Stanford 2020 Regular Decision Results Thread

Hey everyone! I just to start a thread now that results will be released this Friday. Please use the following format and keep this page for results only. It should be very useful for future applicants!

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

General Comments:

Just remove the ‘a’ in the bold, size and color in your decision.

(Template from Stanford REA thread)

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
This thread is only for results. Non-result posts will be deleted.


Decision: Accepted!!!

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2200 (Superscore: 680 CR 800 M 720 W) took it three times lol (didn’t send)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 M, 35 R, 35 E, 36 S, 9 on essay)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II: 780, Chem: 740, US History: 700 (didn’t send)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10% I think I am 3/285
AP (place score in parentheses): 5’s: US History, AP Calculus AB subscore (that’s it lol), 4’s: French, English Lang, World History, AP Calculus BC, 3: Chemistry, Physics 1
Senior Year Course Load: AP Psychology, AP Econ, AP English, AP Bio, AP Physics II, Senior Independent Project
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing very competitive, Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award, AP Scholar Distinction,$1000 Mid-Atlantic Lasallian Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Leadership, several school awards, got a CTY scholarship to study at Johns Hopkins one summer, Jack Kent Cooke Semifinalist, Horatio Alger State Scholar

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Listed on app:
Heart for Vietnam Children’s Initiative [10-12]: Founded and directed an unofficial non-profit organization with my dad that focuses on providing educational and nutritional resources, funding WASH construction, etc. for underprivileged schools in Vietnam. Over 2,000+ impacted in four Vietnamese cities
Baltimore Youth Project [11-12): Founded and directed an initiative/club that collaborates with Baltimore City schools and organizations to develop and provide workshops, curriculum, etc, specifically on nutrition and art for city youth.
Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Urban Health Institute [11-12]: Researched the effects of low-income and food-insecure household environments on the brain and behavior (submitted to Intel). For UHI, I helped the director find local researchers at nearby universities in order to collaborate with them. My experience at Hopkins has been great, especially since the public health school is right across the street. The conferences there really sparked my interest in public health.
Boy Scout since 6th grade: Eagle Scout, was an Assistant senior patrol leader, troop guide
Varsity Soccer [11-12]: Two year letterman, helped manage team. We were ranked #33 nationally for a while and #2 in state (#1 in state was also #1 nationally)
Job/Work Experience: I have been paid to tutor kids for test prep and also babysat my cousins since freshman year. I started a small lawn service business to raise money for HVCI.
Volunteer/Community Service: mentioned above there was a lot (1000+). Service really opened doors for me. That was what my essay was about. I have learned so much from service and it has shaped my life tremendously. I have assisted in filling cavities, taught classes in front of freshmen, served food, etc. All of these experiences helped me so much in finding my passion.

Summer Activities:
Habitat build in New Orleans after 9th grade, in eastern shore of Virginia (after 10th), visited Stanford, Boy Scout jamboree, volunteered at camp for city kids (after 9th grade)
Volunteered in a hospital pharmacy after 10th, took a public health class at Hopkins, raised money for HVCI, volunteered a lot, worked, took care of my mom, etc.
After 11th: research at Hopkins, volunteered at a camp, finding partnerships for BYP, fundraised, etc.

Essays:
Compared to the essays I sent in for Harvard, I loved these essays and short answers much more. They were so fun to write and really allowed me to show off my quirky side.
Common App: solid 9/10 I wrote about how I performed CPR on my mom in the middle of the night and took care of when she had a stroke and cancer. These experiences led me to help out at a food drive and then the rest is history. Service became very important to me and I wrote about how much it helped me understand my community and the world while pushing me to always be positive and grateful and a role model for others and in the crime-ridden community I grew up in…
Roommate Essay: 9.5/10 Wrote my essay in the format of a recipe (to really show them I have an obsession with food). Mentioned really quirky stuff like phrases I often say or how I only use plastic utensils in an effort to save water.
Intellectual Vitality: 8/10 Talked about my childhood battle with Obesity, homer simpson, anthony bourdain, leftover quesadillas, but I felt it didn’t express my personality that well. It was a condense version of my Harvard supplement
What matters to you? 10/10 This essay was probably the one I am most proud of. Talked about why I love children and why giving back to my community and Vietnam is so important to me. I think I expressed it well too.

