Stanford Class of 2022 REA Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

The day is almost upon us! Questbridge results were released today and the rest will be released by December 15th. Please don’t post here unless its an actual decision. Good luck to everyone!

Just remove the “a” in the bold, size, and color of your decision.

[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:

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
This thread is for results only]; not-result posts will be deleted without comment. General discussion should be on the below linked thread:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1973361-stanford-class-of-2022-discussion-decisions.html#latest

2

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

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1450
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 English, 34 Math, 34 Reading, 35 Science)
SAT II: 770 Chem 780 MathII
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 ish
Weighted GPA: 4.3 ish
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top Decile cause my school is full of PC pussies who don’t want to hurt feelings
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 on BC, Chem, Enviro, US Hist, Eng Lang, World Hist, HuG, 4 on Bio
Senior Year Course Load: AP Comp Sci, AP Eng Lit, AP Stats, AP US Gov, Physics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): School science fair things, ACS Olympiad State finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross Country and Track (All-State Cross Country 2017, but happened after application submitted), NHS, Environmental Club
Job/Work Experience: Part-Time work caring for severely disabled brother (several mental & physical disabilities)

White, upper-middle class Midwestern male, no points there.

Rant/Takeaways.
Yeah, it’s disappointing, I (stupidly) thought there was no way I’d be rejected, but since I didn’t dedicate my formative years to scientific research or traveling to build mud huts in Africa I didn’t get in. Probably shouldn’t be writing this so soon after seeing decision, but whatever, I’m venting. I thought that my success in sports and my rigorous class load nd successes would get me in. Anyway, advice from my English teacher: You should be incredibly thankful for any school that denies you. By denying you they are sparing you from getting to campus and realizing you cannot fit in or succeed, spending thousands in the process. Sounded better when she said it, but I hope it helps any of you feeling how I am right now.

3

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1430 (710 math, 720 verbal, 22 essay)
ACT (breakdown): 33
SAT II: 750 Math II, 790 Chemistry, 790 Chinese w/ listening, and 660 I think on French (sent accidentally)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA:4.95
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 9/400
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5), AP Lang (5), Calc BC (5), Chem (5), US GoPo (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: APES, AP Chinese (online through my school), AP French, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Comp Gov (online independently), and two free periods
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: just some babysitting and catsitting here and there but I didn’t bother putting it on my application
Volunteer/Community service: lots of ESL teaching stuff, work with refugees, work with exchange students, a few clubs at school (VP of two), ballet, social justice stuff
Summer Activities: governor’s school, traveling, volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I don’t feel like it’s fair for me to rank my own essays, I felt like they were all pretty strong but also all could’ve been better, I had pretty interesting things to write about but writing has never been my strong suit
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I have no idea what the recommendations were like, I know that obviously all of the people who I had writing them have high opinions of me but I don’t know what they wrote nor how compelling it was

Teacher Rec #1: French teacher
Teacher Rec #2: Government teacher and independent study sponsor
Counselor Rec: just met her this year… #publicschoolprobs
Additional Rec: leader of the exchange student organization in my area that I volunteer with
Interview: I had a lot of fun at my interview and I felt like I had a lot in common with my interviewer and that she liked me but also she said that getting into Stanford is a crapshoot soo…

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: International Relations
State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: 150k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I’m strongly bilingual (Chinese) borderline trilingual (French), took a gap year between junior and senior year of high school to study abroad in China

Reflection

Strengths: international experience
Weaknesses: no major national recognition, pretty privileged
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I could’ve improved a lot of things but I’m happy with the choices I made and if that couldn’t get me into Stanford then I can deal with it
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I haven’t gotten any other decisions yet

General Comments: congratulations to those who got in and to those like me I recommend reading the article linked in the rejection letter, it actually helped

4

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 Eng, 35 Math, 36 Read, 34 Sci)
SAT II: Bio M: 800, Chem: 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Weighted GPA: 4.14
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Not reported
AP (place score in parenthesis): Not offered at school
IB (place score in parenthesis): Full diploma: HL English LAL, HL History of the Americas, HL Biology, HL Chemistry, SL Japanese, SL Mathematics, Theory of Knowledge
Senior Year Course Load: The above-mentioned courses
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Wouldn’t call it “MAJOR” major, but 1st place for Wisconsin State Japan Bowl and 8th place at National Japan Bowl in DC

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Youth Leadership Intern at Concordia Language Villages’ Japanese Camp, State+National Japan Bowl, School trip to Japan, Credit villager and two week villager at CLV Japanese camp, 7 years of martial arts, 8 years of curling, Varsity cross country all years of HS, Amnesty International (Leader in senior year), Hospital volunteering, and work at a fast food place
Job/Work Experience: Intern at Language villages (Immersion camp, so I was there working all day for 5 weeks straight. It’s a language immersion camp in Minnesota), job at fast food restaurant
Volunteer/Community service: Hospital volunteering (roughly 90 hours?)
Summer Activities: Intern at language villages, camper at language villages, martial arts, fast food work, trip to Japan
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common app: 9/10. It was about meeting a friend in Japan after two years of not seeing her and it talked about how it taught me to strengthen connections with those in my life. I thought it was quite good.
Intellectual vitality: 7.5-8/10: It was fairly unique and it talked about how I find human intelligence amazing and how it makes me stop and wonder sometimes. Well-written, could have done something more personal though.
Roommate letter: 8.5/10: It got across my tone and personality really well, but didn’t talk all that specifically about me as a person. It sounded sarcastic, which was what I wanted, but I don’t think it was too heavy.
Meaningful to me: 7/10: Wrote it about martial arts. Not necessarily bad content but I think it was too repetitive and it wasn’t personal enough to my story.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9.5/10 (?): My chemistry teacher. I’m easily her favorite student and I excel in her class.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10: My history teacher. I’m not his favorite or anything but he’s had me for a while, I do really good work and try really hard, and he’s seen me mature as a student.
Counselor Rec: 6/10: Reason for the low rating is that he’s new this year and he just doesn’t really know me or any other student that well.
Additional Rec: 10/10: From my employer at Concordia Language Villages. She likes me a lot and she’s very friendly so
Interview: 9/10: Thought it went really well. Lasted a bit over an hour and I walked out of there thinking I nailed it.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Put down Chemistry, East Asian Studies, Biology
State (if domestic applicant): Wisconsin
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: TINY private school (pre-k through 12 and we have less than 500 students)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Not stated
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, rigor of classwork, and I thought I demonstrated a love for Japanese and showed how I was actively involved in it. Also my ECs were pretty unique in the realm of Japanese and they likely seemed pretty genuine
Weaknesses: Lack of any major national awards, not a lot of STEM-related content on my application, some ECs were pretty mediocre
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: At the end of the day, it’s impossible to say for sure. If I had to take a guess, it would be that I didn’t write essays that were compelling enough for them to want to let me in. I write in a pretty formal and academic tone and I wonder if I should have deviated from that slightly because I ended up sounding a little bit emotionless, probably…and then there was also how some extracurriculars just didn’t show that much commitment.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Nowhere yet.

