Stanford Class of 2023 REA Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
21

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):1370 (600r/770m)
ACT (breakdown):30 (34m/30s/28r/27e)
SAT II: did not take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA:4.65
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 31/460-ish top 8%
AP (place score in parenthesis):
Psych, Calc BC/AB subscore, Comp Sci A, Stats (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: CS-143 (Intro to Multimedia and gaming @UAH), AP Physics A, AP Human Geo, AP Physics C, Gov, Econ, Honors English 11, CS Internship
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective: I won a few cross country awards, nothing notable

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Cross-Country/Indoor and Outdoor track 2013-2018
Computer Science Team 2017-2018 (Treasurer)
Mu Alpha Theta 2018

Job/Work Experience: Cashier (Publix, grocery store in the south) 2015-p

Volunteer/Community service: Cross-country and track meet help

Summer Activities: Work and run

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I never got them proofed… Probably had some bad grammar

Personal essay (What is engaging) - 7/10 I basically said I enjoy photography and that I am figuring out how to shoot the milky way in a light polluted area and described where, when and how I go through the process.

Excited about learning 3/10- I said I enjoyed instant feedback and I connected it to photography with image preview. I thought this was good when I wrote it but looking back at it…

Future roommate- 7/10 Pretty much gave them my personality, chill, don’t like to party, wakes up early, likes sports and photography

Meaningful- 6/10 This one could be hard to follow. I said I like to creatively express myself because CS is so arithmetic. I went through the process of me finding myself and eventually landing on photography. I described the joy i find through photography by describing one of my shoots.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 (Math/CS teacher) I’ve had this teacher for 3+ semesters and I feel like I know her pretty well but I did not see any of my LoRs

Teacher Rec #2: 8/10? (Calc teacher) My most recent math teacher, I felt like she liked me because I did well in her class and helped other students.

Counselor Rec: ?/10 We really don’t get to know our counselors because how big my school is especially because I’m not national merit or any other sort of person of relevance

Additional Rec:n/a

Interview: 5/10 My person recently moved back to NorCal so our interview was online. She lived in Birmingham while I live in North AL (2hrs away) so we couldn’t have met in the first place. She never really asked me many questions and from what I saw, she barely wrote anything down. I kinda drove the convo for the last 10-15 mins because she would not ask me any questions and it only lasted 22 mins. She had another interview immediately afterward anyway.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: computer science
State (if domestic applicant): AL
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public, suburban, new, competitive and “high tech”
Ethnicity: Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 300k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): 1.5 gen? Asian (but I’m culturally white, kinda like an Oreo)

Reflection

Strengths: I was really hoping Stanford would see I’m not an Asian involved entirely in school but rather I have a personality to myself and I actively participate in the things I’m involved in
Weaknesses: My test scores were not really near Stanford’s level and I was slightly lax in my course selection for what is offered at my school. Maybe my recommendations were bad too, idk
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Weaknesses
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Auburn (Safety)- Accepted
UCLA-Applied
Cal-Applied
USC-Applied

General Comments: I’ve noticed a lot of people with much better scores and overall resumes getting denied. I feel so bad for them. I didn’t really know Stanford was a top school until the end of sophomore year and it was basically too late then. If I could do it again, I would have skipped summer practices this year and did more things to beef up my resume. I would have done my college research in 8th grade. However, I am glad I did not waste my time trying to get a 32+ on the act because I knew I would never get that time back.

22

Decision: Rejected

I am writing this post before the decision to remove bias (except two parts indicated)

Objective:
ACT: 34 (34M, 35R, 34E, 34S)
SAT II: 740 in Biology and 800 in Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
Weighted GPA: 4.26
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/487
IB (place score in parenthesis): IB Biology (6), IB Psych (5), IB History HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Spanish SL
Senior Year Course Load: IB History HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Spanish SL, IB Chemistry I HL, Physics D
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
HOSA (president and founder)
Cheerleading (Varsity for 3 years, freshmen for 1 year; runs social media for all 3 teams)
Math Team (4 years; won some competitions; director of the officer team)
FBLA (2 years; reporter)
Student Council (2 years; planned several events)
Cross-country (4 years JV; team leader for 2 years)
Tennis (2 years)
Science Olympiad (2 years)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community service: Leflers Honors Cadre Mentorship (mentored a 6th grade for a year)
Girl Up Elementary School Leader (ran girl empowerment club for elementary schoolers)

Summer Activities:
NCMN STEM Summer High School Intern- Spent summer after my junior year at a paid internship at my local university studying mechanical and material engineering. Presented research at the Nebraska Summer Research Symposium and Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences Conference.