Teacher Recommendations: I didn’t read any of them, so i can’t say for sure
History Teacher: he’s a homie (9.5/10).
English Teacher: he’s very unconventional and English has always been my weakest class, but I worked my butt off and always had fun learning in his class (8.5/10)
Counselor Rec: (10/10) she loved me even though I switched over at the end of last year.
Interview: Didn’t have an interview and was worried because of this.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Human Biology with a concentration in urban studies and global/public health
State (if domestic applicant): the old line state (MD)
Country (if international applicant): USA USA USA
School Type: private, catholic
Ethnicity: Viet swag (Asian)
Gender: M
Income Bracket: $40,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen, low-income, personal hardships (see above)

Reflection
Strengths: EC’s (even though I didn’t have a four-year commitment for a lot of them but they showed my passion), Essays, Recs, my story (hooks)
Weaknesses: SAT, lack of major awards, lack of 5’s on APs, being Asian lol
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think my passion for Baltimore, children, and food showed through. I had personal struggles and talked about how they changed me and made me who I am today. My recs, even though I say they weren’t good, probably got me through as well.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Harvard (REA), Yale (Likely), UC Berkeley (Regents), UCLA, UVA (Echols), and UMD
Waiting: Princeton Rejected: None

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Just wanted to first say congrats to all who were accepted! I can’t wait to meet you one day. For those waitlisted, there is still a glimmer of hope. You have so much to offer and will be so happy in four to five months, I can guarantee it. Never think of this as a dead end. I applied for Questbridge and was heartbroken to not be selected as a finalist. I had Stanford as my dream school and envisioned this day for so long, but after Questbridge decisions, I was not named a finalist and thought there was no way to get in. In the end, I got a likely letter which threw me off so much and I guess things have worked out so well. :slight_smile: Like Questbridge for me, this is a hurdle to your road to success. Don’t expect anything, there will be many speed bumps and unexpected turns, but you will end up where you are meant to be. Never give up, be yourself, love life, pray to God, and always be grateful and passionate. Being unique will always overcome weaknesses in academics. I took the SAT three times and was still lower than average for Asians at Stanford, so TEST SCORES DON’T MEAN EVERYTHING!!!
I always had hope, but there are so many people out there who deserve more this me. I just give
thanks to God and my family. I hope this post can help someone along the way. Never feel discouraged. Be proud of yourself that’s all that matters! What a day and again congrats to all!

Not going to be too detailed (no time), but son was rejected and is pretty disappointed, this was his dream school.
He has a 35 ACT, 3.9 uw GPA and some decent EC’s, some with leadership roles. No hooks, no URM etc.
Congratulations to everyone who got in !

Also not going to be detailed, but this is for future reference because I was definitely scared about the whole admissions process, so I want to be transparent as possible for future applicants!

Rejected Asian girl w/ 36 ACT, 4.0 UW GPA, some national awards, only two leadership roles, tons of commitment in ECs. Intended major of comparative lit. Interview went ok. Not sure if my essays were great or not, but I wrote about memes, Jar Jar Binks, and MBTI (basically my passions). Deferred Princeton SCEA, waitlisted UChicago and Rice, accepted Wellesley, Pitt, UF, FSU, Pomona, waiting for Vassar and UPenn/Pton/Columbia

Congrats to the accepted, and good luck to future applicants!

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2200 superscore
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math L2, 700 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): No GPA provided by school
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/320
AP (place score in parentheses): None taken
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous course available to me
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ISEF National finalist, multiple published research, etc.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Research (x4; published twice), volunteer work through my own organisation, startup, soccer, basketball, lots of club, student council head, etc.
Job/Work Experience: Found my own startup
Volunteer/Community Service: teach underprivileged children programming through my organisation
Summer Activities: research and playing video games
Essays ( details): Pretty good, I’d say. People who read the essays liked them
Teacher Recommendations (details):: 9/10? Teachers like me
Counselor Rec (details): 8/10
Additional Rec (details): 9/10. Submitted one from my research mentor
Interview: N/A

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): India
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: well rounded app, really strong research work, volunteer work
Weaknesses: SAT Physics score, ORM
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ORM
Where else you are applying or have already applied:

Admitted: UIUC (CS at CoE), Columbia (Likely letter; Egleston Scholar), Georgia Tech
Rejected: MIT, UCLA, Yale-NUS
Waitlisted: Berkeley (EECS)

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Pretty gutted that I didnt get in. I thought that I had a good shot at getting in. Be honest in your app and dont write anything just for the sake of pleasing the adcom

[a][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size][/a]

