<p>I'm interested in applying to stanford but it will be a stretch for me academically.
Stats:
3.88 GPA on an unweighted scale (only Bs were in Advanced Physics)
Around a 2100 SAT (took it in October because I had a bad day the first time i took it)
760 Math 2, 720 Physics
AP: 5 Calc AB, 5 English Comp, 4 Physics, 3 US History (had pneumonia)
I'm taking math 281 at a state university this year.
Tons of extracurricular activities (President of a club, officer in 2 others, Drum Major)
Fall and winter varsity sports all four years (co captain of both this year)</p>
<p>So obviously, Stanford is a bit of a stretch. I plan on majoring in engineering. </p>
<p>I'm a fairly dedicated musician (french horn) and just found out that Stanford accepts an Arts Supplement. Lately I've been sick and not keeping up with my studies and I saw the deadline for arts supplement is this week. There is simply no way I'll a piece that reflects my talent prepared in that time. How much weight does Stanford give the arts supplement (if the applicant is not planning on majoring in that art)?</p>
<p>I have two main questions.
1) Which would yield better chances of acceptance, applying SCEA without the supplement or applying to RD with a supplement? The other thing is that there is a good chance I could get another 50 or so points on my SAT if I were to take it again in November.</p>
<p>2) When someone is rejected from SCEA, are they usually pushed back to RD or are they completely rejected? (I was wondering if I'd be able to apply SCEA then if I don't get in, I could submit my Arts supplement by the RD Arts deadline and have it be considered when I was in the RD pool)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I’d RD based on stats. Definitely increase that SAT score. Submit a music supplement only if it reflects truly exceptional talent, but you’d definitely have the opportunity in RD. SCEA is pretty fierce in terms of competition.</p>
<p>As for deferrals, I heard Stanford has a relatively low deferral rate (though I’d need some evidence to back up the claim). This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a lower chance of getting deferred, but it could. Overall, I’d think your best bet would be RD.</p>
<p>Thanks for the fast response!</p>
<p>You’ve brought up another point that I was a little confused about. You’re saying that SCEA is actually more competitive? Is this because a greater percentage of the top students apply SCEA? I’m a little bit confused because I have read that EA improves your chances of acceptance (they accept a greater percentage of the EA pool) because it shows you’re interested but what you’re saying (and I’ve heard it other places) also makes sense. Is there information/evidence supporting the claim that SCEA is more competitive than RD?</p>
<p>It’s not that it lowers it chances – it’s just that the rest of the pool is very well-qualified (more so than is the regular decision pool). Keep in mind that the acceptance rate is also higher for SCEA than for RD.</p>
<p>It can get tricky though. An admission officer told me that if you got accepted RD then you would’ve been accepted SCEA. But TheAscendancy is right, the SCEA applicant pool tends to be more qualified than the RD pool.</p>
<p>People get really confused about the REA pool being more competitive than the RD pool. More kids in the REA pool are strong candidates vs the RD pool, and as such the REA pool has a slightly higher admissions rate. This does NOT mean that you need to be the hot shot of the century to get in REA and that noobs are let in RD. The same types of strong students are accepted in both pools, there are just more of them early. What Rachel909 said above is true, and is the key thing people should remember when thinking about when to apply to Stanford. Your chances are essentially exactly the same in REA vs RD (barring any big changes in your application over the first semester of your senior year, like new higher test scores or really awesome/really bad grades).</p>
<p>For the arts supplement, again, most people that send it in aren’t really of the level that stanford is look for. Just keep in mind that people from stanford’s music department will be grading the piece you send in, and unless you get top marks the art supplement will not really affect your application much. your artistic talent essentially becomes just an extracurricular activity at that point (and this is what happens for most people).</p>