General Comments: I thought I was gonna be more upset if I got rejected than I actually am right now. I’m proud of the effort that I put into my application and my activities, and honestly, there are definitely people out there who are much more committed to going to Stanford and deserve it more than I do. I now have a chance to revise my application for the other schools I’m applying to and perfect those essays and learn from not spending enough time on the writing for Stanford. Don’t let it get you down too much. Nothing changes about you as a person whether you get accepted, deferred, or rejected. Be proud of being confident and putting yourself out there. You make yourself who you are and you determine if you’re going to be successful or not, not the school that you go to. Just be happy with yourself.

5

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1500; Math- 800, Reading/Writing- 700
ACT (breakdown): none
SAT II: none
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.813
Weighted GPA: none
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): At least top 15% out of a class of about 600 (my school has not updated rankings since the end of freshman year but a lot of kids get valedictorian just by taking no AP’s)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psychology (4), Biology (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): none
Senior Year Course Load: Advertising Design, AP Studio Art, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics 1, AP Government, Core English
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none lol

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 10th and 12th Grade ASB (Class Senator), 9th-12th DECA, 11th Girls Honor, 12th Link Crew
Job/Work Experience: I’ve babysat since 6th grade, worked as a counselor at an elementary after-school program, and am a sales associate
Volunteer/Community service: food banks for the past 2 years, assistant coached a basketball team for freshman and sophomore year
Summer Activities: nurse camp 2016, Stanford High School Summer College 2017
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App (8/10) - Honestly I’m harsh on my own writing but I started working on this months before Common App even opened so it was heavily edited and worked on. I wrote about something I’m extremely passionate about (who doesn’t) and that is also a huge part of my life. I thought it helped explain a lot about me as a person because it showed many different sides to me and also showed something I want to work on in the future.
Intellectual Vitality one that isn’t actually called that anymore (9/10) - I used my essay that got me into HSSC for this, just edited. I talked about a job shadow I had done that I was originally disinterested in but gradually wanted to learn more about. Kinda basic, but I put some humor into it.
Roommate (10/10) - Very casual and jokey but mentioned what I learned during my time on campus and how I was looking forward to getting to show my roommate what I knew and explore new things with her.
Meaningful (8/10) - Wrote about my sister. Very overused trope, but talked about some personal things like my parent’s divorce and how I had to grow up at a young age for her.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 - This is the teacher I had write my rec for Stanford HSSC last year, and since I got accepted there, I figured she had positive things to say about me. I also had a great relationship with her when I took her class and still am in contact with her this year.
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 - This teacher I had twice so he knows me well. He mentioned to me he talked about some of my interests that give me strengths, that I also emphasized in my essays.
Counselor Rec: 8/10 - My school is huge so my counselor doesn’t know most kids but I’ve talked to him a few times more than the average kid at my school. He does know about some extenuating circumstances I dealt with in these past 4 years and asked me if it was okay to mention those, so admissions got more of a perspective into my life at my school.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: 9/10 - My interviewer was amazing. She had attended Stanford for law school and Yale for undergrad, which was a bit intimidating, but she seemed truly interested in what I had to say. We related on a few things like where we thought about/are thinking about attending school, and she mentioned she thought Stanford was a good fit for me and for what I want to do with my life (although that was nice I didn’t hold much weight to that bc “interviews don’t do much”).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Psychology w/ a Pre-Med focus
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Biracial (Black/White)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <$80k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, single-parent household, kinda first gen (it’s complicated)

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores, essays, having attended HSSC and having Stanford credits under my belt
Weaknesses: GPA, my essays somewhat
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Stanford is very selective so I’m trying to tell myself that’s part of it, but honestly my GPA. I struggled with a lot throughout high school which caused me to get some B’s that screwed up my freshman year 4.0. I talked about that in my application, but from stats, it looks like Stanford just doesn’t like Bs.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted - Washington State University, and then we’ll see about the rest in March

General Comments: It’s not the end of the world. Stanford honestly wasn’t my top choice but was the only school that had an early program that I’m applying to, so I took a shot. I was sad when I opened the update, sure, but I realized that I wasn’t meant to be there and I couldn’t really imagine myself being there. Hopefully, my top choice is where I’m really meant to be, and I’m not gonna beat myself up over it. Anyone reading this who hopes to be accepted, or was rejected as well, don’t be mad at yourself. Ultimately it was out of our hands, and you belong somewhere else.

6

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36, 35, 36, 36 in each section)
GPA (unweighted): probably around 3.9
GPA (weighted): 4.3 (only a 0.5 bump for honors & APs, straight A’s w/ maximum course load after freshman year)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top decile
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB (5), AP Euro (5), APUSH (5), AP Lang (5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Spanish, AP Lit, Advanced Jazz Ensemble, Chromatics (vocal group), Honors Capstone: Innovative Solutions to Real World Problems, Jazz Theory
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 1st place at Hansen Dam Triathlon, Outstanding Soloist Award at Fullerton Jazz Festival, National Merit Scholar, National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Tri M Music Honor Society, STEAM Scholar, Service Honor Society

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Boy Scout (Eagle Scout and Senior Patrol Leader), triathlete, jazz violinist, varsity cross country & track athlete, member of Environmental Action Club, soul/R&B/jazz vocalist
Job/Work Experience: Entrepreneur (created a successful online business, which I divested when time demands became too great), Current employee at a kid’s gym (responsible for setup, supervision, and cleanup at children’s birthday parties)
Volunteer/Community service: hands-on Boy Scout work (building cabinets, benches & planter boxes, painting, gardening, renovating grounds etc.) at organizations across the community from veteran’s homes to underprivileged schools, Heal the Bay, Regis House Community Center (organization that helps underprivileged families in Downtown LA)
Summer Activities: training for triathlons, working on my Eagle Scout Project, spending time with family, exploring my roots in Appalachia and Italy
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8 overall, Common App essay about my revelation on sunrise hike to Silver Peak mainly surrounding my life purpose and helping others (maybe too much vivid imagery not enough talking about myself?), quirky and personal roommate letter, details on my ventures in the world of jazz violin (yes it’s a world), a general emphasis on creativity and empathy
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10, my History teacher, very personal, glowing rec
Teacher Rec #2: 10, my English teacher, extremely articulate, highly detailed rec

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Management Science and Engineering (alternate major: Science, Technology, and Society)
State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male

Reflection

Strengths: meaningful range of extra curriculars, test scores, sense of self, altruism
Weaknesses: No SAT II’s or a real hook
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: None of my rec’s were from science or math departments even though I applied to an engineering major. I realized short after submitting that my alternate major was my first choice and I should have gotten my science teacher to write a letter of rec. As I mentioned, I also didn’t submit any SAT II tests, which might leave me unqualified for engineering. My very sincere aspirations to make the world a better place might have come off the wrong way
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Didn’t apply anywhere else early

General Comments: I’m surprised that I was not upset at by this denial, I guess that’s what happens when you have a ton of schools you love. Congrats to those who were accepted and everyone here should be proud of themselves regardless of admissions decisions!!!

