Should I Even Bother Applying to M.I.T. or Stanford?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! Recently my parents have told me that I should apply to M.I.T. and Stanford. I am interested in these schools, but I don’t think I’ll even have a chance of getting into either of them. Do you guys think I should even try? I know that it’s good to have a couple dream/reach schools, but I feel like these two are so high up that I won’t even stand a chance against all the other applications. Although I am quite strong academically, I don’t think my extracurriculars, letters of rec., or essay is as good as students who get into M.I.T. or Stanford. Here are my stats:

School: Competitive public high school in Northern California. Around top 6-7% of the class (according to my school’s college counselor).
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted); 4.39 (weighted)
Honor/Advanced Classes: All of the highest math classes my school provides, honors chemistry class, second highest biology class, and all honor English courses.
APs: AP Chem (5), AP Japanese (5), APUSH (4)
AP’s I am taking this year: AP Physics 1, AP Calculus BC, APCS.
Standardized Tests: ACT: 34; SAT Math II: 800, SAT Japanese: 800 SAT Chem: 770.
Extracurriculars: Piano, violin, school orchestra (principal second violin this year; got into chamber orchestra (honors group) this year as well (yay [:)), Marketing Director (last year) and Secretary (this year) of SAGE Global Business club, founder and president of craft club (1 year), member of another school club (Science of Sight - raises awareness and funds for Usher syndrome research - helped plan fundraisers, etc.), Japanese school every Saturday (recently graduated), Zero Waste Internship where I coded and designed graphics for website, Boys & Girls Club summer intern (before my Junior year).
Awards: Japanese Speech Contest, Piano competition first place, Japanese language award from my school, 3rd and 4th place at national competitions for SAGE Global Business club with team.

Thank you so much for any response!

2

Sure, you’re a viable candidate at those schools.

3

Apply if YOU want to apply and you think the schools will be a good fit. Not just because your parents think you should apply. If YOU really do want to apply, then why not apply? Just don’t get your heart set on getting accepted to either school.

4

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Statistically you are qualified, but so are roughly half of the applicants. Make sure your essays differentiate you.

5

Sure, give it a shot. Your stats are great - but so are those of all the other applicants, so once your in the “range”, honestly the rest is largely luck. So roll the dice! You never know. Just don’t get your hopes up - if it happens, it happens, and if not, there are lots of other great schools you can go to.

6

If your parents are going to nag/bother you if you don’t apply to those schools, then do so. Statistically, you probably won’t get in, even tho qualified, but at least you’ll forever silence your parents. Otherwise, you may have to listen to "you should have applied to … " for the next 20+ years.

7

If you are interested in these schools and have realistic expectations then yes you should apply. As stated in post #3 nothing ventured, nothing gained.

8

Your post is unusually insightful, mature, and pragmatic for CC. By all means apply. Sure, you will get some rejections from the very top schools due to the sheer numbers involved (you are competing against 100,000 applicants who were either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their graduating classes, and that is only the US applicants). But at the end of the day, when all the schools that you have applied to have responded, what you really want are some choices. It’s a long way to May 1, and your dream school now won’t necessarily be your dream school then.