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2200 superscore
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II (place score in parentheses): 800 Math L2, 700 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): No GPA provided by school
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/320
AP (place score in parentheses): None taken
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous course available to me
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ISEF National finalist, multiple published research, etc.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Research (x4; published twice), volunteer work through my own organisation, startup, soccer, basketball, lots of club, student council head, etc.
Job/Work Experience: Found my own startup
Volunteer/Community Service: teach underprivileged children programming through my organisation
Summer Activities: research and playing video games
Essays ( details): Pretty good, I’d say. People who read the essays liked them
Teacher Recommendations (details):: 9/10? Teachers like me
Counselor Rec (details): 8/10
Additional Rec (details): 9/10. Submitted one from my research mentor
Interview: N/A

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? No
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): India
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection
Strengths: well rounded app, really strong research work, volunteer work
Weaknesses: SAT Physics score, ORM
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ORM
Where else you are applying or have already applied:

Admitted: UIUC (CS at CoE), Columbia (Likely letter; Egleston Scholar), Georgia Tech
Rejected: MIT, UCLA, Yale-NUS
Waitlisted: Berkeley (EECS)

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: Pretty gutted that I didnt get in. I thought that I had a good shot at getting in. Be honest in your app and dont write anything just for the sake of pleasing the adcom

Choose One:
Waitlisted

SAT I and/or ACT (breakdown): 2260 (750 M, 750 E, 760 CR)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Biology M (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank/Percentile: 1/ ~600 at highly ranked high school in my state
AP (place score in parentheses): World History (5), US History (5), English Literature (5), Psychology (5), Biology (5), Chemistry (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP English Composition, Advanced Spanish (college course), Tutoring, Personal Finance (senior requirement), Economics and Government @ CC
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel STS Semi-Finalist, Intel ISEF, pharmaceutical company recognition, Chemistry Olympiad, National Merit Finalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, Top Research awards at state level, Top music awards at state level, Regional Gold Portfolio Scholastic, Regional American Voice Scholastic

Subjective
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): NHS, Orchestra (section leader), Religious Organization (lead vocalist/accompanist, ran children activities), Science Research, few school clubs (service coordinator), Academic Teams (captain), on my own learned a lot of different instruments
Volunteer/Community Service: Volunteer in a women’s shelter (~48 hrs per semester), Create care packages for homeless in city (30 min/ week)
Summer Activities: Study abroad program to South America sponsored by my school, pilgrimage during important religious observance, research, gave a couple of concerts, lots of exercise (biking, running, etc.), probably some other stuff…this is for all three years of high school
Essays: All essays except letter to my roommate would be at least 9-10. Letter to my roommate was a 6 because I really was stuck. Spent a lot of time on them explaining my true passion in music, impact of sick parent (cancer) on outlook of life and how my independent research felt minuscule in comparison and pretty deep topics.
Teacher Recommendations: Didn’t read them but should have been good!
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read, either.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid? Yes
Projected Concentration: Biology and Spanish
State/Country: USA (state would identify me too easily)
School Type: Large Public High School
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: prefer not to say
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not really a hook, but a lot of personal situations, in terms of a mix of crises and illnesses of people important to me.

Reflection
Strengths: Strong research awards (national), solid but not perfect test scores, good recommendations (probably ), enough service hours and community involvement, trilingual and counting!,
Weaknesses: My letter to roommate, and honestly, probably not enough leadership.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was waitlisted because I had a strong application, but honestly, the people who apply to these kind of schools are top notch.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: Rejected at UChicago, Waitlisted at Stanford, My State Flagship, National Merit Finalist Full-Rides, a few Ivies
General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
I feel happy that I was waitlisted, but I am kind of frustrated because of several rejections within state programs and top tier schools. I don’t think it’s the test score, which might seem “low for Asian” because I earned the 750 in each category. I’ve done research without a university mentor and won numerous awards (Intel) but not the BIG awards , shown passion in music with performance and leadership, been very active in my religious community, served my community especially with my focus on empowering women and children, took a wide variety of challenging courses, but it all seems meaningless to adcoms. Sorry, I don’t want to be bitter.

What’s the “blemish in the armor” so to speak, that many of my own state school’s “top scholar programs” have rejected me?

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2150 (760 Math, 690 Reading, 720 Writing)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 770 Math 2, 720 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): N/A
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: First Year Uni (Ext 2 Mathematics), English Adv, Chemistry, Physics, Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Bronze Duke of Ed, Academic Merit for HSC course, 2 x National Champion for Kungfu Australasian region, Selected as Australian team member to compete in 3rd World Junior Kungfu Championships, Nationals Innovations Trophy for F1 in Schools, Regional Champions and State Runner ups for F1 in Schools + all other possible awards (i.e. innovations, best portfolio, best car, fastest car etc etc), 1st place at a startup program.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Sports:
*Junior varsity tennis
*Varsity and junior varsity volleyball (Captain)
*Soccer + Rifle Shooting

Technology:
*Regional Champion, State Runner Up and National 4th place team for F1 in Schools (A globally renowned program)

Entrepreneurship:
*Founder of an online database, blog and resource for photographers around the world
*Co-founder of notesharing website - an online database and high school note sharing website for students studying the HSC course in NSW, Australia currently made aware to 60,000 students
*Head of Tech at a student run entrepreneur program across multiple schools around my state. Featured in multiple nation wide news articles. Expecting magazine feature articles such as BRW in the future. Been awarded ‘Best Social Venture’ by Social Ventures Australia.