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common app- 10/10 this was really good about overcoming racial stereotypes and discrimination
Other essays/short answers- I spent a bunch of time making sure they showed me as a dimensional person while orientating myself as focused on math and science (my passions and what I want to go into)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
(I am guessing on the ratings since I didn’t see my recs)
Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 my math teacher who has known me forever and really likes me, but I am unsure of his writing ability.
Teacher Rec #2: 9.5/10 my biology teacher who really likes me and I am sure she wrote nice things
Counselor Rec: 8.5/10 she actually sent me the letter for a scholarship and it was nice but sounded forced to me
Additional Rec: 10/10 my cheer coach who loves me and told me she worked pretty hard on it
Interview: Was emailed for one, but my interviewer didn’t respond to me and the deadline passed so I didn’t do one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology
State (if domestic applicant): Nebraska
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public school
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100,000-150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: ECs, LoRs, essays, challenging course load throughout high school
Weaknesses: GPA, class rank, biology subject test, no major awards, no state/national leadership positions
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: (wrote this after the decision) I think I was just an average student and didn’t have anything that truly set me apart from other applicants
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Haven’t applied anywhere else

General Comments: (written after the decision)
This whole process was absolutely nervewracking. Especially the last few days since Stanford has always been my dream school and I began to realize that almost every person who is applying has Stanford as their dream school also. I am very disappointed that I didn’t get in but I know that I will still accomplish great things in life. Whether you get in or not, the whole college admission process is a gamble. Admission officers are shown an endless pool of qualified applicants and are forced to choose only a few. Do not let a rejection define your self-worth. I am certain that anyone can succeed no matter what school they attend.

23

Figured I’d help future applicants. Filled this out before decisions were released so as to be unbiased.

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1530 (750 Math, 780 Reading), didn’t report
ACT (breakdown): 36 (36 E, 36 M, 36R, 36S)
SAT II: Reported: 760 Math II, 750 Chem; Not Reported: 730 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.45
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/360
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Stats (5), Chem (4), Physics 2 (3)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc 2 (my school does calc weird), Honors Band, Honors Jazz Band, Honors Philosophy, Advanced Biology, Spanish 5 (somewhat equivalent to AP Spanish), Honors Humanities (basically a college English class). My school is odd in that it offers a lot of honors classes, but not a ton of AP’s
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): FIRST Robotics Dean’s list finalist, exemplary soloist nominee at state music festival, state Battle of the Bands finalist, won a couple sailing nation championships, National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with honor

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
FIRST Robotics (2 yr team captain)
Marching Band (Drum Major)
Various Performing groups (youth orchestra, pit orchestra, jazz combos, etc)
Garage/rock Band: we are locally successful and recorded an album, played at a big music festival called Summerfest
Sailing: won a good amount of impressive competitions, but I wasn’t good enough to get recruited so idk if they really care about this
JV Cross Country (captain)
Varsity Baseball
Other insignificant stuff (Honor Society, etc)

Job/Work Experience:
Soccer Referee (3 yrs)
Sailing Instructor (2 yrs)

Volunteer/Community service:
National Honor Society, volunteered for FIRST Robotics, low-commitment school service/mentorship club

Summer Activities:
Sailing, Sailing, and more Sailing with a little bit of music performance added in here and there.

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 7.5/10. Wrote about coming out and how it made me more empathetic and helped me see the world from others’ perspectives. Pretty good, but I fear it’s a lil cliche.
Supplement: 9/10. Pretty good stuff here, I think the essays are really nice at allowing you to talk about diverse aspects of your life. Intellectual vitality one was about exploring my interest in music and engineering via experimenting with my band equipment/recording, which I related to Stanford’s music technology major. Roommate essay was about how when I get excited about a topic of discussion, I start talking too loudly and enthusiastically so I need my friends to warn me. The other one was about getting last place in a robotics competition and how it gave me a new appreciation for robotics; somewhat cliche. Short takes were good, albeit a little generic.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 9/10. US History and Philosophy teacher. He and I have a really good dynamic, several times I’ve stayed after his class for an hour just to talk about politics/philosophy/baseball.
Teacher Rec #2: 7.5/10. Calc teacher. She and I are pretty chill, but I’m honestly just an above average calc student. I did a pretty impressive project in her class my sophomore year, and she really liked me and my family, but I just have the feeling it wasn’t “glowing hot”
Counselor Rec: ???/10 no idea on this one. Probably generic
Additional Rec: 9/10. My sailing coach and employer who’s honestly more of a friend at this point. We’ve spent a LOT of time together and she knows me really well. I saw this one and it was very well-written.
Interview: 7/10. I’m pretty comfortable in social situations, but it honestly seemed like my interviewer wasn’t. 45 minutes of pretty generic stuff.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Wisconsin
School Type: Public (1400 students)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): idk if being LGBT in STEM is a hook, but maybe. Otherwise none.

