Stanford 2020 Regular Decision Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
61

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34M, 33CR, 36W, 28S (oops)

  • one attempt
    SAT II: 770M-II, 710Literature
    Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
    Weighted GPA: 5.1
    Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/300
    AP (place score in parenthesis): 5-APUSH, 5-ENG.LANG, 4-CALC.AB, 4-COMP.SCI, 3-CHEM, 3-BIO, 3-US.GOV
    IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
    Senior Year Course Load: AP CALC.BC, AP ENV.SCI, AP STATS&PROB, AP PHYS, AP PSYCH, AP HUME.GEO, AP ENG.LIT, GYM
    Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Numerous publications (editor)
  • Environmental Coalition/Commission (vice president and liaison)
  • Student Council/Government (president, student rep for board)
    Job/Work Experience:
  • Video game guides at home
    Volunteer/Community service:
  • Key Club/local foodbank/tutor at library
    Summer Activities:
  • Courses taken at Boston University
  • Interdisciplinary program studying climate change
  • MIT’s Online Science, Engineering, and Technology Community (MOSTEC)
    Essays (rating 1-10, details):
  • Common App - 10.1/10: very personal, anecdotal, interesting metaphor utilized (came from the heart)
  • Extracurricular Activity - 9/10: descriptive story, dramatized the permanence of yearbook
  • Academic Revelation - 9/10: wrote about the power of typos
  • Letter to Roommate - 10/10: quirky, humorous, wrote about simple odd traits that revealed my outlooks on life, casual tone
  • What I’m Most Proud of - 8/10: Sticky note wall, concept of growth
  • I admit some essays were a bit poetic/non-sequitur, but I was happy with them overall.
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
  • Biology Teacher - 10/10: knew him since I began high school, worked with him in various clubs, talk to him a lot outside of class
  • English Teacher - 9/10: although she was my 10th grade teacher, she knew my love for literature, and I think that’s what she talked about in her letter (Socratic circles, research papers, etc)
  • Guidance Counselor 10/10: her letter essentially captured my story but also revealed my love for learning by talking about my various projects in the summer programs
  • Supplemental Recommendations from MOSTEC Professors: first one was quite bland (so was he somewhat) but talked about an above-and-beyond attitude; second was much more casual and talked about my love of writing.
    Interview: I did not receive one.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Humanities
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: Lower Bracket
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Personal story (? - I never specifically referenced it but I think it could be inferred from recs)

Reflection

Strengths: Genuine essays that were essentially entries to a diary, lackadaisical approach towards admissions process (I never really followed proper procedures in handing in documents/submitted my scores quite late)
Weaknesses: Scores (although I have a theory that really high scores can hinder a person)
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: My application process was never superficial: it was revelatory for me, and I think such effect transpired for the adcoms.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

  • Accepted to Princeton
  • Rejected from MIT
  • Waitlisted from Duke

General Comments: So I think the most important lesson I garnered from such a long, drawn-out (and sometimes horrifying) process is that the result is simply just a copied-and-pasted letter (a digital one, in fact). Prior to beginning any of my college applications, I reflected on the tumultuous journeys of myself and of my classmates, and I couldn’t help but to notice how there have been so many pressures that have alienated us into believing and subscribing to such a superficial dream of what “success” really is. Thus, I took the entire admissions process as a source of inspiration for myself, and only myself. My essays mirror that of a senior thesis of any college student, and they weren’t written with the intention of impressing the admissions officers (bragging is quite useless and unnecessary), but rather with the genuine desire to cohesively put together the snippets of my own story. And I think that, if an institution is compelled and intrigued with your story, it’ll check its acceptance marks. If not, then there isn’t a compatibility, and that’s totally okay. And if you have no story at all, I plead you to go write it for the sake of knowing yourself.

As someone has already stated in this thread, “people aren’t lying when they tell you to just be yourself.”

62

Decision: Accepted

Get ready to be amazed at my luck, you guys. Seriously.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1980- 670 CR, 710 W, 600 M
ACT (breakdown): 31- 36 English, 25 Math, 36 Reading, 27 Science
SAT II: 650 Literature, 700 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.275
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/400ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psych and APUSH (5); Stats, English Language (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP English Lit, AP Gov, AP Macro, Journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Hispanic Recognition Program, Questbridge National College Match Finalist, AP Scholar with Hono