7

Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1580 (790/790)
ACT (breakdown): Perfect 36
SAT II: USH 800 Phys 800 Bio E 800 Math II 800
(Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8? idk honestly school has a weird system
Weighted GPA: 4.32
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): (5): Human Geo, Bio, Lang/comp, US hist, Phys C M, Calc AB; (4): Chem, Phys 1, Phys C E&M,
IB (place score in parenthesis):-
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, Anatomy, AP Spanish, AP Music Theory, AP USgov/Comp pol, AP Stats, Band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): idk. none that qualify as major probably… placed finalist in TSA, qualified as state representative to a pretty big national chess invitational…

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Chess Club/ Chess Team (President, Captain, State Champion), Varsity Archery (Captain), Band (Senior Officer, cofounder of Jazz Club)
Job/Work Experience: Interned at school’s IT department over the summer
Volunteer/Community service: 150+ hours, 80 with a medical research professor, another 40-50 as a volunteer chess coach for a local elementary school, some misc. hours thrown in
Summer Activities: see above
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

What excites you: 8/10. I talked about developments in AI. I’m super mad about this one because Google’s AlphaZero just thrashed Stockfish at chess like three days ago and that would’ve been the perfect topic for me to write about.
Wasn’t bad but not as passionate as I would’ve liked (thanks Deepmind, for being a month too slow)

Roommate letter: 9.5/10 because perfection is a human construct. Lol seriously though I was really happy about this one. I think I managed to capture my enthusiasm and somewhat quirky humor really well with this one.

Meaningful: 9/10 maybe a bit cliched? I think it was still written well though. I talked about how the small gestures of helping others add up, but in context of my own daily life.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:10/10. AP Lang teacher. I’m a pretty good writer. She gave me the book award for my class. 'nuff said
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10. AP Bio teacher. Also destroyed that class (never below a 97 on a test, really tryhard on projects, etc.) In general pretty strong relationship with both teachers
Counselor Rec: 10/10. One of the top students at a small school. He said verbatim that my rec was one of the most enjoyable to write all year.
Additional Rec: Band director 10/10. I’m one of those band geeks. One of 3 students in his Music Theory class this year. Busted my ass volunteering for the band. Got last year’s Citizenship award.
Interview: 9/10. Had a genuinely nice conversation for a solid hour.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Uh yeah sure
Intended Major: Comp Sci (RIP)
State (if domestic applicant): Mississippi
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Independent (so like private except all profits go back to the school instead of like shareholders or whatever if that makes any sense)
Ethnicity: Asian (rip)
Gender: Male (double rip)
Income Bracket: like, idk. Middle class but low enough that my high school is giving me a full merit scholarship for all years.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): haha I wish. straight east asian male somewhere on the spectrum of middle class with married parents that hold respectable jobs… hahaha can I make it any worse

Reflection

Strengths: Really solid rec letters, a few leadership positions and decent essays
Weaknesses: no hooks, no AIME/USAMO/ISEF or whatever. I didn’t specialize because I genuinely love all my subjects and now I’m getting punished for it. Also, AP scores. I wrote a whole rant about my three 4s and then reconsidered, but TL;DR shouldn’t have gotten only 4s but oh well too bad.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: no hooks or major national awards like ISEF. Stanford compsci is super competitive. If we really wanna get cynical, also refer back to my gender and ethnicity
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: only received result so far

General Comments:
I thought that Stanford wasn’t totally impossible given what I have although I was definitely ready for a rejection. Kinda disappointed, really like Stanford but eh you know what life is what it is. I did my best with the hand I was dealt so can’t be too upset. Congrats to those who got accepted! And to the rest of my fellow rejects good luck with the rest of your apps! Life is too promising to get hung up on one college decision :slight_smile:

8

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (760 R + 790 M)
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36/36/36/35S)
SAT II: 800 Chem 800 MathII
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95 ish
Weighted GPA: 4.339
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not do rank or percentiles
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (4) Stats (5) Calc AB (5) Lang (4) US Gov (5) Music Theory (3) Chem (4) Senior year: physics 1, CS A, Lit
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, FIRST Robotics Competition Dean’s list semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): FIRST Robotics Competition (Pit Crew Lead, Controls Lead, Programming lead), Marching Band (Squad Leader), Science Club
Service: Garden Club, Key Club, Lego League Tournaments
Job/Work Experience: 12hr/week fast food
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8?? My English teacher said he loved my common app essay and he reads tons every year. I thought it was good. It was about how challenges give life meaning. Supplements were very me and very personal.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): didn’t get to read them so I’m not sure

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10?? Science teacher who I’ve had for 3 years. Told me once that I am one of the best students that she’s ever had. Also says that she trusts me completely.
Teacher Rec #2: 7/10. Math teacher who I like and she likes me but I don’t know her very well. Had her for 2 years
Counselor Rec: 7/10. Counselor told me that I deserved to get in. I work in her office during study hall but before that I did not know her well
Additional Rec: 9/10 FIRST Robotics lead mentor who told me that I deserved to go and she has a very high opinion of me
Interview:6/10 skype interview, very short but not bad.

Other: I talked about how I programmed outside of school and robotics and made a website to help other high schoolers find programs in STEM, and made a couple apps.

Applied for Financial Aid?: I mean I was going to but not anymore lol
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Tiny public, suburban
Ethnicity: Asian and white
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $100,000-150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: test scores, gpa was solid, I thought that my essays were good but maybe not, rec letters
Weaknesses: either not strong enough in FIRST (I got Dean’s list semifinalist but if I had gotten the finalist status I think my chances would have been a lot higher) or lack of other significant activities. Didn’t do research or summer programs or start a business. Race.
Why you think you were rejected: Since I was at the top in terms of mere statistics, I would say the weakness of extracurriculars. There’s definitely 1700 people who have stronger activities and more accomplishments.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Haven’t heard from anyone else yet.

General Comments: I regret nothing. I took advantage of every opportunity that I had/had been aware of at the proper times. I had absolute control over nothing but myself, and I did the best that I could. I was very honest and genuine in my application, and if Stanford didn’t think it was a good enough fit then it wasn’t a good enough fit, and I know that I will be okay without them. If you are in your earlier years of high school, I suggest preparing to apply as soon as possible. If you have a passion, prove it. Congratulations to all who got in!

