Stanford Class of 2022 REA Applicant/Decision Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

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[ size=4][ color=green][ b]Decision: Accepted **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=orange][ b]Decision: Deferred **[/color][/size]
[ size=4][ color=red][ b]Decision: Rejected **[/color][/size]

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown):
ACT superscore (breakdown):
SAT II (subject, score):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Number of other EA applicants in your school:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Experience:

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:

Teacher Recommendation #1:
Teacher Recommendation #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Info/Rec:
Interview:
Art Supplement:

[ b]Other**

Date Submitted App:
U.S. State/Territory or Country:
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket Range:
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development):

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
What would you have done differently?:
Where else did you apply?

[ b]Other Factors: **

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**

2

Decision: TBD

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1510 - 770/740/20(7/6/7)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1540 - 800/740/20(7/6/7)
ACT (breakdown):N/A
ACT superscore (breakdown):N/A
SAT II (subject, score):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.82
Weighted GPA: 4.29
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School will not publish either (Somewhere between top 5-10%)
AP (place score in parentheses): World History (4), U.S. History (5), Computer Science A (5), Calculus BC (5), Calculus A/B sub-score: 5, Physics 1 (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): Not offered at my school.
Senior Year Course Load: Data Structures, A.P. G.O.P.O., Honors Spanish 4, A.P. Literature, A.P. Biology, A.P. Statistics
Number of other EA applicants in your school: Not sure.

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Not sure. I do not think so.

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Medallion Award in Mathematics (top 1% in school in Math), Dave Dewittry Memorial Troy High School Programming Contest 7th place, Southern California High School Programming Contest at Cal Poly Pomona 1st place, High School Mathematical Modeling Contest (HiMCM) Meritorious 2016 (Mathematical Modeling Contest where teams from all over the world compete by writing a mathematical model to solve a real world problem; top 20%),

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Eagle Scout in BSA Troop(

Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service: Various events through Boy Scouts, incluuding a food drive for Families Forward
Summer Experience:

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
Common App Essay: 8.5 out of 10 (Solid, well-written, but not exceptional).
Stanford Supplements: 7.5 out of 10, overall (I thought some of my responses bordered cliche).

Teacher Recommendation #1: A.P. Calculus BC Teacher (Considered me one of her favorite and best students she has ever taught) (9 out of 10)
Teacher Recommendation #2: A.P. U.S. History Teacher (Former lawyer, writes very well, praises my intellect) (7.5 out of 10)
Counselor Rec: Strong relationship, especially for a large public high school (8 out of 10)
Additional Info/Rec: Scoutmaster for 5 years (9.5 out of 10)
Interview: N/A (I live in California)
Art Supplement: N/A

[ b]Other**

Intended Major: Computer Science
Date Submitted App: 10/31/2017
U.S. State/Territory or Country: California
School Type: Large Public (~2300 students, ~600 in my year)
Ethnicity: White (Great.)
Gender: Male (Also great.)
Income Bracket Range: Family makes about $90,000 per year (Fantastic).
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): I have had autism since age 2 or 3? Otherwise, none that I am aware of.

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: ECs are focused, strong connections with recommenders, awards within my desired major and ECs, essays are fairly well-written, lots of significant leadership roles, large amounts of commitment in my ECs.
Weaknesses: White, male, upper middle class, no massive achievements (I did not win USAMO or Intel, lol), possibly too few ECs?.
What would you have done differently?: More research at an earlier age in my desired major.
Where else did you apply? Currently applying RD: Caltech, Princeton, CMU, Duke, University of Chicago, UCs: Berkeley, UCSD, UCI

[ b]Other Factors: **
White, male, upper-middle class.

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**
Cannot give any yet.