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Red Cross Club (Secretary), Environmental Club (Vice President), school newspaper (Co-Editor-in-Chief), Mentoring Program, Interact Club
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Red Cross, Heal the Bay, Tree People Project
Summer Activities: Research Mentorship Program @ UCSB
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I am not bragging about my damn essays, that’s weird. My personal statement essay was a rather emotional one to write: I wrote about coming out in a Catholic family and during an evolving time for LGBT rights. For the “intellectual development” essay, I wrote about what I learned from doing a project on stateless Haitian-Dominicans at UCSB over the summer. In the “note to future roommate” essay, I wrote about how I am used to sharing a living space with my sister and how we will hopefully get along better. In the “what matters to you and why” essay, I wrote about how as a student journalist, integrity matters the most to me.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I got 2 recommendations from my APUSH teacher and my English teacher. I guess they were good lol

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Public Policy
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Mexican-American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Less than 40,000 a year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Underrepresented minority fo sho, low income

Reflection

Strengths: The essays must have saved me. God. I have no idea. Maybe my ethnicity and income too.
Weaknesses: Scores. Oh boy. HOW DID I GET IN?
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I HAVE NO IDEA
Where else were you accepted/wait listed/rejected: Accepted at UC Berkeley, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, Wellesley, Mills. Waitlisted at Northwestern (HAHAHAHA)

General Comments:
Everyone needs to read this that is thinking about applying to Stanford this year, ESPECIALLY if you are a minority/low income/whatever. I am living proof that you do not need to, I don’t know, have a 5.00 GPA, start a Fortune 500 company at the tender age of 6, win a Nobel Peace Prize, be the leader of every single club at your school, and/or perform a successful open-heart surgery under pressure. No one at my school has been admitted to Stanford in years, and this year we had 2 students (including myself!) get in. I do not have the best test scores. I do not have the best extracurriculars. I have not visited the entire world building houses for poor communities or whatever (though that sounds like great fun). College admissions counselors want a good story. I came from a low-income family of immigrants, I have faced difficulties due to my sexual orientation, I live in an area not necessarily known for its safety, and yet I still am doing pretty well. I might not even go to Stanford because I genuinely was not expecting to get in and already had my heart set on UC Berkeley (the atmosphere at Cal just feels so much more right to me than Stanford’s - talk about competitive! Though if Malala Yousafzai goes to Stanford after all I might just change my mind…) so this was a heart attack to me. Please do not freak out about not getting into Stanford or any college you had your heart set on: college is 4 years of your life that you will make the most out of anywhere you go. Not to mention Stanford’s acceptance rate will probably gradually lower itself to 0% as the NYT suggests, haha.

63

Decision: Accepted :smiley:

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1820 (don’t remember breakdown)
ACT (breakdown): 27 (28 super-scored) (don’t remember breakdown)
SAT II: 630 M2, 710 M1, 540 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Weighted GPA: 5.08
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 13/284 - Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): 10 APs
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 6 APs, 1 Honors, 1 mandatory religion class
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1 international, 2 national, 2 regional, and several school awards. As well as 7-8 press interviews including international TV and articles.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): NHS board, Spanish HS, STEM Club, Varsity Swimming, Magician, Triathlete, entrepreneur, etc.
Job/Work Experience: startup founder, entrepreneur, developed products available worldwide
Volunteer/Community service: cofounded a service project
Summer Activities: german classes, travel, varsity swimming practices, tech conferences, random stuff.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Pretty good i think
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 9, told me it had academic aspects
Teacher Rec #2: 10, told me it had personal/academic aspects
Counselor Rec: 10, she told me it was great
Additional Rec: from a director at a tech company close to Stanford…
Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: something engineering related
State (if domestic applicant): FL
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Private catholic
Ethnicity: Mexican
Gender: F
Income Bracket: ~140k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): 1st generation, URM,

Reflection

Strengths: well rounded, diversity in awards, press interviews, startup founder, diversity in extracurriculars, URM
Weaknesses: test scores
Why you think you were accepted: well rounded maybe, but I still don’t know for sure :O? I would like to know as well lol
Where else were you accepted: GaTech, UMich, UMiami, UF

General Comments: Make sure you put your sweat and time on the application, specially those essays.
Attending Stanford since they offered the most $.
Feeling blessed! Thank you Stanford <3
Good luck to everyone applying next year for the class of 2021!
IT IS POSSIBLE, DREAMS DO COME TRUE!!!