9

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1540 (750 CRW, 790 Math)
ACT (breakdown): Did not take
SAT II: 750 USH, 800 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99
Weighted GPA: 4.5 (the way Stanford calculates it)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 16/250 (but my school only ranks based on unweightrd gpa so take this with a grain of salt)
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (4), Lang (5), US Gov (5), Physics 1 (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Not offered
Senior Year Course Load: max number of APs offered at my school
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National merit semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Circus performer for 10 years
-Nationally ranked debater (as in top 10 in the country in my event), one of the team captains
-Played oboe in band for three years
-Played piano for 10 years
-Young Democrats Club (President and Founder)
-Harry Potter Club (President)
-NHS (Treasurer)

Job/Work Experience: tutoring, mostly helping kids with math.
Volunteer/Community service:

-I help my state representative research and promote environmental legislation
-I was a counselor at my school’s freshman orientation weekend

Summer Activities:

-Debate camp
-Travel
-Helping my Rep.

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

-Common app: talked about being a circus performer and how our mist recent show (and art in general) can make political change (9/10)
-Excitement about learning: talked about helping my Rep. with environmental legislation and how politics and public policy really interest me (9/10)
-Roommate: talked about some of my general quirks and some stuff I was excited for at Stanford (9.5/10)
-What matters: talked about my family (generic) but in an innovative way I hope (8.5 or 9/10)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Been my math teacher for three years, hired me as a tutor. I read it and it was very good (9.5/10)
Teacher Rec #2: AP Gov teacher and advisor for my Young Democrats Club. I really like him and I think he likes me a lot too. Did not read but probably (9.5 or 10/10)
Counselor Rec: Probably a bit generic since my school only has three counselors for 1000+ students, but he interviewed me for it. Did not read (7.5/10)
Additional Rec: Written by my Representative whom I help with the climate bill. Did not read but probably (9.5/10)
Interview: Wasn’t offered one, maybe because the interviewer in my town helped me with my essays and wasn’t allowed to be my interviewer because of it xD

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Public Policy
State (if domestic applicant): OR
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Not sure… 150K?
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None RIP

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars for sure. Mine were unique and I was good at them.
Weaknesses: Class rank, some of my recs may have been generic (I didn’t get to read all of them), not a ton of service hours, race, scores weren’t fantastic.
Why you think you were rejected: Honestly I think that it’s mostly just because there’s only so many spots and there are so many qualified applicants. Oh and I’m a privileged white male. Also perhaps my recs and essays could have been a bit better, though I personally liked my essays. Oh and 9 other people from my school applied REA (idk if any of them got in; I’ll have to wait and see).
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted to University of Oregon but that’s not very hard lol

General Comments: I gave it my best effort. Congrats to everyone who got in! You totally deserve it. And to everyone like me who got rejected, many of us deserved to get in too, but not everything can always turn out how we want it. Stanford was easily my top choice, but I know I’ll be happy wherever I end up. I hope this helps some people! And good luck to all the RD applicants. I’ll definitely apply to Stanford for law school and I’ll give it my best shot then.

10

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1530 (800 Math, 730 CRW, 20 Essay)
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36 everything, 10/12 essay)
SAT II: Chemistry 800, Math 1 750, Math II 800
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.71
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10% because my school is stupid, but I should be top 3, I’ll be able to notify Stanford when I get my rank early next semester.
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC (5), Physics C: E&M (5), Chemistry (5), Computer Science Principles (5), Computer Science A (4), Language and Composition (4), US History (4), Statistics (4), Human Geography (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Human Geography, AP Physics 1, DE Differential Equations, AP Literature, AP Macroeconomics, Personal Finance (Required), AP European History, DE CS class at Univerisity of Tennessee
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Semifinalist, Coolidge Scholar Semifinalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Coding Club (Secretary), Mu Alpha Theta (Placed Nationally in 1 event), History Bowl (Vice President) (State Champions),
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: Standard bearer at the News Sentinel Open
Summer Activities: Co-author of a Research Paper at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on the visualization of C. elegans cells; a few posters and another published paper (editor)
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9/10 I spent a really long time on each one
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, AP Calculus BC teacher: I think I’m her favorite student ever, and she’s had over 30+ years of teaching
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 AP Physics Teacher: We get along well, and I try my best to appreciate what he does.
Counselor Rec: 8/10 I’ve talked to her quite a few times over the years, and I think I’ve made a great impression on her
Additional Rec: 10/10 My mentor at The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Interview: 9/10 I think I tried my best, and that’s really all that matters. Super passionate conversation, lasted 15 minutes extra

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yeah? I don’t think I’ll get much though
Intended Major: Computer Science
State (if domestic applicant): Tennessee
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Chinese (Asian) RIP
Gender: Male (Super RIP)
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I got nothing (GIANT RIP)

Reflection

Strengths: I’ve been following Stanford football ever since high school, and I’ve got an excellent feel of the culture over there…I could talk about a lot about Stanford in the interview I had.
Weaknesses: I’m a slightly above average Asian male going into CS, in one of the most competitive fields in one of the most competitive schools in the world. I don’t have amazing national awards, but I really try my best
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Uh, I think my overall package doesn’t include anything at the level of CEO of a company, and I don’t have any National Finalist for anything
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: N/A

General Comments:
I really thought I would get in, especially after that interview. I was obviously decent enough to get deferred, so I’m in the top 20% of all the early applicants…

Ugh, I’ve really been so passionate about this university… but I am thankful that they didn’t flat out reject me like they probably did for ~80% of the early applicants

11

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1550 (essay 21)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math/Physics 800, US History 770
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 96.0
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC, APUSH, AP Lang, Psych, Calc AB, Statistics, CompSci A (all 5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: 4 AP Courses (6 AP exams), two honor courses (beyond AP), one out of nine period is free
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): ISO medal (PM me for more details), Siemens semifinalist, AIME qualification, NMSF, bunch of state and regional science fair and math awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: summer internship at a bank for two weeks
Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at a Saturday school for three years
Summer Activities: Duke TIP, Stanford Summer Institute, aforementioned ISO camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9, my ISO experience
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 6-7, my physics teacher, kind of knows me but not too in depth
Teacher Rec #2: 8-9, APUSH teacher, really likes me
Counselor Rec: 8-9, new counselor, but really likes me as well
Additional Rec: 9, research mentor who wrote very good things
Interview: 9, talked for about two hours

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Geophysics, Mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Prefer not to respond
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Nothing of that sort

Reflection

Strengths: ISO, strong passion in science
Weaknesses: ethnicity, relatively unfamiliarity with English
Why you think you were accepted: I think the ISO experience is really helpful
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: None yet

General Comments: When you are reading this, have faith in yourself because you are actually often much better than you think. Appreciate what you have done and express strong passion about what you like to do. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy (though the topic should be appropriate). At the end, you are not defined by where you are accepted.

