should i do SCEA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>School type: public
location:Maryland
race/gender: Indian( the one from India.lol), female
prospective major: biology
current unweighted gpa: 4.0
class rank: 1/430</p>

<p>SAT- total:2270 breakdown: math: 740 CR- 730 writing: 800
SAT II's took bio-700. took USH, but haven't gotten a score yet. will hopefully be decent</p>

<p>Courses
9th grade
Gt English ( highest possible except for ap)
Gt math
AP biology- 5
Gt American gov
french III
orchestra</p>

<p>10th grade:
Gt English
AP chemistry- 4
Ap statistic's 4
GT precalc
french IV
Gt world history</p>

<p>11th grade
AP english
Ap economics
AP french
AP U.S
AP Calc a/b</p>

<p>12th grade</p>

<p>AP calc b/c
Ap Lit
Ap Psych
AP physics C
AP euro
gym</p>

<p>Extracurriculars -</p>

<p>-will have done a summer internship at NIH in the lab of cardiovascular science for two summers. summer of 2008/2009. i'm close with my mentor and she's impressed with my work so i hope to get a rec from her.
-3 years varsity tennis in high school.
-key club( 9-12) have done a lot of volunteering for it french club(9-12), nhs(9-12), literary magazine(10-12) It's academic( 11-12) math Nhs( 11-12) french nhs(9-12) science nhs- 12th grade. peer tutoring- 9-12.
Started south Asian society (SAS)-president/ founder- basically we watch asian movies. play asian games, asian cuisine.it's really ethnic but anyone can join and feel comfortable
-volunteer at the greater Baltimore temple and help set up other activities. except...i don't know where you'd actually put this on a college app?
violin since 3rd grade
- do Indian dance rigorously. will get my dance degree end of senior year. typically takes about 8 years. I've been doing dance since 6th grade
- black belt in taekwando</p>

<p>Awards-
Tennis:
9th grade. 1st place county and regional tournament
10th grade. 2nd place in county and regional tournament
11th grade: 1st place in county and regional tournament, 4th place at states
- awards for maintaining a 4.0 gpa during varsity sports seasons/ earned varsity letter every year</p>

<p>Science:
-discovery channel young scientist semifinalist 2006- for excellent communication skills
- 2006 baltimore science fair- 1st place and another award for best project in medicine.
2009 Baltimore science fair- award from u.s corps for excellence and one from another company
2008- NIH poster day/ science fair- 1st place.</p>

<p>Random:</p>

<p>future business leaders of America- 1st place at school and regionals, 2nd at states- topic was introduction to business communications
- 11th place in state for french national exam
- 1st place in high school poetry competition Baltimore county
- AP scholar
- published a memoir/ short story in Maryland voices which gets submissions from all of Maryland.</p>

<p>i may have missed a few things here and there though. if i think of anything i'll post it i guess.</p>

<p>I'm think i should be able to get good recs. one from my mentor at nih. possibly my dance teacher. my high school teachers like me too.good essays( we did sample essays in English and my teacher thought it would be excellent if i made a few corrections. ) i'm thinking about writing about dance, tennis, or research because those are the things i really love doing.</p>

<p>will also be published in a research paper. </p>

<p>thanks so much for your help!!
snowy435 is invisible</p>

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<p>SCEA will be a good choice for you.</p>

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<p>^Agreed .</p>

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<p>SCEA would be a good choice. Your extracurriculars are far above average although playing tennis is not something I would emphasize. Getting a research paper published is a real bonus that can set you apart from the thousands of other very qualified applicants. If your paper is published before the EA deadline, then EA is definitely a good choice.</p>

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<p>why do you think i shouldn’t emphasize tennis? i’ve done a lot for it and I love it and i’ve also won a lot of awards.</p>

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<p>First, let me say that my son is a student at Stanford. I have talked to a lot of his friends, to an admissions officer many times, and Stanford alums. So even though I only have a few posts here, I do have some experience in this area.</p>

<p>I would list tennis and possibly a tennis award as an EC and leave it at that. Being a good tennis player will not help you get into Stanford. It shows you have varied interests, but that alone is not much. At my son’s high school about 25% of the student body played a sport in some form during their four years. This doesn’t make a student stand out. Remember, each admissions officer reads hundreds of applications. You must be unique. </p>

<p>A published research paper will be extremely impressive. Try to have that done before sending in the application. The summer internship for two years is very impressive. If you can get a positive recommendation from your mentor, that will carry a lot of weight. The science awards will be given considerable weight. </p>

<p>You have a lot going for you in applying to Stanford. Tennis is a secondary factor, at most.</p>

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<p>I agree that tennis is not the most important part in your profile, but I would definitely put it as EC (as well as the black belt)</p>