64

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2220 Single Sitting (800CR, 800M, 620W (whoops!)) 2400 Super Score
ACT (breakdown): 36 Single Sitting (36W, 35M, 36R, 36S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 Biology (E)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
Weighted GPA: 4.50
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): : APUSH (4) AP English Lang. (4) AP Biology (4) AP Chemistry (4) APES (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Senior Year Course Load: AP U.S. Govt., AP Macroeconomics, AP English Lit., AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Chinese, Honors Wind Ensemble
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar With Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): XC (Captain), Track (Captain), Wind Ensemble (Principle Saxophone), Technology Student Association (VP), Special Needs Assistant, Peer Tutor
Job/Work Experience: … : )
Volunteer/Community service: … : )
Summer Activities: XC Conditioning, Special Needs Assistant (Summer School)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: My personal narrative involving religion and science. Touchy subject I know, but everyone who read it, peers and teachers alike, thought it was captivating and well done (9/10).
Intellectual Vitality: About the time I helped saved my friend’s life when he was having a “Grand Mal” (tonic-clonic) seizure. Intense, yet well written (9.5/10).
Letter to Roommate: Since I would have been a biology major, I did a creative version taxonomic classification of myself then proceeded to elaborate on some of my interests and quirks in a scientific manner (9/10).
What Matters and Why: About how I have grown through cross country and the impact what I have learned has made on me (8.5/10).

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP English Teacher: Told me it was focused on my academics, but mainly my character (9.5/10).
Teacher Rec #2: Math Analysis Teacher: Told me it was focused on my growth throughout high school. I had this teacher as a Freshman and as a Junior (8.5/10).
Counselor Rec: Told me it talked about my academic abilities and contributions to the school (9.5/10).
Additional Rec: N/A (Should have asked for one in retrospect) : P
Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Public Health
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic/Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle Class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM (Hispanic)

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, essays and ethnicity
Weaknesses: Lack of community service and lack of an additional recommendation
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Probably that lack of an extra letter and lack of community service haha.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: Cal Poly SLO, UC Davis, UCSB, UCSD, UC Berkeley, USC, Cornell
Waitlisted: UCLA
Rejected: Stanford

General Comments:
Congratulations to all of you that were accepted and best of luck to all of you that will apply! : )

65

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Never took
ACT (breakdown): 31
SAT II: World History (780), Biology E (670)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.97
Weighted GPA: High school didn’t weigh
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): High school didn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), Psychology (4), Biology (4), English Lan. and Com. (4), Macroeconomics (5), Microeconomics (5), Gov. and Politics: U.S. (4), U.S. History (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): None
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, Art I, AP English IV, AP Physics I, AP Comparative Politics, AP Environmental Science, Honors Sociology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Telluride Association finalist, Questbridge finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): YIG (Secretary), MUN (Secretary), United Way (President), Science Olympiad (member), 2 Research projects (independent)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: 100 hours
Summer Activities: Working on my research, taking care of my 3 younger siblings
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
-Common App: A very personal intense story on a difficult family situation where I could no longer be a “child” (10/10)
-Intellectual Vitality: Human rights through my experiences as a immigrant (8/10)
-Letter to Roommate: Due to some of my other topics being so serious, I decided to go very lighthearted to capture my personality (9/10)
-What Matters and Why: Combined the world issue of mental stigmas and my research (8/10)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: AP Macro/Micro/World History Teacher (rating: 10/10, details: She and I talked a lot, so she knew everything about me)
Teacher Rec #2: AP English III Teacher (rating: 8/10?, details: I have no clue since I never saw it, but I assume it was good because the teacher liked my unique inputs in class, and how I handled my life)
Counselor Rec: (rating: 7/10?, details: She mentioned it was more academic since she always praised my ability to manage a heavy course load)
Additional Rec: None
Interview: Wasn’t offered

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Social sciences
State (if domestic applicant): Tennessee
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Magnet school
Ethnicity:South Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >45,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Refugee, immigrant, first generation college,

Reflection:

Strengths: Essays, intense course load

Weaknesses: Test scores, few leadership positions in school

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I expressed my experiences, my growth, and my dreams into each of my essays. I showed my capabilities of managing responsibility and my plans for the future.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
-Accepted: Princeton, Dartmouth, Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst
-Waitlisted: Harvard, Columbia, UChicago, UPenn
-Rejected: Yale, Cornell, John Hopkins, Brown

General Comments: Applying to college is honestly impossible to predict. It all depends on what resonates with the admissions staff. Don’t lose hope!