12

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1530 (770 R/W 760 M)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Math II 750
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/330
AP (place score in parenthesis): Didn’t send in- (5) AP Lang (4) AP Calc AB (4) AP World History (4) AP Human Geography (3) AP Chemistry
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP GOPO, AP Literature, T/A, AP Calculus BC, AP Biology, Advanced Drama
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commendation, AAUW Math Award, AP Scholar with Distinction, some school Scholar of the Month awards, WMEA State soloist and duet

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): RENT: School Edition (Choreographer), Junior Class V.P., Drama Club (Treasurer/VP), Jazz Choir, Varsity cheer, NOAA Spot Prawn research, Torch (Treasurer)
Job/Work Experience: Subway, paid internship at my local theatre, Snowflake Lane performer
Volunteer/Community service: Imagine Children’s Museum and Providence Hospital Volunteer
Summer Activities: Mostly drama performance and direction. I also mentioned how I worked part-time and performed in a professional musical theatre cabaret.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Common App: 9/10, I wrote about menstruation which I think was pretty unique. I also had it edited like three different times, so it was pretty good in terms of grammar and structure.

Learning Essay: 7/10, I wrote about being inspired by the “unknown” but I thought I used good language.

Roommate: 8/10, I think my voice and humor stood out in this essay.

Meaningful Essay: 8/10, I wrote about the significance of theatre in my life and how its shaped me.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 AP Gov teacher, it made my dad cry
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 AP Chemistry teacher, I didn’t get to read it but she really loved having me in class and I had her for two years
Counselor Rec: 6/10, probably pretty generic
Additional Rec: 10/10 theatre advisor, it was absolutely glowing
Interview: It was the best interview of my life; we talked about the normalization of mental illness and LGBTQ+ representation in government

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes, but only because I was forced to by a scholarship I applied for
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): WA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Female in government, LGBTQ

Reflection

Strengths: My essays, interview, and my arts portfolio
Weaknesses: Test scores, no major honors, ECs could be better
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I definitely think I was accepted because of my music supplement and my essays. I think that my writing showcases my inner voice and personality very well, and my passion for theatre and music was clearly developed in my application.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: This is my first college decision! I am committing to Stanford, so I won’t be applying to any more schools. However, I did apply to some UC schools, University of Washington, and USC.

General Comments: Don’t really know how I got in. I think that because my interests were diversified, it gave my application of boost.

13

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 35 (Math: 35, Reading: 35, English: 34, Science: 34)
SAT II: didn’t send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): probably 3.7
Weighted GPA: 94.6 (my school only gives us weighted and out of 100)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a (top 50% is all I know)
AP (place score in parenthesis): English Lit (4), English Lang (4), French (4), 2D Design (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a

Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lang, AP Calculus AB, AP 3D Design, Honors Biology, Honors French 6 Modern Media, Modern World History

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel ISEF Finalist, YoungArts Finalist, Saatchi Gallery Student Art Award, Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key, National Honors Society

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Art exhibitions, music producer/songwriter, camera operator for a bunch of movie projects, 100+ videos on YT, a few original music videos and EP on Spotify, Chinese exchange program (2 months total), founder of Zen Club at school (branch of Active Minds), international and 4-year varsity tennis player (also captain this year), part of travelling school Creating Community where we explore how art interacts with the city it is in

Job/Work Experience: art exhibition internship in The Netherlands, I teach elementary school kids a sketch class every week after school

Volunteer/Community service: part of an organisation that encourages art education around the city, helped raise $10K for a local soup kitchen and a library in Guatemala

Summer Activities: travel and art-making things as well as internships

Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8.5, spent forever on it, used the takeoff and landing of an airplane as a metaphor for my curiosity in other people’s stories bc of my own cultural heritage

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8, I didn’t really ask teachers in the classes I did the best in, but collectively they told an important story

Teacher Rec #1: Honors Pre-calculus, i had just come from a semester abroad/away where I didn’t do a lot of math, so I was a semester behind. The teacher told me to drop the class and go to regular bc it would be easier for me. I started with a D in the class. But I didn’t follow his advice, and by the end of the semester I was doing extremely well, actually one of the strongest in the class, so I was really proud of myself

Teacher Rec #2: Honors french, incredible guy, he also used to teach my dad at a different school back in the day, languages are my hidden passion.

Counselor Rec: my counselor is a literal angel, I love her so much. She has been absolutely instrumental in this whole experience

Additional Rec: Head master from the school I attended when I was away for a semester. It was a fine arts and philosophy oriented boarding school. Incredible experience that I’m so grateful for.

Interview: AMAZING, the women who interviewed me was wonderful and she was extremely kind and told me that I had a good shot and that she was impressed. I’m so grateful for her as well.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes but idk if I submitted to CSS Profile or FAFSA on time/correctly
Intended Major: Art Practice
State (if domestic applicant): GA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: National Top 20 Private
Ethnicity: Black (Caribbean)/White/Asian (Indonesian/Papua New Guinea)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: too much for any aid lol
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Enthnicity

Reflection

Strengths: My dedicated to my intended major, great awards, great ECs, strong ACT, good essays! I had so much fun writing my essays, I think they truly represented me

Weaknesses: definitely my gpa, there’s a clear upwards trend but I have like 15 Bs total (don’t believe what they say!! Still just go for your dreams!)

Why you think you were accepted: I honestly think my passion towards the creative arts shone through, my heart and soul was in that application and I honestly think I was able to highlight some amazing qualities. I think my focus on fine art let me achieve some unique things that have been so unexpected for me, but helped a lot. Everything I did I have been doing for all the years of high school. Also for my Intel ISEF project I did research with Stanford and Georgia Tech’s biological sciences labs to find an alternative cure for cancer (sounds outlandish but I wrote about this for one of my essays as a way to show personality and grit) I think that helped a lot too.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: no where yet!!

General Comments: everything I did, I did because I truly loved it, never did I have college admissions in mind. I think because of this my passions spoke for themselves. That’s the most important part. Have a passion and pursue it to the best of your ability, give it 110%. That will show through and make your application stand out!

14

Decision: Accepted!!! AHHH FREAKING OUT
Caution: Filling this out before decision to remove all possible bias.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (780 M, 740 CR, 21/24 W)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 E 34 M 33 R 34 S)
SAT II: 750 Math1 780 Math2 (not sure if these made it in time)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.93
Weighted GPA: 4.62
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 10/498
AP (place score in parenthesis): World (2), Bio (2), Gov (2), Environmental (3), Lang (3), Chemistry (3), US History (4), Stats (4), Psych (4), Calc AB (4), Macro (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AICE Marine, AP Calc BC, Business Calc (dual), Gen Physics 1 (dual), and something else at the college for second semester (not sure yet)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, AP Scholar w Honor, National Merit Commended, All-Sport Association Sole Male Nominee