Leadership:
*Full College/School Prefect
*House Honour Colours
*Head team and one of the lead mentors for F1 in Schools at school (inc. one mentored team participated in the World F1 in Schools finals)

*Film Club
-Film Festival participant
-Official documentaries and films for the sesquicentenary of school
-Photography contributions to school magazine including a front cover photo
-Multiple other services to the school community through film and photographic mediums

Other:
*Piano 7th grade
*Australian Army Cadets Unit 2 years (High School)(Awarded best platoon)

Job/Work Experience: Internship at a marketing firm

Volunteer/Community Service:
*Loaves and Fishers (ministry to the homeless)
*Red Shield Appeal (Salvations Army)
*Group leader for charity awareness to the junior years
*Helping the elderly in my area
*School tours
*Laser engraving for electronic devices (over 1200 students)

Summer Activities: Studying, competing in startup hackathon, travelled to China and USA for visit
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: Was okay, 8/10, had to rush due to timing difficulties which was unfortunate. Talked about drawing with my grandmother and how it helped me overcome my reluctance to learn Chinese.
Roommate Essay: 9/10 Wrote about all the quirky stuff. Was like a list of what I expected my roomate to be like as a reflection of who I am
Intellectual Vitality: 7/10 Talked about my interested in innovation,design and technology during my F1 in School days.
What matters to you? 8/10 Talked about actually applying to Stanford, and what it represented - all the people who get me where I am today

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 8/10 Volleyball coach and teacher - knew me quite well
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 Really gave insight into my academics
Counselor Rec: 8/10
Additional Rec: 8/10 Turns out my counselor used my additional rec -.- But either way, it was great, showed how I matured through HS.
Interview: N/A

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No (If I did, it would have been auto rejection)
Intended Major: CS
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Australia!
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: N/A
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): More ‘unhooks’ than hooks I think - Asian, overseas…

Reflection
Strengths: I think my EC’s definitely stood out, especially with all my previous accomplishments
Weaknesses: Definitely SATs. I didn’t have enough time to prepare for them as I hadn’t decided to go to America until 1 year before deadline so everything needed to be prep’d in quite a rushed way + Australian curriculum has completely different timing to America’s so balancing both was a struggle!
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
I’m quite sad that I got rejected to be fairly honest. Though I knew it was going to be a reach, I always held hope that my EC’s would drag me through. I think my essays didn’t shine through particularly well either - Stanford’s essays were a bit of a jumble - I didn’t have time to plan it out so it revealed all parts of myself, instead I only showed minor details. Many people get accepted with my SAT score (or even lower) so I’m not going to blame it on that entirely but ultimately, I reckon it came down to SATs and essays.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Waiting on Harvard, Columbia, UPenn
Accepted: UCLA
Waitlisted: UChicago
Rejected: Berkeley, Stanford

General Comments:
Overall, this has been a really humbling experience thus far. It really gave me insight into the world outside of mine. To have seen so many people of the same age achieve so much - it really puts you in your place and allows you to wonder, what can I do? What is my impact?

I wish everyone every success - I hope that the three that I’m still waiting on will produce great results!

unsurpringly…

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2350 ; (800 CR, 800 M, 750 W)
ACT (breakdown): 35C (35E, 35M, 34R, 35S, 33W)
SAT II (place score in parentheses): Math II: 800 , Physics: 800, World History: 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/646
AP (place score in parentheses): Bio 5, World History 5, Calc BC 5, Physics I 5, Lang 4, US History 3
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load: GA Tech Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra, AP Lit, AP Euro, AP Physics C, AP Gov, AP Macroeconomics, Honors Spanish IV

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, AP Physics Student of the Year, National Merit Commended?

