<p>Does anyone have any statistics on whether Stanford accepts applicants from the Midwest at a higher rate than instate? Also, does it help if there have been acceptances from one's high school in the recent years? Finally, how much emphasis does Stanford place on ECs?</p>
<p>Some of my stats:</p>
<p>Number 1 in class of about 150.
Cincinnati, Ohio.
SAT score 2170.
Number 1 and captain on tennis team.
Sundry awards here and there but am not an EC demon.</p>
<p>I already know that my chances are not that great but I am looking for some way to convince myself I have a reasonable chance. Looking forward the thoughts of the similarly curious.</p>
<p>Stanford got a new dean of admissions last year, who would like to increase geographic diversity, so being from OOS can't hurt and might help.</p>
<p>I would say that having recent candidates admitted from your school will help at almost any highly selective school, because the reputation of a high school influences how class rank, GPA, and recommendations are evaluated.</p>
<p>The tennis ranking and captaincy should help too; they show leadership and passion. My impression from what D. told me about her application is that Stanford doesn't necessarily want you to have a ton of ECs, as long as you have some that are very important to you: the application limits how many you can list, and asks you to elaborate on why the ones you chose to list were important to you. </p>
<p>Stanford is a reach to super-reach for everyone (and it's impossible to predict how any one student will do in admissions at any one highly selective college), but I do think you've got a fair shot.</p>
<p>Honestly, they have one long essay, and three shorter responses. I'd be willing to be essays are weighed just as heavily at Stanford as they are at Chicago. Stanford seems to be the anomaly among the top tier schools, my cousin Kyle (class of '03) got into Stanford RD with a 3.7 and 1390. Those aren't bad numbers by any means, but given the competition, seem low. The thing that stands out in my mind about him is his writing; he was Editor of his school's newspaper. I'm sure he got a great rec from his English teacher and wrote sterling essays. I haven't talked to him too much about how he got in, this is what I've heard from my mom; he's pretty busy these days though, trying to get into Hopkins for med school.</p>
<p>/me wonders why this isn't in the Stanford forum</p>
<p>I agree with all the above comments. Why not call the admissions office and ask them yourself?</p>
<p>Please stop trying to play the game of "how admissions officers look at you". I have no idea what they think. I have no idea if they care if someone from your high school has attended Stanford before or not. What matters is you: what you enjoy, what activities you're in, what you excel in, what you're passionate about, and what you've learned in your life. Please focus on you and not them. You only have control over yourself, so just take responsibility for your own actions and don't worry about exactly what others may or may not think.</p>
<p>That being said in regards to your location....</p>
<p>As for your stats, they're decent. Rank is great, SAT is probably okay (maybe a little below average, but someone has to be below average right?). Are you in any clubs, or have you done any volunteering? If you only have one EC (tennis), I would wager that that is not enough. I won't try to discourage you from applying, but your essays will need to be stellar to give you a chance. Especially if you're a junior, please consider trying out some new activities this year, whether you work at blood drives, read to kids in a library, do research in a lab, or tutor underserved kids. You don't have to do anything crazy like go to Ghana to work in a medical clinic, but know that your EC list seems very short.</p>
<p>Shark-bite: yes, IIRC. They don't want to see a laundry list of 1000 activities; they want to know about the ones you put the most into and got the most out of.</p>
<p>as far as being from Ohio giving you an edge -- i don't think that will help much. Ohio is a strong state with excellent schools and many from the state apply to top schools (unlike other states like North Dakota or Alabama).
If you are from a rural area, that might help just a little, tiny bit.</p>
<p>Also, how can we put in small notes and such. How can you say you were in an EC, won an award, was elected as an officer and such? There isn't enough room.</p>
<p>Yeah same here, they don't really give you much room to elaborate on any one particluar EC, so how do we emphasize its importance? I dont really want to spend an essay talking about it.</p>