3

Decision: ACCEPTED
IM STILL CRYING OMGGG

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1430 (Math: 760, Reading: 670)
SAT II: Math Level 2: 800 Chemistry: 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: (out of 5.0): 4.73
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 18 of 550
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World History (4), AP Human Geography (5), AP Calculus AB (5), AP US History (5), AP Computer Science Principles (5), AP Chemistry (4), AP English Language (5)
(I have also taken for no credit online Stanford’s CS101, CS106A, CS106B, CS193P, and Cryptography 1)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Gov, AP Microeconomics, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, AP Calculus BC, AP Studio 2D Art, AP Computer Science

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
• Coca Cola Scholarship Semifinalist
• Technovation International Coding Competition 2016 Semifinalist
• TD Bank & National Liberty Museum’s National Young Hero Award
• Congressional App Challenge 2017 Winner
• NCWIT 2017 Aspirations in Computing National Winner
• Second Degree Black Belt in a Martial Art
• Harvard’s Girls Impact the World Film Festival Winner 2017
• Stanford She++ #include fellow
• Stanford Women in Business Miss CEO Ambassador
• AT&T Scholarship
• Mogul’s Top 50 International High School Students
• University of Michigan’s Startup High School National Semifinalist 2017
• AP Scholar with Distinction

Subjective:
*Key: When I say large, I mean you would recognize the name immediately if I told you.
Activities (place leadership in parenthesis): (includes extracurricular, volunteer, and work experience)
• CEO and Founder of an international nonprofit (10th, 11th, 12th)(designed to educate girls in CS)
o We have an impact on half a million girls. Then, with our most recent partnership with a really large org, we have a potential impact on 2.7 million girls.
• Founder and President of a local nonprofit organization to teach seniors on technology. (10th, 11th, 12th)
• Creator and Founder of multiple apps that benefit human safety
• Large Organization’s Computer Science Advisory Board
• My State’s Technology Council’s Student Advisory Committee Chair
• Martial Arts for seven years (I’m a second degree black belt certified).
• Stanford Scholar Initiative member (11th, 12th) – create short research talks on computer science
• Stanford Women in CS #include fellow
• Stanford Women in Business Miss CEO Ambassador
• Computer Vision Intern at state university
• Also, I soon will be an intern at large tech company (big name; think like Apple, Google, etc)
• Robotics Team (11th, 12th)(President and Lead Programmer)
• Speech and Debate ((9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) Secretary in Junior year, Vice - President in Senior year)
• Math Honor Society (10th, 11th, 12th)(Treasurer for 11th grade, Prez. for 12th grade)
• Computational Musician (11th, 12th)
o I plan on joining/creating a Laptop Orchestra at my college.
• Programmer (IOS and Android) (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)
o Built several apps and I know several coding languages
• Spanish Club (10th, 11th, 12th )
• Chemistry Olympiad (10th)
• National Honor Society (11th, 12th)
• Junior Engineering and Technological Society (11th, 12th)

Summer Activities:
Junior = did Stanford Engineering Everywhere Summer Program and Stanford online courses & teaching through my nonprofit.
Senior = Computer Vision Intern at state university

Recommendations:
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: 10/10 (top 1% of students in her whole career)
Interview: 7/10

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): SE region of USA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Lower Middle Class

Hook:
My activities. I think that they show how hardworking I am and passionate I am about CS. In addition, how I’m very involved with Stanford’s CS program and the students there.

Reflections:
I have stalked these threads ever since middle school, and I never thought that I would be accepted. In ninth grade, I said to myself “Shoot for the moon and you will land among the stars.” I thought I would never reach the moon. But, somehow I did. It doesn’t matter your SATs. Just focus on you. Focus on what you want to do. Go above and beyond what others believe you can do. For you, my stats may look scary or intimidating. But, that is what everyone thinks when they see someone else. Just remember to focus on you and what you are doing. With that, I can guarantee that any good school like Stanford will accept you. Good luck and wherever you go, I’m sure you will be a success. :slight_smile: <3333

4

Decision: Accepted
still has not sunk in yet

ACT (breakdown): C 33, E 34, M 35, R 31, S 32, W 8
SAT II (subject, score): Math II 790, Physics 700
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School does not show
Weighted GPA: School does not show
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): No rank
AP (place score in parentheses): School does not offer
IB (place score in parentheses): [All scores are predicted]: Math HL (7), Physics HL (7), Economics HL (7), Chemistry SL (6), English A SL (6), Indonesian B HL (7), Theory of Knowledge (A), Extended Essay (A)
Senior Year Course Load: Heavy especially with 4 IB HLs.
Number of other EA applicants in your school: 1 more to Stanford
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): None.
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Top Student Academic Award, Harvard Model Congress Asia Honorable Mention, Model Congress Club Merit and Distinction Awards, Varsity Tennis Merit Award, Student Representative Council Merit Award.