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Started my own business (act as an agent for people buying cars); Maintaining Instagram and Twitter accounts for my business; Four years Varsity Swim (3x State Championship Qualifier, Junior National Qualifier Senior Year); Four years Baseball (2 JV, 2 Varsity); National Honors Society; Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Earth Club (ICC Member)
Job/Work Experience: My business, bag at Publix, lifeguard in the summer
Volunteer/Community service: around 300 ish hours
Summer Activities: Attended prestigious USAFA Summer Seminar (13% acceptance rate), traveled to central&south america, helped dad and sis move away
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app- 8 (had like 30 different drafts and chose this one, about my business and background as a military kid)
Short Answers- 9 (quirky, interesting responses)
What matters- 9 (wrote about how my friend and fellow swimmer committed suicide)
Subject- 8.5 (Showed my knowledge of and interest in Economics and Engineering)
Roommate- 7 (couldn’t really get going, wrote it exactly like I was writing to another 18 year old, which idk might’ve helped but prolly not)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9 (APUSH, AP Macro, and AP Micro teacher, loves me, had me for last three years, wrote two pages)
Teacher Rec #2: 8 (Calc AB&BC Teacher, shows more of my personality)
Counselor Rec: 7 (didn’t read, probably generic even though she really likes me but I don’t blame her with a class of 500 seniors)
Additional Rec: 8 (one of dad’s coworkers and our family friend, wrote about my work ethic and steady household roots)
Interview: 10 (chillest thing I’ve ever done, Stanford interviewers are so cool and relatable. He said I was the best he had ever interviewed {in only two years though} but interviews never really matter, in the words of my interviewer they are “pretty much just to make sure you’re not a psycho”)

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: hell to the yes

Intended Major: MS&E or Business/Economics

State (if domestic applicant): Southern Alabama (the Flo-Rida panhandle)

Country (if international applicant):

School Type: Public af

Ethnicity: white as paper (but I always put “prefer not to respond” lmaooo I think I’m sneaky)

Gender: don’t assume it (male)

Income Bracket: 140-150k

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Military kid (is that a hook? I certainly feel like an underrepresented minority), LEGACY (dad got his aero/astro grad degree from Stanford in the 80s)

Reflection

Strengths: Legacy, military kid, maybe the business???, good scores on both SAT and ACT (I’m just making up stuff to try to make myself look better now lmao)
Weaknesses: no major awards, not too much leadership, essays were probably not interesting enough, maybe they think my business isn’t brainy or intelligent enough(??), also didn’t put my AP Scores down…. But I included AP Scholar and AP Scholar with Honor and one of my teacher recs mentioned the 4 and 5 that I got on his exams so idk if that made up for a little of it.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:

Maybe legacy, military kid?? My business probably had an impact, and my essays were pretty unique even though I faulted them after the fact for not showing enough of my personality. Wrote about some pretty deep stuff (see above) and didn’t try to adjust like I was writing to older people like most people probably did.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Nowhere yet, applied to UVA, Purdue, Georgia Tech, and UC Berkeley, and will apply to UPenn

General Comments:
SO EXCITED!!! This has been my dream school since I could walk, and I thought there was absolutely no way in any alternate universe I would get in. I’m so excited to be at the Barn next year!
Advice: Develop great relationships with your teachers, have a few interesting ECs but one specifically that you REALLY put a lot of time into, and MAKE YOUR ESSAYS INTERESTING. A trend I saw throughout my college applications is that when I had them checked by others and changed them around a little bit, they lost my voice and excitement and more sounded like they were coming from boring adults (sorry Mom). It’s always good to have a proofreader, but use words and silly phrases that YOU would use, not your parents. Stanford is getting adult words from every application, so be interesting and funny and GO OUT ON A LIMB WITH WHAT YOU SAY. Don’t be like everyone else. This is the best advice I can give.
Congrats to all who got in, and for those who didn’t, you will THRIVE at another school. It wasn’t meant to be!!! God doesn’t make mistakes y’all! Love you guys.

15

Decision: Accepted

I can’t believe I’m filling this out after stalking previous class’s results for the longest.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (730 R/E, 790 Math)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (E: 35, M: 35, R: 36, S: 28)
SAT II: Spanish w Listening (790) World History (770) U.S. History (800) Math 2 (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/156
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (5) Psychology (5) English Language (4) Spanish Language (5) U.S. History (5) Statistics (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP U.S. Gov, AP Calc AB, AP English Lit, Anatomy & Physiology H, Journalism 2, Musical Theater, Student Aide
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Questbridge 2017 College Prep Scholar, PSAT Commended Scholar, PSAT National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP) Scholar, AP Scholar w Distinction, Rising Star Fundraising Club Member (American Cancer Society), 19th Annual Hispanic Heritage Youth Award Recipient (Gold), Current Semifinalist for The Bill Gates Scholarship

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross Country 9,11,12 (Varsity 11,12); Key Club 11,12 (vice-president 12); Commentator/Editor/Computer Software Manager for school’s broadcasting network 10; Link Crew 11, 12; Writer & Chief Editor for the Sierra Beat 11, 12 (school newspaper); Hospital Volunteer 11, 12; Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) 11, 12; eBay Merchant (I’ve conducted transactions across the globe, from Costa Rica to Malaysia!)
Job/Work Experience: Field/agriculture labor (summers), Intern for local Congressman (current)
Volunteer/Community service: Conducted the majority of my volunteering via Key Club (50ish hours). At Relay for Life 2016, we helped raise $102k dedicated toward cancer research. As well as volunteering at the hospital (80ish). Miscellaneous volunteering (30ish)
Summer Activities: Volunteering, babysitting my little sister, surviving the 100+ degree heat
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Personal Statement (8/9): Revolved around my little sister and how we explore the world through the walks we take.
Intellectual Vitality (7): I talked about middle school and how I overcame young teenage conformity, allowing me develop my own passions and independence.
Roommate (8): I definitely focused on the show aspect and less of the tell. Overall, I highlighted my quirks, hobbies, what excites me.
Meaningful (9): I wrote about how my friend introduced me to the world of boba, an example of the cultural synthesis I cherish in America.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Math Teacher (9) - Has known me since 9th grade. I’m confident he conveyed my character well.
Teacher Rec #2: English Teacher (7) - Has known her for about a year. She’s a busy person but allocated time for my rec. It got the job done.
Counselor Rec: (8) We’ve gotten to know each other quite well throughout my highschool career
Additional Rec:
Interview: It lasted a bit over an hour. As the interview progressed, it became less of an interview and more of a conversation. Overall a success, considering I was super nervous beforehand.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: 3 majors listed: Comp Lit, Classics, Bioengineering
State (if domestic applicant): Central CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small public
Ethnicity: Mexican
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $40,000 - 60,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Relatively low-income, minority, First-generation American

Reflection

Strengths: Well-rounded individual
Weaknesses: My extracurriculars weren’t the strongest
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I genuinely conveyed who I am through my application, from my my biggest flaws to what drives me.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: First college decision as of now. Also applied to UC’s and USC!

General Comments: I cannot stress this enough, start those essays early. In my opinion, essays are the most impactful component of your application that one has full control over up until submission. I actually started my writing my supplements over the summer and wrote my personal statement last. I felt like this ensured there was no overlap among my essays. Even though I started my application relatively early, I felt like I barely had enough time (I submitted my application on Halloween 10/31) as the deadline approached. Good luck to future applicants!