Reflection

Strengths: ACT, grades, pretty good leadership, a few “hot” letters of rec, FIRST Dean’s list, sailing wins, good supplement.
Weaknesses: SAT II Math, somewhat underwhelming AP’s, common app essay is average, 2 probably generically complimentary letters of rec, might’ve spread myself thin on the leadership side
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere yet

General Comments (before decision): I’m pretty proud of myself for what I’ve done in high school and for the effort I put into the application process. Stanford is AMAZING, so I’ll be pretty disappointed if I don’t get in, but at the same time, I’m fully expecting to get rejected so I’m bracing for it. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I’ve had a ton of fun as well. I also have an amazing in-state school (UW Madison), so assuming I get in there I’ll be fine regardless.

(after decision): I still cannot believe I got in!!! I doubt it’ll sink in for a while; this is really a dream come true. I’m obviously very excited, but disappointed because I know exceptionally qualified people that got rejected. I think it’s important to keep in mind that “where you go isn’t who you’ll be.” My philosophy was to do what I wanted to do and be true to myself, and hope that Stanford liked what I wanted to do. Apparently this worked, but I won’t pretend to have any great wisdom. Best of luck to everybody in their future endeavors!

24

Decision: Accepted

Note: this was written after I was accepted so may be biased

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): taken once, Math 800, EBRW 780, Essay 18 (6/6/6)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: Chinese 790, Math2 800, Chem 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s: Chinese, Psych, CS A, Bio, Chem, Calc BC; 4: USH
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lang, AP Physics 1 and 2, AP Gov/Econ, PE(lol), AP Stats
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Accepted research abstract to a symposium, International piano competitions, TSA TEAMS Nats, NMSF

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Stem Cell research internship, summer + during 12
  • Piano, Independent Study, 9-12
  • School Engineering club (Co-Pres), 9-12
  • Science Bowl(Officer), 11-12
  • MIT Zero Robotics(Secretary), 10-11
    Job/Work Experience: Self-employed piano teacher, 12
    Volunteer/Community service: Middle school math club volunteer (Logistical Liaison, coach), 10-12
    Summer Activities: 9th: CC English course; 10th CC Bio Course + TSA Nats; 11th CC Music Theory course + Research internship
    Essays (rating 1-10, details):
  • CommonApp: Authentic, but kinda cliche
  • EC: research, very straight to the point
  • Meaningful: Piano, my most “abstract” and prized essay
  • IV: wrote about day to day observations and examples of how two lead to tangible projects/endeavors
  • Roommate: made it thematic, used metaphor of cats

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): note: I didn’t read any of them and don’t have a control to compare them with, so it’s pointless to score them

Teacher Rec #1: Chemistry teacher of 3 years: H Chem(10) AP Chem(11), TA(12); became very close and she said she loved seeing my personal growth
Teacher Rec #2: English 11H teacher; was a hard-working student, she offered to write it for me
Counselor Rec: helped me on many occasions, but nothing that special
Additional Rec: Research lab PI; I put in good work and she really wanted me to get in and stay in the lab
Interview: none offered to Bay Area ppl

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Biology (Music/Chem minor)
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: prefer not to say
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection

Strengths: Music live audition, continued research into the school year, I liked my Stanford supplements
Weaknesses: some extracurriculars didn’t connect to my intended major
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: not sure but luck definitely had something to do with it
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nowhere atm

General Comments:
still in shock, this is so surreal

My advice:

  • Get your Common App essay done ASAP(getting mine done before summer ended relieve tons of pressure)
  • Be authentic and don’t write contrived bs aimed towards pleasing ao’s
  • Understand that model essays that you might find out there are definitely not the norm; I can’t write well so I instead focused my efforts on the content

Good luck to all!