Job/Work Experience:

  1. Founded a startup to help farmers, now in 8 provinces across the country.
  2. Co-founded a startup to help radiologists, AI still in development phase.
  3. Interned in a Japanese IT company in the e-commerce division.
  4. Interned in an American HR company as an analyst.
    Volunteer/Community Service:
  5. Head of English department in a local NGO.
  6. Keynote speaker at Global Issues Network Indonesia conference.
    Other ECs:
  7. Head of MUN training and delegate in Model Congress Club.
  8. Indonesian government ambassador for Pancasila (Indonesia’s founding ideology)
  9. Mentor at MIT LaunchX clubs, handling 3 schools across Asia.
  10. Varsity tennis
  11. Head of Charity at stuco
    Summer Experience:
  12. MIT Launch summer, an entrepreneurship program and startup incubator.

Common App: Wrote about my passion journey into creating my first startup to help Indonesian farmers get out of poverty. 9/10
Intellectual vitality: Wrote about seeking to uncover the truth behind the malleability of one’s mind, inspired by Indonesian farmers.9/10
Roommate essay: Wrote about Indonesian spices and how they symbolize who I am as a person. Also added a few elements of humor into it. 8/10
What is meaningful to you and why: Wrote about imagination and how asking “What if?” is extremely important in life. 9/10

Teacher Recommendation #1: Probably 9/10, my economics teacher and I are close so he wrote really good reviews about me and showed me the letter.
Teacher Recommendation #2: Not sure, 7-8/10 maybe? My english teacher is an excellent writer though, but we were never close and I’m not sure what she wrote.
Counselor Rec: Didn’t show me, so I guess a 7-8/10. The vice principal really likes my passion journey in and outside school, so he wrote about that I guess.
Additional Rec: From my boss at my internship with the Japanese IT company, wrote pretty good reviews. Probably 7/10.
Interview: I think it went pretty well, my interviewer and I connected instantly and we went overtime. 8/10 maybe?

Date Submitted App: October 29, 2017
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Jakarta, Indonesia
School Type: Small private
Ethnicity: Southeast Asian (Indonesian)
Gender: M
Income Bracket Range: Not sure.
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Showed my growth, my passions, and sense of nationalism and patriotism.

Strengths: My ECs are definitely the strongest part of my application, especially with my two passion project-turned-startups.
Weaknesses: My grades in general are not that amazing.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I showcased my passions really well in writing.
What would you have done differently? Get better grades??
Where else did you apply? Applying to Harvard and Penn RD.

General Comments & Advice: Honestly, I have been reading the Stanford 2020 and 2021 REA threads and I got extremely worried and anxious. My advice is just once you submit the application, just enjoy life and don’t think about it too much like I did. (Still crying rn lol)

5

Decision: Rejected

[ b]Objective:[/b
]
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1510 - 770/740/20(7/6/7)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1540 - 800/740/20(7/6/7)
ACT (breakdown):N/A
ACT superscore (breakdown):N/A
SAT II (subject, score):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.82
Weighted GPA: 4.29
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School will not publish either (Somewhere between top 5-10%)
AP (place score in parentheses): World History (4), U.S. History (5), Computer Science A (5), Calculus BC (5), Calculus A/B sub-score: 5, Physics 1 (4)
IB (place score in parentheses): Not offered at my school.
Senior Year Course Load: Data Structures, A.P. G.O.P.O., Honors Spanish 4, A.P. Literature, A.P. Biology, A.P. Statistics
Number of other EA applicants in your school: Not sure.

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): Not sure. I do not think so.

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, Medallion Award in Mathematics (top 1% in school in Math), Dave Dewittry Memorial Troy High School Programming Contest 7th place, Southern California High School Programming Contest at Cal Poly Pomona 1st place, High School Mathematical Modeling Contest (HiMCM) Meritorious 2016 (Mathematical Modeling Contest where teams from all over the world compete by writing a mathematical model to solve a real world problem; top 20%),

[ b]Subjective:**

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Eagle Scout in BSA Troop, Extremely dedicated programmer, leading programming club at our school; currently training USACO members; Mu Captain of Mu Alpha Theta team at school.

