<p>Is anyone else intimidated by all the stats posted on here? I know that I, for one, am freaking out! All these people denied/deferred that I'm not even CLOSE to being comparable. :(</p>
<p>Anyway, I've still got a large portion of the application to do, i'm hoping to finish all of it tonight (yeah, I know i'm so ambitious) and send it in tomorrow after editting.</p>
<p>Just letting you all know that you aren't the only one spazzing out!</p>
<p>Hehe, we know your pain...I at least have to complete my Reg Decision UPenn app ;p</p>
<p>the long essay prompts are just plain silly! i'm stressing out, but I figure that it might help me to be really worried...</p>
<p>EA-ers, do you have any advice for us RD-ers?</p>
<p>Please don't let these stats worry you!
Stats are JUST stats. They're numbers.
Stanford gets tons of people with good stats every year. It's the people who have something MEANINGFUL going for them that they're looking for. Your application is basically a "portrait" of who you are-- stats provide the framework but by no means represent the actual picture of the person that you are. I think that the essays can REALLY help. Make sure you are completely honest and don't worry about sounding all intellectual or using big words and stuff like that. Just write about something that is especially meaningful to you. It could be the simplest thing such as your porch and all the summer days you spent reading on it, sipping lemonade, watching people pass by, etc. But you have to make sure your essay shows how it has helped you as a person or helped to define your personality now.</p>
<p>Collegebound is completely right. The stats are NOT everything. I'm sure looking at the Wiki roster people might be intimidated by the plethora of 1550+ SAT scores, 4.0s, vale/salut. BUT that alone will NOT get you in. There must be something memorable about you. Something that separates you from the last 30 apps that the adcom has read. It could be something as small as studying birds (as a hobby) or as big as saving someone's life. You need to be yourself. Let your personality, your experiences, shine through the application. Make sure your teacher rec letters (or at least one of them) say more than "freakin smart" or "highest grade."</p>
<p>And good luck!</p>
<p>aahhhh i feel your pain. im an EA and its killing me right now looking at these stats and not being close (1500ish, not even close to val., like 725 average for SAT IIs)</p>
<p>if i get deferred i will go through all this again with you. haha you are not alone.</p>
<p>you're defintely not alone. i'm freaking out too especially since most of my friends got into their top choices and my stats don't compare to them whatsoever. i guess it's frightening because the RD people like us now know what we're up against.</p>
<p>you guys have pretty much nailed it... it looks like the adcom are just picking people at random :-/ Or else I have to start some worldwide organization in 3rd grade and have worked on it ever since, or something spectacular like that!</p>
<p>I really wish anyone who got in EA would give the rest of us some advice... and it's nice to see i'm not by myself :)</p>
<p>Face it: Stats are worthless at Stanford
If you don't have something special, don't count on them accepting you.
And if you come off like "I have done everything and I'm so smart" your app is going in the trash.</p>
<p>I got accepted EA. I dunno if my advice will mean much to you because to be frank, my stats and accomplishments do not match up to the great stuff I've seen on CC. I really thought I'd be rejected. I think the main thing for Stanford is to really really show your passion and drive, and to ensure that they know you are an interesting person (ie. not just the manufactured model ivy-league student). Try and show that you love your activities rather than show how much you do. for example, i talked about my failures in one of my global-concerns groups. I also tried to show that I really care about what I do. i think the best tip, although cliched is: show, don't tell.</p>
<p>Right on Dreamer. That's what my goal was in my essays.
Hopefully it will show.</p>
<p>Plus I got a rec from my grandfather (MD) who gave a good perspective on who I am and why I would be a great doctor.<br>
Essays tied this theme in:
Research with anesthetics
Experience in Operating Room for a day (following footsteps of grandfather (stanford grad who co-wrote anesthesiology text book for college) and greatgrandfather (head of Anesthesiology department at UCSF and dean of UCSF medical school)
Ball-boy experience
Surfing</p>
<p>yeh those essays sound great. I have heard that Stanford's admissions are by far the most random and unformulaic. I spoke to a teacher that went there when I was working on my app and she said that although they're very random, the one common trait their acceptees have is this incredible determination to succeed. Relaly try and make that come thru. Don't ask me how they find that in the app coz I have no idea! also humility and the ability to acknowledge ur drawbacks seems to be quite important to them. Apparently they're very against ppl that blabber on about how they sacrifice their time to do this and that. their thinking is that all stanford students sacrifice their time to do stuff AND do amazing in it so don't try sell yourself on those grounds.</p>
<p>all these ea people with amazing stats also say they had passion and good essays/recs. sigh. i'm freaking out.</p>