25

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1530 (790 math, 740 englishm Highest single take and highest superscore)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: Math II (800) , Physics (750)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.13 (on a +.5 for H/AP scale)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics 2 (5), BC Calc (5), AB Calc (5), AP Lang (4), Comp Sci (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C, Honors English, AP BC Calc, Advanced Science Research (H), Applications
of Calculus in Econ (H), Advanced Art
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Congressional recognition for teaching guitar to war veterans for the last four years

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Classical guitar, juggling master, lightsaber duel enthusiast, rock
climbing
Job/Work Experience: Nothing special. A couple 2 week internships at random companies where I did nothing
Volunteer/Community service: Teach guitar to war veterans every week for the last 4 years (150+ hours)
Summer Activities: Rock climbing, hiking, and camping all summer. Guitar study programs for 2 weeks each summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details):

common app (8, great topic but I concluded it poorly which may have diminished its overall impact by a lot),
Idea that excites me about learning (9, very unique topic that played on Stanford’s desire to not segregate artsy and STEMy students),
Roommate (10, it revealed a lot about my humor and character)
Meaningful and Why (7, good essay but it didn’t really focus on me at all)
Extracurriculars (6, just a straight answer that sounded like something on a job resume) ,
Short answers: Challenge of Society (5, crappy generic answer) , Summers (NA, just a list of summer activities nothing special) Historical moment (8, very specific to my outdoor interests and a very unique moment that i doubt anybody else used) Words (3, I gave responses like “honest,” so yeah) Read/Listen/Watch (7, honest answers that were unique to my interests and humorous simultaneously) Experience at Stanford (6, unique answer specific to my interests but kind of boring i guess) Extra Hour (9, I gave the response of building guitars by hand which I just thought was good)

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 8, My english teacher is a great writier who i think liked me. i’m not a particularly gifted english student but I made a noticable effort to do well in the class and participate
Teacher Rec #2: 9, Rarely anyone asks this teacher for a rec and I had made the effort to know him over the entire course of high schoo
Counselor Rec: 8 or 9, Counselor has a lot of students, but I made an effort to frequently talk with my counselor (about things that extended beyond college), and I had intermittent break periods every week where I would talk to him
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private (highly rigorous)
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): One generation family legacy and my siblings both go to Stanford

Reflection

Strengths: Community service, exploring my passions, academic success
Weaknesses: Not the highest SAT scores but whatever, probably could have worked harder on the essays to perfect them
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: The students applying REA from my school tend to have major connections (like parents are heads of departments at Stanford), so I think it scares off most other students from applying which may have distinguished me academically. I also have a Stanford legacy and my siblings go there which I think definitely helped an enormous amount
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: nothing yet

General Comments:

If you’re applying regular, I would say my biggest regret was not putting in enough effort on the essays. As this thread might show you, there are ample students with perfect GPAs and SAT scores applying, but Stanford isn’t able to let all of them in. Your essays are your one real opportunity to distinguish yourself apart from your “numerical identity.” Just really try your hardest to give creative, unique answers that stand out. Most importantly, be genuine. It is quite easy to see through a student pretending to be someone they are not.

Also, take my application stats with a grain of salt because of my family’s relation to Stanford

26

Decision: Accepted

Accepted (I don’t know if the green will show up)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34c (36e, 33m, 35w, 34s)
SAT II: 740 biology (m) and 770 math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.66
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/422
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc AB (5), Human Geo (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): IB Math SL (5), IB Business Management SL (7)
Senior Year Course Load: IB DP program- IB French SL, IB HOTA HL, IB Biology HL, IB TOK, IB Global Politics HL, AP Statistics, Newspaper, IB English HL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMSF, National Hispanic Recognition Program, Coca Cola Scholar semifinalist, 1st place editorial in the state, scholastic silver key, TASP

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): TEDx event at school (speaker in 9th, assistant to head organizer in 10th, head organizer 11-12th); HS newspaper 10th-12 (Opinion editor 12th); Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council 11th-12th; created program to foster connections between people of differing political opinions; Literary magazine (reinstated it, also editor 11th-12th)

