<p>I'm an above average student, white female, decent stats. I want to go into Engineering.</p>
<p>I don't know if I'm up for 3 essays, a $90 application fee, and a less than 10% chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Is it really worth it?</p>
<p>(I'm applying to Berkeley, Cornell, Harvey Mudd, etc.)</p>
<p>You sound similar to our D. She got into UC Berkeley, UC Davis, CMU, BU, U of Rochester and Stanford and a bunch of other schools .</p>
<p>Do it. Apply. Why not?! We drop our D off in Palo Alto next week.</p>
<p>Don’t waste your time</p>
<p>^Don’t listen to that guy.</p>
<p>If you have “decent” stats, a shot at stanford is definitely worth 3 essays and 90 bucks.
I mean do some research into the college first, of course. Chances are you’ll like what you’ll see in Stanford. If you don’t, then sure, don’t bother.
Turn down stanford because you don’t like the vibe, or the size, or the student life. Not because you didn’t want to write the essays.</p>
<p>Don’t waste your time. If you’re reluctant to write 3 essays and pay $90 for Stanford then Stanford doesn’t want you.</p>
<p>I’m inclined to agree with asian75 here. I think if you were an incredible applicant or something and were just like “do I really want to bother with Stanford” that’d be one thing (yes those types of people do exist), but just above average and not particularly committed to it, I think that’d be tough. There’s a lot of people putting a lot of time and effort into each part of their application (i.e. they probably already have gone through a couple draft of those 3 essays).</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s necessarily a waste of time to apply, just because you’re not confident about getting in and don’t look forward to writing college essays. I wasn’t confident either (the first few seconds after I read the admit email, I assumed it was some kind of joke), and I wasn’t working on my Stanford essays in September (I did the vast majority of my college essay work during winter break in December). However, I did feel that I could do a good job on the intellectual vitality essay, and I had fun writing the roommate essay once I came up with a topic. Yes, there were schools like Harvard and Princeton that I didn’t apply to because I knew I wasn’t their type (i.e. a leader), so those schools would have been a waste of time for me. But don’t assume that Stanford is a waste of time just because their admit rate is low. Do some research, and if possible ask a college counselor if you might have a shot at getting in.</p>
<p>I applied as a freshman and got rejected. I was devastated but I know it’s where I want to go so now I’m applying as a transfer and the transfer rate is even lower than the acceptance rate for freshmen. It’s 1-2% for transfers, which includes both sophomore and junior transfers if I might add. It’s intimidating but I’m still giving it a shot. Don’t let the low acceptance rate or the fact that there are 3 essays scare you. Someone’s gotta get in right? :)</p>
<p>If you are a female interested in Engineering don’t let any of that deter you, especially at a school like Mudd with a high M to F ratio. Go for it.</p>
<p>I’m kind of in the same boat. It’s a lot of work and pretty expensive. Not to mention that if I actually did get in, it’s a long way from home. (I live in Illinois). However, I think that to pass up the opportunity to go to Stanford is silly. You should just apply and see what happens. Who knows, we both could end up there next year!</p>
<p>I just realized something. You know what’s really sad? a 4.0+2400 applicant would have less than 10% of getting into top schools… depends on the school, of course.</p>
<p>Sad, very sad. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTT… 10% is still a percentage.</p>
<p>I’d be curious to know where Lobzz is getting that statistic from.</p>
<p>It is true that at Stanford the acceptance rate for those with 4.0+ GPAs is between 9-10% (that is a published number). However, the acceptance rate is higher for those with perfect SAT scores. Now, there is definitely correlation between the two, but I’ve never seen an acceptance rate conditional on having both a 4.0+GPA and perfect SAT scores. at the very least we know with certainty that it is higher than 10%.</p>
<p>Honestly, anyone so young as to be applying to college shouldn’t believe himself/herself to be extraordinary, only to have much potential. So if you believe you have tons of potential (this could be as simple as having tons of enthusiasm – you’d be surprised how many people actually lose that as they get farther into college), then you should certainly look to apply. There are people admitted to all schools who know to an extent why they were, and there are also the other cases. All your posts indicate lots of interest in doing engineering, so it would be almost crazy not to apply to a school where titans of engineering reside. That said, it really is a shot and nothing more for almost every applicant.</p>
<p>What I would take from Asian’s post, however, is that you should be looking to convey your enthusiasm in your application, because applying with the attitude that there’s nothing special about you is not going to help anywhere. But I would not take the advice not to apply, even if you think there’s a very small chance of making it.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s more like 15-25% for 4.0+2400… well, the acceptance rate is 10% That would be for people with mid-range grades and test scores(forget about billionaire legacies). So if you’re in the top 75th percentile, then you have a slightly higher chance than those in the 50th percentile… hence the 15-25% chance… again, sad.</p>
<p>Forget about all that negative feedback. Listen to Nike: Just do it.</p>
<p>haha its okay. I decided I like Harvey Mudd better anyway. Who knows- maybe I’ll go to stanford for grad school.</p>
<p>I thought this thread died long ago. Thanks for all the input anyway.</p>
<p>I think it’ll help that you’re a female going into engineering 'cause apparently women are underrepresented in that field. :)</p>
<p>I like Harvey Mudd too and you will have fun, fun, fun there.</p>