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Student Council (Executive Board), Math Team (President). Freshman Mentoring, Tutoring, NHS, SNHS, Beta Club

Job/Work Experience: Freelance writing
Volunteer/Community service: A couple hundred hours for my honor societies
Summer Activities: Wrote political satire on a website that got pretty popular
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
I began all the Stanford essays about 70 minutes before the deadline because I’m a stupid procrastinator. Hence, they were all relatively garbage-tier.
Common App: I finished this essay a few minutes before the Harvard early action deadline… But I polished it up a little for Stanford. I wrote about a challenging physics problem that I found on Reddit and how I came to the solution. Initial version was a 8/10 with many mistakes, 2nd version was a 8.5/10.
Roommate Essay: 5.5/10 BSed a bunch of crap about how I want to do a lot of things in life but don’t have the lifespan to do them all. Terribly written by my own standards (which I’ve been told can be a little high).
Intellectual Vitality: 6/10 Talked about the necessity of looking at history from different perspectives. Also not good.
What Matters to You: 3/10 Some incoherent nonsense about opportunity that I wrote in the 8 minutes before the deadline.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t read but the teachers I chose liked me quite a bit so I’m assuming a minimum 9/10 for those
Teacher Rec #1: Probly > 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Proly >= 9/10
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Wasn’t offered an interview

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: Scores, recommendations, grades
Weaknesses: Extracurriculars, Essays, PROCRASTINATION
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nonchalance really. I was ecstatic after receiving word that I’d been accepted to Harvard, my at the time first choice school, so I only decided to apply to Stanford because I might as well apply to the best of each coast. The deadline inched closer, and I still hadn’t made significant efforts to complete any part of the Stanford part of the Common App. I only decided to do so the day of the deadline. Three hours before the deadline!!! DO NOT PROCRASTINATE KIDS. Your application will turn out to be garbage! Your chances will be ruined, and you will have an even lower chance of getting accepted than you originally did! In January, I was in the mindset of not really caring if I got accepted to Stanford or not. By the time March rolled around, I kinda cared. I wasn’t too disappointed by the rejection; in fact, I fully expected it. My procrastination was probably the second biggest reason I got rejected. The first was the sub 5% acceptance rate and the ridiculously high number of highly qualified students applying.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Harvard EA. Stanford was the only other school I applied to.

General Comments: Don’t procrastinate kids. Take plenty of time to get your essays in tip-top shape for consideration to the most selective university in the world. I only miraculously got lucky at Harvard with my late essay. Don’t count on luck. Count on your talents, your character, your accomplishments. Combine that with a fastidious mindset about applying to college, and you’ll be set for great things.

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2140 (670 CR, 720 M, 750 W)
ACT (breakdown): 33 (35 M, 35 E, 35 R, 28 S)
SAT II: 780 US, 690 WH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: 4.56
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 13/566
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chemistry (3), English Language and Comp (4), World History (5), US History (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP English Literature and Comp, AP Economics, AP Government, Journalism, Korean 5H, Basketball
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Presidential Volunteer Service Award in Gold, AP Scholar with Honor, LA City Volunteer Awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Basketball (Head Team Manager), CSF (Tutoring Committee), Taekwondon (3rd Degree Black Belt and Student Instructor), Hollywood Christmas Parade (Flag Section Leader for my group), Journalism
Job/Work Experience: Unpaid Intern for LA City Council Campaign, Private Math Tutor for Middle School Students
Volunteer/Community service: PAVA Volunteer group, korean NPO nature conservation group, taekwondo tournament volunteering
Summer Activities: Tutoring
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App Essay 9- Strong essay explaining my resiliency from failure and my humility. Supplements- 6.5. Stanford was never a school I wanted to attend so I did not put much work into the supplement.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Calculus Teacher- 9. Known her for 2 years and I am one of her strongest students. Korean Teacher- 10. Known her for 5 years and I’ve become one of her top studn

Teacher Rec #1: Calculus Teacher- 9. Known her for 2 years and I am one of her strongest students.
Teacher Rec #2: Korean Teacher- 10. Known her for 5 years and I’ve become one of her top students and we have a very strong relationship.
Counselor Rec: 8. Out of the 150+ kids who she works with, she actually remembers me a lot. I’ve had a decent relationship with her.
Additional Rec: 7. I don’t think the candidate for the campaign remembered me a lot, but we did talk a bit and he seemed to like me.
Interview: Not offered

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): California
Country (if international applicant): US
School Type: Large, Competitve Public
Ethnicity: Korean
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): NONE

Reflection

Strengths:High Unweighted GPA
Weaknesses: Everything else wasn’t up to par for Stanford
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I wasn’t Stanford material… easily put
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: CSULB, Cal Poly SLO, UCR, UCSB,UCSD, UCI, UCLA, UC Berkeley. Deferred UPenn Wharton, Rejected- USC Dornsife

General Comments: Not shocked at all, there are some very deserving applicants for Stanford and I was not one of them… I didn’t even want to go Stanford lol

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34C, 36E, 36R, 32S, 31M, 28WR
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics, APUSH, AP Eng Lit, APCS, Honors Spanish 4, and AP Calc AB

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Eagle Scout, Student Body President, Film Club (won ‘Best Film’ award), Drama (held lead role in school play), lots of environmental community service work.

