<p>The competition at these places is insane, and people should be realistic about their chances, considering the fact that Stanford's application is no easy one. It requires a lot of time, dedication, and effort, since it has a ton of unique essay questions.</p>
<p>This isn't that hard to get. If you look at the applicants that applied to stanford this year, most of which were rejected, you should know that you are fighting the odds regardless of what you have, literally. </p>
<p>It is so hard to figure out what stanford wants in a student beyond the perfect grades and intensive involvement in school, that you might as well apply if you think you have a shot blindly. </p>
<p>And your HS record does make a huge impact. Being a private, I believe they take that into much consideration- unless you have a good excuse or something-in comparison to the UC's which look at CC work generally.</p>
<p>^^^Colombia Hopeful is proof!</p>
<p>Is this your first transfer, Columbiahopeful? What were your reasons for applying to those schools? I heard those are key.</p>
<p>I agree^. In many cases, if you are applying to a top school with very few transfer spots and coming from an already great school, that may work against you. One must remember that the point of a transfer class at top schools is to increase diversity and get low-income, minority, unique-story students that the committee really feels could add to the school. If all you have going for you is a 4.0 at a top school, while commendable, what will you add to their class and why do you need to transfer to their school, apart from prestige? You have to prove to them that it is essential to your education that you study at their school. It's a lot eaiser for someone from a crappy school to praise the benefits of a transfer than it is for someone coming from Dartmouth etc. to claim that it's essential that they transfer to Harvard. ;)</p>
<p>I thought I had really compelling reasons. If they were so trivial, then I think that Columbia and Dartmouth would have flat out denied me, and I think that Penn would have done the same. However, you never know.</p>
<p>College admissions, especially to the very top schools, are very subjective. Someone with a compelling, emotional story and a lackluster GPA/test scores may be accepted to a top school simply because the adcom feels for them. You never know, which is why I'd encourage people to apply to as many schools as is practical.</p>
<p>Does anybody have the Stanford application for fall '07 still handy? If so, could you post the essay questions? Someone mentioned that the Stanford app usually requires a lot of extra work because of the unique essay questions, and I just want to get an idea of what the questions are like and how much work I'll have to put in if I apply. I'm perfectly aware that the Qs are likely to change for next fall. Thanks.</p>