Job/Work Experience: Soccer Referee
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities: TASP, journalism camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I don’t know how to rate them, I liked them
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 11th grade English teacher; I didn’t get to see it, but I think it was good. He liked me and I’ve worked with him for clubs outside of class
Teacher Rec #2: Newspaper advisor; didn’t get to see it either, but he’s known me pretty well for three years
Counselor Rec: We have a big class, but she does recognize me and I met with her multiple times before applying
Additional Rec: letter from TASP professor
Interview: went really well, but this part doesn’t count as much as the rest

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: International Relations
State (if domestic applicant): domestic
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, TASP (?, Not sure if it’s one or not)

Reflection

Strengths: essays
Weaknesses: SAT 2s
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think my essays were very genuine and showed how well I fit with Stanford
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Haven’t found out any others

General Comments: You don’t have to do a huge research project, publish some big paper, etc. I thought I was “well rounded” but not the pointy student that people say they look for. I think if your activities show your passion and have some type of link (even if all of them are just science or just humanities) then you’ll do fine

27

**[color=#008000]Decision: Accepted!! **
*** this was written before the decision to eliminate any potential bias * **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1560 (760 R, 800 M)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 (Biology) & 800 (Math II)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.25
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Haha my school doesn’t rank!
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Bio (5), AP Lang (5), AP Stat (5), AP Spanish Lit (5), AP Studio Art (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Studio Art, Physics (regular), AP Chem, Government/Economics, AP Comp Sci
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Won couple of ISEF grand awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
4-H (project leader, started a countywide project), biology research, running, science fair (started one at my high school)
Job/Work Experience: Worked at local grocery store
Volunteer/Community service: None
Summer Activities: Mostly research and working at the grocery store; I did a very selective research program the summer after my junior year (not naming it to stay semi-anonymous, though people from the program could probably figure out who I am from this post)

I don’t feel comfortable scoring my recs or essays

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Decent? I’m not the world’s best writer but I talked about my research and how I want to improve access to healthcare on my reservation
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: My bio teacher, her class was my favorite class EVER and I stayed after school a lot to just talk biology with her! I’m guessing she talked about my curiosity, which I know Stanford really cares about
Teacher Rec #2: My calc teacher, she said I was one of the top students in her career and she loved me
Counselor Rec: Probably a form letter (since I’m from a big high school)
Additional Rec: From my research supervisor; he let me read it after it was submitted and he compared my research ability to that of a graduate student (100% not true, but hey, it probably didn’t hurt)
Interview: Sadly no, scheduling didn’t work out

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: You bet!
Intended Major: Human Biology, Bioinformatics, possible minor in Native American Studies
State (if domestic applicant): Arizona
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Native American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: $100,000 - $150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, legacy, Intel awards

Reflection

Strengths: Strong scores/GPA considering my high school context, significant research experience, passion & curiosity for something
Weaknesses: No volunteering, really “pointy” towards science/engineering, I’m not a great writer, I didn’t take any AP history classes
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
I’m very passionate about healthcare and had awards/research to back that up. Even though my transcript wasn’t perfect (goodness forbid, I had a few B’s!), it showed I could likely handle Stanford coursework.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ASU w/ full ride

General Comments:
To future applicants - honestly, calm down and smell the roses. I never even thought I was going to apply to Stanford, and didn’t think about college until my senior year. Take challenging classes, do things you’re interested in, and things will work out in the end! Where you go is not who you’ll be, and it’s perfectly fine to not have been prepping for standardized testing since you were 5 years old (as it seems many people on this crazy forum have been); I literally studied for a month with a $20 prep book, thought I did perfectly fine, and apparently Stanford thought so too :slight_smile:

To anyone else accepted - I can’t wait to meet you at Admitted Students weekend!

28

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Highest Composite: 1390 (660 R+W, 730 Math), Superscore: 1410 (680 R+W, Math 730) *I studied super hard for this exam (150+ Hours). My score may seem low, but I want to note that I started with a 960 on my PSAT Freshman Year, a 1050 PSAT my Sophomore Year, and a 1300 PSAT my Junior Year. Don’t let low test scores stop you from applying! I stressed over my SAT score for along time. I wish I could go back and tell myself that SAT scores are not everything. If you have a not so great score, try to make the other parts of your application better!

ACT (breakdown): Composite: 26 (31 E, 25 R, 25 M, 23 S) *Stanford never saw this. I deleted the score entirely from the ACT website!

SAT II: I took them, but I did not do well… so I just never reported them.