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app essay about Boy Scouts. Intellectual vitality about my interest in philosophy. Roomate essay also about Scouts. What matters essay about poverty.

Teacher Rec #1: One from my advanced mathematics and theology teacher who has taught me for three years. He did his undergraduate degree in math at Stanford and said I’m in the top three students he’s ever taught.
Teacher Rec #2: Science teacher who has taught me for 6 years.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Aerospace Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Oregon
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: White European
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~100,000 per year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy (cousin and grandfather)

General Comments: Pretty disappointed…

Accepted

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 34C, 35E, 33R, 32S, 35M, 11WR
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Senior Year Course Load: IB HL Mathematics, IB History of the Americas, IB Spanish Level 6, IB HL English Literarture, IB SL Biology, Choir
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Secretary NHS, VP Green Team, Captain Debate, President Choir, State/Varsity Math Team

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app essay a leadership experience

Teacher Rec #1: One from my Mathematics Teacher
Teacher Rec #2: One from my Spanish Teacher
Counselor Recommendation was amazing.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology and Spanish
State (if domestic applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Arab
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: ~70,000 per year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation Immigrant, Tri-Lingual (Arabic, Spanish, English)

General Comments: I can’t believe it! I am so excited and shocked.

Rejected, I ll update later if I got time

**Decision: Waitlisted/b

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2330 (800 m 770 cr 760 w, 1 sitting)
ACT (breakdown):didnt take
SAT II: 790 bio m, 790 chem, 750/760 math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): my school uses a 100-point scale, 97
Weighted GPA: 104
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank, easily top 10
AP (place score in parenthesis): euro (5), chem (5), physics 1 (5), statistics (5), us history (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load:ap physics c, ap calc bc, ap art history, ap us gov,ap macroeconomics, ap lit, independent study research
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nope

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): school astronomy club (president 2 years), school gay-straight alliance (treasurer 2 years), science olympiad, marching band, chinese dance, columbia science honors program
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: tzu shao, teaching dance at a chinese school
Summer Activities: internship at brookhaven national lab
Essays (rating 1-10, details): common app essay 10/10 everyone ive shown it to loved it and said it was very me, the supplements were okay. i remember putting down some really obscure bands under “artists” in that question, roommate question was a typical letter, wanted to be at the higgs boson announcement. i think my best supplement was the what matters one, i wrote about the importance of being yourself and being unafraid to express it (as cliche as that sounds), which also tied into my common app essay and a few of the other supplements
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: physics teacher loves me and we’re veryclose, i had her in an intro research class and im in my second year of physics with her, she helps run science olympiad, we hang out and talk about life and stuff after school a lot. english isn’t her first language though
Teacher Rec #2: apush/9th grade history teacher likes me, we share similar political views and interest in tv shows and stuff so we get along outside of class even though i didn’t do particularly well or anything in class
Counselor Rec: we’re not close but he has high hopes for me so im sure it was fine
Additional Rec: didn’t submit one
Interview: was offered but i couldn’t go because i had a science olympiad conflict. i was only contacted a week before and the interviewer was very inflexible with the date. i contacted stanford after to let them know the situation

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: physics
State (if domestic applicant): ny
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: chinese
Gender: nonbinary (dfab)
Income Bracket: upper middle-ish?
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): legacy

Reflection

Strengths: interesting interests? everything i wrote was varied but tied back into a common theme of me being passionate about a variety of (relatively obscure) things and independent enough to be unapologetic about it? a hella lot of aps?
Weaknesses: i did research but had nothing to show for it, grades/scores are only slightly above average for an asian i guess, nothing spectacular in terms of ecs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i was good but not good enough. stanford’s very competitive and i’m happy they considered me enough to be waitlisted. maybe they’re afraid my goth self will die in california? i did mention my fashion taste in my roommate essay…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
accepted: caltech, berkeley
rejected: mit

General Comments: congrats to everyone who got in! i’ll probably be a 5 hour drive away in pasadena!

