores and slightly better GPA. I think your odds applying early at Brown or Cornell would be decent, at Stanford I think your odds are not so good
@Ruby789 At a lot of these schools, “recommended” means “do this if you want to get in.” Whatever the site may say, if Stanford is given a choice between two students who are similar in most other respects, one of whom has a pair of 800s on subject tests while the other hasn’t taken any, the first student will generally be at an advantage.
@NotVerySmart: I don’t know if you are right about that. Why would Stanford say, “Applicants who do not take subject tests will not be at a disadvantage”, if they don’t mean it?
Listen, I’ve been around the block a few times with this college stuff. I think that the whole process can be confusing when colleges say the same thing and it means different things. I sat in an information session at the University of Rochester a few years ago, and the admissions guy said that although interviews were recommended, that meant you should do them. Stanford says subject tests are recommended but you will not be at a disadvantage if you don’t take them, I think they mean that. That’s why they say that.
IMO, people who try to read between the lines make themselves nuts for no reason.
My understanding of how schools use Subject Tests is really one measure of aptitude, and there are other measures of aptitude in an application. In your example of two similar students in most ways, still are dissimilar in some ways. It seems very unlikely to me that subject test scores are a deciding factor at Stanford very often.
I want to reiterate that my initial response to the OP was to speak to a counselor about it, and who hopefully has knowledgeable advice. Your guesses and mine are not a great basis for OP to make an informed decision.