Job/Work Experience: Courtesy Clerk at Albertsons.
Volunteer/Community Service: Various events through Boy Scouts, incluuding a food drive for Families Forward
Summer Experience:

[ b]Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):**

Essays:
Common App Essay: 8.5 out of 10 (Solid, well-written, but not exceptional).
Stanford Supplements:6 out of 10, overall (I think they are a little lacking in creativity in retrospect :P).

Teacher Recommendation #1: A.P. Calculus BC Teacher (Considered me one of her favorite and best students she has ever taught 7 out of 10)
Teacher Recommendation #2: A.P. U.S. History Teacher (Former lawyer, writes very well, praises my intellect) (6 out of 10)
Counselor Rec: Strong relationship, especially for a large public high school (5 out of 10)
Additional Info/Rec: Scoutmaster for 5 years 7out of 10)
Interview: 6/10 (Didn’treally sync up).
Art Supplement: N/A

[ b]Other**

Intended Major: Computer Science
Date Submitted App: 10/31/2017
U.S. State/Territory or Country: California
School Type: Large Public (~2300 students, ~600 in my year)
Ethnicity: White (Great.)
Gender: Male (Also great.)
Income Bracket Range: Family makes about $90,000 per year (Fantastic).
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): I have had autism since age 2 or 3? Otherwise, none that I am aware of.

[ b]Reflection**

Strengths: ECs are focused, strong connections with recommenders, minor awards within my desired major and ECs, essays were decently well-written, lots of leadership roles, large amounts of commitment in my ECs.
Weaknesses: Not enough major awards to distinguish, a white male applying for computer science, letters might have been meh, supplements may not have been “wacky” enough.
What would you have done differently?: More research at an earlier age in my desired major.
Where else did you apply? Currently applying RD: Caltech, Princeton, CMU, Duke, University of Chicago, UCs: Berkeley, San Diego, Irvine

[ b]Other Factors: **
White, male, upper middle class,

[ b]General Comments & Advice:**
Unless you have racked up 10 International Awards in your desired field, it’s a fricking crapshoot. Don’t be white, don’t be male, and don’t be from an upper-middle-class family. Write something really ridiculous. Claim you are gay.

6

ACCEPTED

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1510 - 720/790/18 (6/6/6)
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 1530 - 740/790/18 (6/6/6/)
ACT (breakdown): 33 - 36/35/29/31
ACT superscore (breakdown): 34 - 36/36/33/31
SAT II (subject, score): US History - 760, Literature - 740 (had flu while taking these)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.000
Weighted GPA: Not calculated
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not calculated
AP (place score in parentheses): European History (5), BC Calc (5/AB Subscore 5), American History (5), Biology (5), Human Geography (5)
IB (place score in parentheses): Visual Arts SL (6)
Senior Year Course Load: Full IB Diploma (TOK, SL French and Math [Stats], HL Bio, Euro and English)
Number of other EA applicants in your school: ~5
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.):

  • BYU French Fair Competitions (9th, 10th, 11th grades, State)
    • Semifinalist Culture Bowl 2015
    • Second Place Culture Bowl 2016, Special Mention Poetry Recitation
    • Second Place Culture Bowl 2017
  • Model United Nations (State)
    • BYUMUN Conference Position Paper Prize
    • Utah High Schools MUN Conference Superb Delegate Award
  • American Legion School Medal Ward (School/State)
    • Awarded for citizenship and knowledge of current events
  • Sterling Scholar in English (School)
    • Selected by English department against many other applicants to represent school in region competition
    • Hoping to clear semifinalist round and advance to finals

Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.):

  • AP Scholar with Distinction
  • National Merit Commended Scholar
  • National Honors Society membership

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description):