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2100 (800 Math, 650 Reading, 650 Writing)
ACT (breakdown): none
SAT II: 670 Math II, 680 Bio (I know, terrible)
Unweighted GPA: 97/100
Weighted GPA: no difference because I didn’t have any AP or honors classes (int high school)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of a very small class
AP (place score in parenthesis): none
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: regular, I can’t choose it.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): major for my country… but not known in the US

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): I have played the piano since I was a kid, participated in a Women in STEM thing (president of my team), Robotics club and olympiad, Math Olympiad, etc. (all of this in the int country).
Job/Work Experience: Since like 8th grade I have worked regularly.
Volunteer/Community service: twice, once in 10th grade and then in 11th.
Summer Activities: aerospace camp, volunteering…
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I’m guessing pretty awesome… I am a US citizen living abroad, and I talked about being a girl in engineering.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): all of the recs were probably very basic, since my teachers have 0 experience writing LORs.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes!
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): not gonna say (I’m a CA resident but went to an int high school)
School Type: private
Ethnicity: Hispanic/White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: very low
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first gen, girl in CS/STEM, low income… lots of hooks

Reflection

Strengths: my hooks and my essays? I guess
Weaknesses: SAT II scores!!! and not perfect SAT I score either. Oh and I didn’t have any APs to show off
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I don’t know…
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: UCSB, UCSD, UCLA, Georgia Tech. Rejected: MIT. Waitlisted: Berkeley and Stanford

General Comments:
I am sooooo surprised to even be on the waitlist. I will definitely opt in, but I know there’s an extremely low chance to get admitted.

Decision: Accepted
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred[/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 33C (35 R, 35 M 34 E, 28 Sci (OUCH), 11 essay)
SAT II: 780 math2, 760 Bio E
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: School doesn’t weigh
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (4) Calc AB (5) Physics 1 (4) Lang (4) German (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t offer
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Calc BC, AP Chem, Computer Science, Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NIEHS Certificate of Achievement. Other than that not much else.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Taekwondo (3rd DAN), Science team that led to International reserach conference on zebrafish, Parkour (met and trained with founding Yamakasi), Technical theater, piano, french horn, tennis, building things (<=I do this a lot)
Job/Work Experience: Work at movie theater at local mall
Volunteer/Community service: Local food pantry, German Honor Society, National Honor Society
Summer Activities: ECs
Essays (rating 1-10, details): THESE GOT ME IN. I’d put about a 9-10 out of 10. They were super chopped and weird, but completely conveyed who I am. PEOPLE ARE NOT LYING WHEN THEY SAY TO BE YOURSELF.
Common App: Compared climbing buildings to inventing.
Intellectual Vitality: SUPER weird, talked about how classical piano is so frickin’ hard.
Roommate: Loved this one, was scattered but coherent, contained many unusual comparisons appropriate to my life.
Matters to you: talked about my favorite song, was very existential
Additional: talked about parkour, zebrafish research, how Stanford’s faculty would make me feel like a 12-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 German Teacher, like my mother
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 Physics teacher, likes me
Counselor Rec: Didn’t read
Additional Rec: –
Interview: Totally connected with the guy. We talked about how our minds wander and reach crazy conclusions.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Of course
Intended Major: Biological Engineering or maybe Astrophysics
State (if domestic applicant): WISCONSIN
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, medium-sized, not a very great school
Ethnicity: Asian/white
Gender: XY
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: Essays. I wrote with my voice and about who I am. Interview
Weaknesses: Everything else.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Stanford. Rejected: MIT. Soon-to-be-rejected: Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth.

General Comments:
MIT was my dream school, but I couldn’t express myself in their application. I fell in love with Stanford after getting deferred from MIT, and I clicked with their application. Colleges’ applications are designed the way they are for a reason. If Stanford or any other school is your dream school, and you’re not “this application drips with my blood and soul,” you might not get in. If you find a school where you feel that way, your odds are way up. (it might not be your dream school. it’ll be the school you’re meant to attend.) I now couldn’t be happier about my situation, and while MIT and other schools are great, they’re not as great for me. Goodbye Dairyland, hello NERD NATION!

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 720 M 720 CR 800 W
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 750 Math II 750 Spanish 710 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.84
Weighted GPA: 4.485
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): So many - English Lang, Spanish Lang, Physics C, US History, BC Calc, World History, Stats, Psychology, US Government, all 5’s except World History
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: more APs and a PE class and religion class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nothing

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lots - orchestra, pep band, campus ministry, school literary magazine, newspaper, basically a leader in everything I do at school
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: 200 hours, service trip to West Virginia
Summer Activities: service trip, retreat leading, vacationing
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App - 9: really good about pep band, my English teacher loved it
Stanford: 6, honestly I spent no time on this
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, English Teacher - I am basically this teacher’s son
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10, Spanish Teacher, and I know he loves me but I don’t know how good of a writer he is
Counselor Rec: I don’t know, I think she knows me pretty well, but nothing special
Additional Rec: Former Dean of Medicine - it was probably really good
Interview: None

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: International Relations
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Catholic Jesuit
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not really

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, well-rounded
Weaknesses: No interview?, No hooks, Meh essays
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted Johns Hopkins University, Gonzaga, University of San Diego, Lewis & Clark; Waitlisted Pomona

General Comments: JHU, here I come!