66

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Superscore 2390 (CR 790 M 800 W 800)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: Chemistry 800 Math II 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.25 (not too sure)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10 percentile
AP (place score in parenthesis): Art Studio (5), English Language (5), Chemistry (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Macroeconomics, AP English Literature, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1, U.S. Government
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No major awards but small things like Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key, small research competition.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross-country. Art. I don’t want to reveal too much.
Job/Work Experience: Internship at lab
Volunteer/Community service: Prefer not to say
Summer Activities: Internship
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: I might be a little bored of my essay now, but the essay was a good intro to who I was (i.e. my basic narrative). 8/10.
Intellectual Vitality: This is the most important essay. I talked about how one interest influenced my academic pursuits. 9/10.
Roommate Essay: I am going to be vague again, but be lighthearted and talk about things that you never talked about before. My essay was about a singular hobby that I never brought up before. Don’t worry too much about this essay. 7/10.
What matters to you: This one was a personal continuation of the Intellectual Vitality essay. 8/10.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: Chem teacher. She has a lot of experiences with rec letters. 8/10.
Teacher Rec #2: Lit teacher. Not that close with her, but I think she likes me. 6/10.
Counselor Rec: Got one from my principal. Long story. She is so sweet! 8.5/10.
Additional Rec: Art teacher. 8/10.
Interview: Nope

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Undecided
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: Prefer not to say
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection
Strengths: Essays. Essays are your chance for your counselor to get to know you. When he/she goes in front of the adcom, they need to be willing to fight for you, so you have to be relatable and close with your counselor through your essays.
Weaknesses: Not enough AP classes. Realized this too late.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was probably deferred because my lack of EC activities and my lack of APs. Important note for deferred applicants: Being deferred is a second chance. I polished my EC activities to align more with my essays, so that the deferral update provided substance behind my application.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to Columbia, Johns Hopkins Woodrow Wilson Fellow, USC Trustee Scholarship, Barnard, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine Regents, UC Davis Regents, UC San Diego Regents. Rejected from Harvard, Brown, Yale, Princeton. LOL.

General Comments: For all you deferred applicants and pessimists, don’t give up. There is always a chance! I went through extreme anxiety, panic, a few breakdowns, etc., but things will always work out, no matter which amazing college you choose. Take a few deep breaths. Don’t be intimidated by the Intel finalists, quadruple sport varsity athletes, Olympic medalists. Just figure out your voice and stick with it.

67

Decision: Accepted

GPA: 4.0UW // 4.8W
Class Rank: 1/455 (Valedictorian)
Scores: 2160 SAT (720/720/720/11) - Took once (lol oops low scores)
SAT II: Bio (650) US History (720)

Coursework: AP World - AP Lang - AP Lit - AP Physics - AP Bio - AP USH - AP Gov - AP Micro - AP Calc - AP Macro - AP Stats - Drafting I II III (Dual) All 5’s

Awards:
AP Scholar with Distinction
Presidential Scholar Nominee (selected my Chief School State Officer)
Coca-Cola Scholars Semi-Finalist
Various architecture/art competitions

Essays: I just tried to be honest. I will likely post them online this fall, because my stats are not objectively great and I think my essays helped. I wrote about various topics depending on the school: my love for clothes and makeup, hiking, Disneyland, my grandma, art, being asian etc.

Recommendations:
AP Calculus - I love my calc teacher, but I bet you he wrote about me falling asleep in class and other random stuff that he thought was funny.
AP Micro/Macro - My econ teacher showed me her rec after decisions came out and it was amazing.
Counselor rec - INCREDIBLE. I have a really great relationship with the guy and I think it really showed. He also showed me my rec after decisions came out; he used descriptions like “trend setter” “innovative” “a leader among her peers” “fun-loving” “inspirational” and “a good friend.” to describe me - it was like no other letter I’ve read before.

Extracurriculars: I’ve done a lot but I didn’t put them all on my common app - I only wrote about what was meaningful to me.
Key Club
Art
Work
Web Design

Applied for Financial Aid?: Of course
Intended Major: Product Design/Mech Engineering
Demographics: Asian girl from the suburbs
Hooks(?): I think I have anti-hooks
High School: Public magnet. Not ranked, not low income, just average.
State (if domestic applicant): NV
Ethnicity: 100% Asian
Income Bracket: Middle Class

Reflection: I didn’t start thinking about college until fall of senior year really, and so I really didn’t know what I was doing. My counselor basically told me I had two options: State-School or military. So I was basically on my own guidance wise. I didn’t even know SAT scores were a big deal so I didn’t study (Dont do that!) and I didn’t even know what the SAT II was until I started applications (had to take them in January…last minute…) But things still turned out alright. I think my case, and plenty of others, prove that you don’t have to play into the “college game” to get into a school you love. You don’t have to have legacy, or be a URM, or have the last name Rockefeller. You don’t have to cure cancer. You don’t have to go to some feeder school or take SAT prep classes. I was a typical student that loved to learn and did stuff that she liked and it worked out for me. I didn’t get into every school I applied to, but who cares, I got into the one school I loved.

68

@Pernix how did you get a research internship in Sweden? Was it thro a certain program or offered by a certain company? Please tell me more!!