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<p>hmmmm. ok. thanks for the opinion. no one’s said that to me yet and i find it interesting. i actually had thought it was one of the most important parts in addition to research.</p>

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<p>I would say you will get in, your year is not going to be as difficult as the two before you demographically and your application is pretty much perfect, not letting you in would be absolutely absurd. You did absolutely everything to near perfection, I would bet money on your chances.</p>

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<p>aw. thanks for your confidence dirthog. but i’m really nervous because i’ve seen near-perfect applicant get rejected. on top of that my scores aren’t too great. i’ve taken so many ap’s this year and i’m quite sure i’m getting like a 4 on all of them. though i did did get a 760 on u.s</p>

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<p>question: does tennis count for a lot?</p>

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<p>That is a question that has two possible answers. </p>

<p>Option 1: </p>

<p>I’m assuming you fall into the category of good tennis player, but not out-of-this-world (top 50 nationally). In this case, tennis will look good only because it is an EC, not because it’s tennis. If you are captain, that will help too, but as a general leadership position.</p>

<p>Option 2:</p>

<p>You are the elite. Stanford has one of the best tennis teams in the nation, and if you are good enough to be recruited (a la Bob and Mike Bryan), then your chances will extend exponentially. For example, a friend of mine has a 1450 (out of 2400) on the SATs, but got into Cornell because of swimming. Being a recruited athlete is a huge hook, however it is very tough to be a recruited tennis player at Stanford.</p>

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<p>i mean, i am a good player( not being cocky, but just as a matter of fact) But do you if it’s still possible to get recruited or is it too late?i’m a senior this fall.</p>

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<p>The answer is yes, it is too late. If Stanford tennis was interested in you, they would have made contact with your coach during your sophomore or junior years. Stanford is a Division 1 powerhouse in women’s and men’s tennis. </p>

<p>Playing in a high school county or regional tournament is not even close to the level of play they are looking to recruit. Stanford, like all Division 1 teams, is in a recruiting mode year round. If you are a Division 1 level player, you would have dozens of scholarship offers by now. If not, consider that Stanford is at the top of the heap in the recruitment hierarchy. Each year they are looking for 2 or 3 of the top players in the country.</p>

<p>Sorry, but sometimes I think tough-love is better advice than what you typically get here on CC. Follow your passion for tennis, for sure. But your choices are either getting a tennis scholarship to a Division II school or focusing on your academics in applying to Stanford. </p>

<p>Your academic credentials and ECs are extremely good. You have as good of chance of getting into Stanford as any of the highest qualified candidates.</p>

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<p>snowy435, I definitely think you should apply SCEA-you have a great shot :slight_smile:
Highlight the things that are unique about you:Indian Dance, Research, and that black belt in taekwando rather than all of the honor societies (I have seen MANY people with a lot of honor societies and tennis, so be sure that you stand out from these people, which I really think you will :slight_smile: )
and, above all, write amazing essays and I’d say you will most likely be a part of the Stanford Class of 2014! Good Luck!</p>

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<p>cardfan: thank you so much for your honesty! I really appreciate it. </p>

<p>melody: Thanks for the confidence and words of advice and encouragement. I will really try to emphasize those things in my application and really let the essays show my personality.</p>

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<p>i got ap scores! all 5’s except a 4 in english. does that change anything?</p>

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<p>Generally AP tests don’t play much of a role in admissions, but it’s definitely icing on the cake. I don’t think these types of things make a difference very much because really an applicant with perfect scores tends not to make it into S because of them – very much because of other factors. </p>

<p>I’m usually pretty pessimistic about people applying early to S, no matter how qualified, unless they have legacy or athletic recruitment going for them – that is, really unless they have lots of very good out of school stuff and potential to answer interesting things to the kinds of essays S asks. You should have quite a good chance, and I’d agree with those who have said positive things. I’d make sure you communicate well in the essays, and be careful about which individuals you ask for letters of recommendation.</p>

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<p>I would recommend reading Stanford’s Class of 2013 SCEA Results thread, and seeing if applicants like you were admitted. Applying early is difficult to Stanford, because its a highly competitive applicant pool (for your race), compounded by the fact that they favor athletic recruits and minorities, as well as dislike deferring people. If you are really set on Stanford, it might be a good idea to apply RD rather than SCEA.</p>

<p>(And as a note, you could apply early, get rejected, apply places RD, get accepted, and realized you will be happier at the places you got accepted to RD than you would have been at Stanford.)</p>

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<p>thanks mathboy and amciw! i’ll keep that in mind. what do mean by be careful about which individuals i ask? do you mean the subject they’re related to , or what type of things they’ll say about me? because i have one teacher who really knows my personality but also another that will commend my intelligence. also…how many recs does stanford ask for? and i plan on asking my mentor at nih for a supplemental rec if they have that…</p>