@websensation where did you find these stats?
@websensation I respectfully disagree with the quotes: “But I have no doubt that they let go some of the smartest kids, kids with perfect test scores, GPAs and AP and SAT Subject scores” and “Therefore, if you are an academic superstar kid,…”. I do not think the smartest students are necessarily those who get perfect SAT scores, as the SAT is, in my opinion, an awful way of measuring someone’s abilities. All it does, I think, is see how fast someone can work. Now, those people are not necessarily the smartest. A perfect SAT score does certainly not make one an academic superstar lol. I
In fact, I myself have won bronze and ended in the top 10 of major olympiads, like the equivalents of USAMO, USACO, and more. However, I ‘only’ got a 28 ACT. Moreover, because I’ve been to the training camps and all of that stuff, I know many olympians. Many would not get a top 1% or top 2% SAT or ACT score.
I do however agree that ‘the smartest’ students do usually get at the least top 10% scores. No matter how bad their day has been or how much pressure there is, top 10% is pertty much guaranteed. Sure, some do get perfect scores, but olympians generally speaking want to understand a problem up to the most fundamental level, want to check base cases (if necessary), etc. Therefore, if the only difficult thing about the test is time pressure, scores that are not in the top 1% or top 2% are not uncommon.
@Tomas1355 I do agree with you that SAT score alone is not indicative of someone’s abilities, but I do believe that SAT/ACT, with high GPA, AP and SAT Subject test scores do measure one’s academic abilities. Please note that academic ability is not equivalent to one’s ability in certain fields because one could be a great writer and have a so-so SAT/ACT score. For example, I can understand many kids who have super high abilities in programming or math have lousy SAT/ACT scores because they are careless about grammar or reading comprehension or vice-versa. For example, I had a higher SAT score than my friend who was super great in math, i.e., he won several math competitions in the state. In all fairness, my friend was very talented in one field whereas I was not that talented in any field but had higher SAT score than my friend. Therefore, I do agree with you, but what you are saying is somewhat different than the point I am making.
We all know SAT/ACT measures how quickly you can do certain problems, and your score can increase greatly if you practice repetitively. it does not measure at all your creativity, perseverance or your talent. When I say “hard stats”, I mean SAT/ACT, GPA with more difficult classes such as Honors/AP classes, AP test scores, SAT II Subject Test scores, altogether. Combined together, they do measure one’s academic abilities which often are not the same thing as your talent in a specific field.
@websensation Aha, all of those combined, I agree. All of these factors/tests combined, I’d say olympians are still at the top, even though they usually slack when it comes to SAT/ACT, as it’s not intriguing at all. The “bad” SAT/ACT score is usually compensated… From my experience, almost all have a 4.0 GPA, have great SAT II scores, took the most rigorous courses etc. Out of the roughly 100 olympians I know (all competitions combined), I think only 1 or 2 do not have a 3.9+/4.0 GPA, for example 
@Tomas1355 I can easily imagine cases where super talented math students will not get 800 in SAT math because they misunderstood one or two questions. In fact, I know one student who was top 5 in some super high level Physics competition, and he got only 780 or 790 in SAT math, and never bothered to take another SAT because for him, getting 800 in SAT math was a meaningless waste of time.
SAT/ACT math tests very low level math for talented math students that they do not at all distinguish who are really good in math. For example, I remember my super talented in math friend and I (not that good in math at all) both got 800 in SAT math. When I bragged to him that I did just as well as he did in SAT math, he told me the difference is he finished his SAT math questions in 13 to 15 minutes and checked his answers twice, whereas I barely finished the section. He told me the difference between he and I was that he would still get 800 if questions were harder, whereas I would not. He told me even at MIT, he fell in a group of students who got As if they studied reasonably hard, but he told me there are some kids who get A+s even without studying too much and working on their projects. He said those kids are REALLY smart. Then there was one of my friend who got all As in math and science in high school through super diligent effort, and when he went to MIT, he found out no matter how much he studied he could not go above Bs. That really destroyed his confidence until he ultimately went into the patent law area. Lol
As an example, I know two siblings: one went to MIT and the other went to CalTech. The one who went to CalTech told me the other sibling was way better than her in science especially in Physics (tested as one of the best in USA) but she still got higher SAT/ACT scores than her. The more talented sibling just wasn’t interested in improving her SAT test score and considered it a waste of time. Lol
2 questions
- Do they read in the order you sent in your app (for example i sent mine in on 10/31 so pretty late)
- does anyone actually think they will release friday the 8th? it seems early
ok jk the website says “December 15 REA decisions released”. It does not say “by Dec. 15” it says on so that clarifies that for people
Also, looking at the historical stats, the decision has never been released on the 8th previously because there is a always a remaining Friday in those cases (the 15th), so we should anticipate the 15th.
“Admission decisions are released by December 15.” Technically it could come out on the 8th but we’ll know by Wednesday. Anticipating the 15th as others have mentioned
Can someone call the admissions office and ask them when they are releasing decisions? Or would that disturb them? Lol I really want to know.
https://admission.stanford.edu/
I think they updated it…on the calendar section it says on dec 15
@dreamergirl2022 https://admission.stanford.edu/apply/decision_process/index.html This says by the 15th
@dogsarelife If you look at the bottom, that says “updated july 29 2017”. i might be wrong but the page i found seems to be more updated and accurate
If Stanford was conclusive on the date, they would have posted on their Twitter by now.
@dreamergirl2022 The page you linked is for deadlines, so that means the 15th is the deadline for decisions to be released, not necessarily the actual date (although it very well could be).
how do you see the admission result? Will they email you or you have to log into your Stanford account?
@derek888 it will be on the Stanford account
@derek888 they’ll probably email you that your results are in and that you’ll have to log into your Stanford account to see the decision. Also, I really hope they do post something on their twitter tomorrow just so that maybe we get a chance to see our decisions this Friday.
Unlikely. If Stanford is like other universities, AO’s generally group applications together to read all form the same HS or city/town at the same time. Sending applications well in advance of the deadline does not mean that the application gets read any earlier; AO’s are still generally in the field doing college fairs, etc. before the deadline.
Good luck to everyone!!!