16

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):n/a
ACT (breakdown):34 (33 E 31 M 36 R 34 S 8 Essay)
SAT II: 610 Phsyics 770 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA:4.404
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):3 of 330
AP (place score in parenthesis): not reported but Human Geo (4) US Gov (3) Psych (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):n/a
Senior Year Course Load: DE Statistics, DE computer science 2, DE Macroeconomics, DE Informtation tech, DE calculus 2, DE webmaster, DE chem 1, DE Microeconomics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): LEDA Scholar (8% national acceptance rate), Questbridge College Prep Scholar (does this go here?)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Technology Student Association 4 years (President), BETA Club 4 years, National Honor Society 2 years, DECA 1 year, Math Team 2 years (Vice President), Class President 1 year
Job/Work Experience: Worked as kitchen crew at McDonalds for 1 year during junior year.
Volunteer/Community service: 400+ hours total through BETA and NHS as well as events organized with TSA
Summer Activities: Dual Enrollment classes following sophmore year, LEDA Summer Institute at Princeton following Junior year.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10/10, helped with revision from my writing instructor from LEDA who is a Columbia english professor

Roomate: 9/10 really thinks this showed my voice and my interests as well as compassion for the roomate

vitality: 10/10 really showcased my curiosity. I talked about the research i did on my own during LEDA about quantum computing and encryption.

what matters to me: 9/10 i wrote about my passion for motorcycles and learning how to repair them.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 Latin teacher for two years. We are really close and she is like my second mom. She really showcased my determination and character without regards to the classroom. She is also my BETA sponsor.
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 Freshman math teacher. I didnt read hers but i know she writes good recommendations from her past ones and we are also really close. She is the one who got me to fall in love with Stanford freshman year.
Counselor Rec: 8/10 She writes good reccommendations and cares a lot but she doesnt really know me well.
Additional Rec: 10/10 LEDA reccomendation which holds a lot of weight at these schools. I am very close with my college counselor here and you should check thier stats if you dont believe me. just google LEDA Scholars and go to their impact page.
Interview: 9/10 Stellar. I had an older gentleman who went to grad there. He said he had never met a better match for Stanford so take that as you will. Could have just been being nice but we connected with out family upbringings.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes, full ride.
Intended Major: CS (yes was on my APP)
State (if domestic applicant): metro-Atlanta, Georgia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public, Title I
Ethnicity: White
Gender:Male
Income Bracket: <45K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First gen, Low income, LEDA Scholar, Drug addictive family history

Reflection

Strengths: My essays definitely. I fell like they conveyed who i was a lot better than my tests or classes, however i have been fully dual enrolled since the sumemr after sophmore year.
Weaknesses:Transcript and tests. My physics subject was way lower than most who send them. My transcript also had 3 B’s on it, one in a semester of Chem, one in DE calculus 1, and one in DE physics 1.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think Stanford was able to see me in my essays, while some people write about what they think Stanford wants, i wrote about what i wanted. Not everything was academically focused and i didnt repeat anything that was somewhere else in my application (except the ectra curricular essay. I talked about TSA but it was something not shown on the common app.)
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Deferred from University of Georgia EA, havent applied elsewhere

General Comments:

17

Decision: 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.
  • 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). In the roommate essay I compared my personality to all the different ways once can fry eggs.

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. (9/10)
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. (9/10)
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). (10/10)
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. (9/10)
Art Supplement: Not submitted (could have, decided not to)

Other

Date Submitted App: 10/31/2017
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Utah (SLC)
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 considering 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.

18

Decision: RejectedSAT I (breakdown): 760 M 760 CR

SAT II: 670 Math II, 670 biology

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.51 but not on transcript

Weighted GPA: 3.6 (but GPA on transcript includes some 7th-8th grade classes, w/ out those it’s 3.77)

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A

AP (place score in parenthesis): Spanish (3), US Gov’t (3), World History(4), environmental (4),
Chemistry (2)

IB (place score in parenthesis):

Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP Calc BC, AP Lit, piano, photography, journalism

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar, National Merit Commended, Paradigm challenge semi-finalist, three smaller school specific ones

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): SADD (co-social media director, now co-President), Spanish Honors Society, Envirothon, mock trial, National Honors Society

Job/Work Experience: none

Volunteer/Community service: summer before ninth grade and tenth grade at two different nature centers, I think around 93 hrs total, and Spanish Honors Society tutoring

Summer Activities: volunteering (summers before 9th and 10th grade), trip to Spain with Spanish teacher and some classmates with half credit for research project while there, driving school, Watershed Integrated Study Program (test streams for a research practicum required by program at school)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App- 5, almost feel like it was a hit or miss, they’d like it or find it immature, it was about my love of creating Halloween costumes when I was younger and how I’d combine different characters, and how it shows my creativity and that everything has multiple parts
Stanford:
Roommate- 8, I honestly loved all my Stanford specific ones, for roommate I linked each point I made and it really sounded like me
Learning- 7, I’m not sure how much depth was in this one or actually needed for this one, but I loved the topic, I did it on how I’m part Greek and how I love learning about that side of me and am trying to learn the language
Matters- 7.5, I actually changed this one last minute but I think it really depicts me and who I am, it was about my love of writing
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 7, my 11th grade English teacher, I think good? I did well in that class, and he originally put me in AP Lang (which is before AP Lit) but said I could ask again after more essays; after I did, he said I could go to AP Lit, so if anything, he knows I’m motivated and such to take harder courses.
Teacher Rec #2: 8.5 I’m very wary of giving 9s or 10s, but I think this recommendation was really good, it was my 11th grade chemistry teacher; I didn’t do the best in his class (got a B) but he gave me a chemistry award with some other students, and seemed enthusiastic when I asked him
Counselor Rec: 6.7 I’ve talked to her a lot over the past few years but I wouldn’t say she knows me personally; however, we had to fill out a sheet of questions with stuff they should/could mention, so it should be good

Interview: 9, it honestly went really well, she seemed very interested in my extracurriculars and called me a “renaissance woman”

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: environmental science
State (if domestic applicant): MD
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college): URM

Reflection

Strengths: SAT score, hook, extracurriculars
Weaknesses: GPA definitely, not much volunteer or work experience, common app essay could be better
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: GPA isn’t high, plus common app essay
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: only early school!

General Comments
this was definitely my #1, but so many people are rejected that I really wasn’t too upset when I saw my decision. Congrats to all who got in, and to those who didn’t, know you’ll be successful anywhere!