  • Student Newspaper, 11-12, Editor-in-Chief, writing and designing the paper
  • Student Government, 9, Assemblies Officer, wrote directed and produced assemblies/stage productions
  • National Honors Society, 11-12, President, coordinated fundraiser thru Red Cross for Harvey relief
  • Model UN, 10-12, President, helped rebuild club after prior president embezzled funds, did well at conferences
    Job/Work Experience:
  • Photography and Graphic Design, 9-12, n/a, daily shoots/editing during spare time, small business on side
    Volunteer/Community Service:
  • NHS volunteering, 11-12
  • Soup kitchen serving, 10-12, first Monday of each month for 3 years
    Summer Experience:
  • Mainly traveling and photography
  • 1 week internship teaching creative writing to kids at a summer camp (11)

Writing (Subject, 1-10 rating, details):

Essays:

  • Common App Essay: 9/10. My essay was very vulnerable without trying to milk pity. Result was very honest,
    emotive and well put together. (My acceptance letter points out I have a great deal of heart.)
  • Stanford Supplements: 8-9/10. I decided to unleash my quirkiness w/o becoming gimmicky. These essays were
    original (in my acceptance letter they described that I was a very unique and original individual).

Teacher Recommendation #1:Junior year IB English teacher. I had an amazing teacher-student relationship with her, (I’m quite endearing to her) and I know the letter was glowing.
Teacher Recommendation #2: Junior year AP Euro teacher. My most favorite teacher I’ve had (might be in a 3-way tie), we commiserated a ton over politics and history. Knowing my love and aptitude for subject, the letter was most likely full of praise.
Counselor Rec: Actually got to sit down with my counselor for an hour the day app was due to talk about me. My counselor knows me very well (IB get their own counselor), meaning the letter was probably quite detailed.
Additional Info/Rec: IB Visual Arts teacher. This one I actually did get to read, and it was amazing. She’s a neighbor of mine, actually, and she included lots of flattering details (including the fact she bought a work of mine at “market” price).
Interview: Interviewed by a delightful hand specialist surgeon. We hit it off quite well (he went to my elementary, his son started my HS’s pride club). Talked in a library cafe for 3 hours. The interview was amazing.
Art Supplement: Not submitted (could have, decided not to)

Other

Date Submitted App:10/31/2017
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Utah
School Type: Suburban Public School (2000 students); unofficial magnet due to IB program there; competitive
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket Range: Lower/Middle Middle Class
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Secondary legacy (aunt, uncle, and cousins), LGBT

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, letters of recommendation, UW GPA, coursework level, interview, quasi-legacy.

  • My essays I think were my strongest part along with the letters of rec. I put a lot of time into brainstorming, writing
    and editing. I did a good job I think of standing out without being gimmicky and showing emotional maturity. I’m proud
    of my supplements, each of which was unique or odd in its own self-contained way.
    Weaknesses: Extracurriculars and awards (nothing at nat’l level or field-related), SAT (avg for Stanford).
    Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I honestly think I had a lucky confluence of factors. I’d demonstrated interest (gone to HS visits, college fairs, toured campus, etc), had good recs, good essays, an SAT to get me into consideration, great GPA for course difficulty, a phenomenal interview, and a fortunate family connection to the university.
    What would you have done differently?:Had more concentrated extracurriculars, maybe interned w. a newspaper or a political campaign/think tank. My ECs were the thinnest part (problem is I like to be well-rounded as a principle, not to be a resume stuffer).
    Where else did you apply?
    University of Utah (Honors College), USC. Was looking at HYP, Dartmouth, Claremont Consortium and various LACs in Northeast, but at this point am likely going to commit to Stanford, so that’ll probably be it.

Other Factors:

  • Intended Major(s): Political Science, History, Int’l Relations
    • More people apply to Stanford as STEM (all other applicants from my school did), which possibly means that
      humanities and social studies admissions are less competitive in sense I’m against fewer people.
  • Positive Outlook: In my essays and ECs I showed that I am above all else a (self-aware but not self-obsessed)
    optimist. I think that may have struck a chord w. the admissions readers.

General Comments & Advice:
Be completely yourself. Don’t try to fake it. Work hard at school, find something you love. And, if you don’t find yourself completely into 1 thing/passion, be into being a generalist. That’s what I did, and it seemed to work.
Also, start your app ASAP to fine tune it as much as possible.