Rising Sophomore with Questions About Stanford

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hey Everyone!</p>

<p>I'm going to be a sophomore in high school next fall, and I'm starting to look for colleges that I'm interested in. Right now, Stanford is definitely my first choice, and I have a few questions about acceptance and general life on campus.</p>

<p>What are the most important admission factors? I know all selective schools require essays, GPA / Course History, Volunteering, ACT / SAT, EC's, recommendations and so on, but are there any areas that Stanford pays extra attentions to?</p>

<p>Are there any specific activities / classes that Stanford likes to see?</p>

<p>Also, if I were to attend Stanford, how easy would it be to change my major? Right now I'm interested in majoring in Chemistry, but I'm not really sure.</p>

<p>Any other comments / advice about Stanford admissions and campus are really appreciated! Thanks!</p>

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<p>volunteering is not an important admission factor. I probably did less than 10 hours in 4 years of high school and was fine. do it if you like doing it and get something out of it, don’t bother if you just think that colleges want to see it. </p>

<p>there are no specific activities stanford wants to see. they want to see you excelling in something that you enjoy. be interesting. i recommend reading cal newport’s new book “how to be a high school superstar”</p>

<p>the easiness of changing your major obviously depends on how closely related the two are. if you’re changing from chem to chem engineering, it’s not going to be too hard. if you’re changing from chem to econ late in your sophomore year, you’ll have problems.</p>