19

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1380 - 670/710/19 (6,7,6)
ACT (breakdown): 35C - 36E/34M/34R/34S
SAT II: didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9? I’m not really sure, my school reports GPA on a 20 scale
Weighted GPA: my school doesn’t do this
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/84
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): predicted (40), English A HL (7), Spanish A Lit HL (7), BusMan HL (7), ITGS SL (6), ES&S SL (6), Math SL (6)
Senior Year Course Load: IB English A LaL HL, IB Spanish A Lit HL, IB BusMan HL, IB ITGS SL, IB ES&S SL, IB Math SL, CAS, TOK, Peruvian Studies
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:

  • Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
  • Economics and Entrepreneurship Internship at a local university
  • Student Committee of CADE for Education--CADE for education is a major conference in my country that brings -
  • together politicians, educators, and businesspeople to reform and improve national education
  • Student Council (president and co-founder)
  • Head Boy of my school
  • MUN
  • Rowing (I've gotten a couple of medals at the national level)
  • Member of Huellas ("Footprints")--a local church group that does community service activities in the city's slums Job/Work Experience:
  • I guess my internship? You can't really have a formal job in my country if you're under 18. Volunteer/Community service:
  • all of the CAS experiences I did for the IB Diploma and the activities in Huellas Summer Activities:
  • Rowing and hanging out with my friends :) Essays (rating 1-10, details):
  • Common App: 8/10. I wrote about how I use my childish enthusiasm to confront the challenges life throws at me. This essay was pretty weird. It included reflections on intolerance, Harry Potter references, and comments on life in Peru's capital.
  • Stanford Supplements: 9/10. These were pretty original and the following topics were included: my addiction to coffee, the two sides of my personality (one side is named Frankie and the other Oliver, yeah I might be a psychopath), and why social inclusion is important to me.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Junior and Senior year IB Environmental Systems and Societies teacher. I genuienly loved this teacher. This class was her first time teaching and she is one of the hardest working people I have ever met. She helped us all excel at the course. I became close to her while she advised me for a class research project. She actually showed me the letter and she said some really nice things (7/10).
Teacher Rec #2: Junior and Senior year IB Business Management teacher. He is literally more of a friend than a teacher. He cares so much about his students and strives to help them in their personal lives as well as in their academic lives. He also showed me the letter and it was absolutely amazing (9/10).
Counselor Rec: No one from my school has really ever applied to elite US colleges before, so I had to work alongside him. He tried his best every time we worked and researched the college application process together. He is also my ITGS teacher and my EE advisor, so I’m very close to him. I’m sure his letter is also amazing (8/10).
Additional Rec: Head of Senior School. She went with me to a conference in Brazil and we talked a lot about my future goals and my school life. She also oversaw my work in the Student Council and helped me jumpstart it. She showed me her letter and it was awesome! (8/10)
Interview: didn’t have one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes. I basically need a full ride
Intended Major: Economics
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Peru
School Type: Independent
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <$50K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): international applicant from a developing country? I don’t really think this is a hook though.

Reflection

Strengths: ACT score, essays, challenging course load, rank, GPA, ECs(?).
Weaknesses: Didn’t submit Subject Tests. Asked for financial aid while being international.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I feel like asking for FinAid is the reason for my deferral–they probably wanna evaluate all the applicants before budgeting FinAid for internationals. Also not submitting the subject tests might have been negative, although they are optional.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No where yet!

General Comments
I’m super glad with my decision and it has given me that motivational push to finish the rest of my apps. Stanford is a great school, and applying has let me reflect upon my life experience. I’m excited for late March and am hoping to get accepted somewhere, not necessarily Stanford :slight_smile: Best of luck to everyone currently in the application process, you’re all amazing people that will accomplish great things. Congratulations to those who were accepted! And for those who were rejected, you will get into other fantastic schools! To those who were deferred, only time will tell. At least we know that Stanford is actually considering us!

20

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didn’t Take
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35, 36,32,36)
SAT II: 760 Bio 800 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chinese (5), Bio (5), Comp Sci (5), Calc BC (5) AB Sub (5), Microecon (5), Macroecon (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Orchestra, PE/Religion, AP English Lang, AP Music Theory, AP Phys C (E/M & Mechanics), AP Psych, AP Stats
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not major but like the general AP Scholar w/ Distinction

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

Varsity Orchestra (Principal Bassist 11,12) 4 years
International Orch bassist 3 years
Tri-M honor society (VP 12) 2 years
Spring Musical Pit Orch Acoustic and Electric Guitar Bassist 4 years
Quartet/Quintet 2 years
MUN (Admin Leader 2 years, Secretariat 1)
iOS App development team 1.5 years
School Ambassador (1/9 in grade)

Then secondary stuff like
Science honor society
National honor society

Stuff I didn’t put:
-Co-founded an animal welfare group at school but it got merged into a different group and I didn’t follow the merge due to other commitments
-Fencing 2 years

Job/Work Experience:
Internship for Saudi Arabian chemical company

Volunteer/Community service: don’t really count this, wasn’t really listed
-service trip every fall to diff parts of China
-service trip w/ family in 10th grade spring to teach over 1000 kids in three days
-the quartet/quintet falls into here as well
-tutored other students in various subjects (mostly biology, some math and english)
-helped elementary kids with their homework
-any events that pop up I’ll do?

Summer Activities:
Stanford Youth Orch (Co-principal bassist) 2015 summer
Northwestern Neuroscience program 2017 summer
App development (continuation from extra curric)

Essays (rating 1-10, details):

Common App: 8/10, I started writing really early and went through a lot of drafts and finally stuck with this one; very personal
Intellectual Vitality: (7/10) Showed quite a bit of me but a little weird topic, might’ve sounded impersonal
Roomie: (7/10) Might’ve come off as too “try-hard”? I was super casual in this one and wrote it like I was writing an email to my closest friends
Meaningful: (7/10) Might’ve been too abrupt at the end or too generic? I talked about stories, not only in music but in general

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8.5/10 (my counselor read through and said this one was “perfect”?), taught me for two years, computer science/physics teacher, both classes I was 1/2 females and often went to him for help
Teacher Rec #2: 6.5/10 (but my Counselor read through and said it was like an 8-9/10, said he “nailed it”) taught me for one year, worked w/ thru MUN, econ teacher (currently on leave due to personal reasons), I wasn’t super close with him but he was also my study hall teacher
Counselor Rec: 8/10 Know him quite well, talked to him various times about some on-topic and off-topic things
Additional Rec: N/A but my orch teacher gave my counselor comments
Interview: wasn’t offered/available for my region

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: comp sci or symbolic systems
State (if domestic applicant): n/a
Country (if international applicant): CN
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian (Singaporean/HK)
Gender: F
Income Bracket: too much for financial aid
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Uh first on mom’s side to go to college?, ermm female CS?

Reflection

Strengths: Test scores? Commitment to orchestra/music
Weaknesses: Maybe the rec letters, not enough leadership in extracurric, non-existent awards
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
-profile too similar to others?, the awards part, maybe my essays covered too much breadth?
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
This was my first decision, but I’m still applying/waiting for other schools!

General Comments:
Though this was my dream school, I don’t feel sad being rejected. Congrats to all who got accepted! I know there’s a plan for me somewhere and maybe I’ll find an even better fit elsewhere!