Decision: Accepted (after deferral)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (720 CR, 780 M, 790 W)
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: 800 Math2, 770 Chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/700
AP (place score in parenthesis): Euro(3), Eng Lang(4), Bio(4), Chem(5), USH(5), Calc BC(5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP comp sci, ap physics c, ap stats, ap lit, ap us gov, service working
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): national merit commended, ap scholar with distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): girl scouts, red cross club(president), rocketry club(vp), peer tutoring
Job/Work Experience: paid peer tutoring
Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at school library, volunteer thru red cross
Summer Activities: CTY, library’s teen reading club, school’s freshman orientation
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app 9/10, intellectual vitality 8/10, roommate 9/10, what matters to you 7/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, called me her best student in 30 years, went into detail about how great she thought i was
Teacher Rec #2: didn’t read, probably about 8/10 (i was close with the teacher, but not as much as teacher #1)
Counselor Rec: didn’t read
Additional Rec: n/a
Interview: n/a

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Chem eng
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: large public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: F
Income Bracket: ~20K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen

Reflection

Strengths: GPA, maybe recs, maybe essays?
Weaknesses: ECs were meh, no major awards, no internships/research
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: not sure, but I think it’s cause I wasn’t trying to impress them. My essays were honest and I didn’t talk about my accomplishments in them.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, Northwestern; Rejected Caltech; waiting on Princeton

General Comments: I can’t believe it! After I was deferred in the REA round, I kinda lost hope. I made myself fall in love with Berkeley and put Stanford at the back of my mind. I never thought I would make it! It felt surreal to read the acceptance letter. I have a tough decision to make in the next month or so! Congrats to all! :smiley:

Kinda like @StressingMom
Son was rejected, 35 ACT, SAT2s: 800 Math2, 760 physics, 4.0 uw GPA, decent EC’s, some with leadership roles. No hooks, no URM.

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 800 M 800 CR 800 W single sitting
ACT: N/A
SAT II: 800 Math 2, 800 US History, 780 Chem
Unweighted GPA (4.0 scale): 4.0
Weighted GPA (4.0 scale): 4.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/~300ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s on all taken (taken 10 by now, taking like 18/19 by graduation) except for a 4 on AP World lol
IB (place score in parenthesis): 7 on Spanish SL, taking all others this year
Senior Year Course Load: AP and IB Biology, AP and IB Chemistry, AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP and IB English Lit, IB Theory of Knowledge, AP Comp Gov, AP Spanish Lit and IB Spanish HL, IB European History
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semi, Presidential Scholar Candidate, all the AP scholar awards, a few others that I won’t reveal for confidentiality

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): President of a few clubs, founder of a few pretty active clubs and of a local organization
Job/Work Experience: work as a tutor junior and senior yr
Volunteer/Community service: over 300 hours, volunteer at two hospitals and NHS etc
Summer Activities: volunteering, study abroad language scholarship from US Dept of State
Essays: short answers were pretty good, the essays were like 8/10 maybe but felt very ME
Teacher Recommendation: submitted one from math teacher and one from history teacher (both are sponsors of clubs I’m president of), either 9 or 10/10 they’re my fav teachers
Counselor Rec: we’re really close, 10/10!
Interview: went pretty well, we had similar interests but it wasn’t CRAZY good

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: I think Russian and Bio or something like that
State (if domestic applicant): FL
School Type: Public magnet
Ethnicity: White
Gender: F
Income Bracket: middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): only 1 parent went to college idk if that helps

Reflection
Strengths: test scores, course rigor and grades, activities and awards
Weaknesses: essays i guess? maybe interview
Why you think you were accepted/rejected: too many people i guess
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted at uva, unc, uf (full ride +$15k), georgetown, northeastern (full tuition), vanderbilt (full tuition), duke, rice. waitlisted washu and davidson

General Comments: all i wanted from this was a concrete yes or no so this was stupid. prob taking my spot off the waitlist because this app feels useless without closure. prob headed to vandy, you’re missing out for sure stanford