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.226

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 1%

AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A

IB (place score in parenthesis): I’m a full IB Diploma Candidate; however, I have not taken any exams yet. I will, unfortunately, be taking all 6 tests this spring because of some complications.

Senior Year Course Load: IB English HL II, IB Bio HL II, IB Math SL II, IB French SL, IB Economics, IB TOK, IB World History HL, Orchestra, Leadership

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Selected for the 2018 United States Senate Youth Program, National Hispanic Recognition Program (I got it, but I didn’t list it on my application), National French Exam Bronze Medalist Level III, Oregon Boys State Delegate (1st Alternate for Boys Nation), International DECA Finalist in AAMS, GW Caminos al Futuro Scholar Recipient (A three-week all-expense paid summer program in Washington DC for Latinx Students). These are the only ones I listed on my application.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): I’m only going to list what I put on the Common App:

Swim Team (4 years): Varsity Swimmer (11,12), 2018 GVC Winners, Athletic Honor Roll
DECA (4 years) (Director of Membership Committee): ICDC Finalist, 1st Place at State Comp. in AAMS and FMP
Orchestra (4 years): 1st Violinist in Top Orchestra, All-City Violinist, 2018 State Champs
MUN (2 years): President and Founder (11,12), 30 Members in Club
Debate Club (4 years): President and Captain (11,12) (No major awards)
Latino Club (2 years): Founder and President, Volunteer Group for Latino Students

Job/Work Experience: N/A

Volunteer/Community service:
Superintendent’s Student Equity Committee: (1 year, 12th grade): Discussed how to create greater equity in my school district.
Intern for State Rep (4 months, 10th Grade)
SCCLY (11, 12): Youth volunteer group, nothing special, something I did in my free time.

Summer Activities: What I wrote for Stanford:

Volunteered at two youth orchestra camps
Boys State
GW Caminos al Futuro
HSF YLI
Traveled and Hiked

Essays (rating 1-10, details): These are short descriptions of what I wrote about. My essays had a lot more substance with reflection than just these short summaries.

Common App: 8.5/10: It was about my coming out process and what I learned from it and how swimming helped me come to terms with it. I made sure to make it not cliche. It was super personal; however, I don’t think it was exceptionally amazing or anything. I think it got my message across and that’s all I needed.

Short Takes 9/10: I had so much fun doing these, and I spent a lot of time on them.

Intellectual Vitality Essay 9/10: I wrote about the Senate Program and why I enjoy listening to others speak about their beliefs. Took me a while to write, but I really liked it.

Roommate Essay: 9/10: Wrote about how clumsy I am. I thought it was a good letter.

Meaningful Essay 9.5/10: I wrote about how I gained exposure to issues that I want to help solve by attending a low-income public elementary and middle school. I lived a pretty sheltered life before attending school, so by going to this school, I learned a lot.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: French Teacher 9/10: I never saw it, but I hoped it would be good. I skipped French Level I entirely with no experience my Sophomore year, so I got to know them better because I was always at after school tutoring. They are also the advisor for the MUN club that I founded at my school, so they got to me more through that. Overall, I really liked their class, so I tried hard.

Teacher Rec #2: History Teacher 9/10: I never saw this one either. However, I did really well in their class. I scored high on almost of their exams and asked a lot of questions in class.

Counselor Rec: 10/10: The nicest letter I have ever read; I cried after reading it. They said I was the best student of their career. In a school where each counselor has 400+ students, I think this letter helped me a lot.

Additional Rec: State House Representative that I interned for my Sophomore Year 9.5/10: I read the letter, and it was super nice. It spoke to my passion for public service and working in the government. I think it helped a lot since I want to major in PoliSci.

Interview: 8/10: It was super casual. I naturally enjoy meeting new people, so I didn’t feel nervous. The questions weren’t hard, and it was done in a coffee shop in my town. The interviewer was super nice, and we spoke for about an hour. Super generic questions. Not sure this helped that much, but I don’t think it hurt my application at all

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Political Science
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Latinx
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, Gay

Reflection: I have thought about Stanford all throughout HS. I have seen like every YouTube video ever made about the school. I tried my hardest to increase my chances of admissions by making my application specific towards my major. If you are even thinking of applying, please do it! Just go for it event with a low test score there is always a chance!

Strengths: In the things that I did do, I made sure to be the best I could at them. I started a lot of clubs. I worked super hard on my essays. My letters of rec were super impactful on my application. My GPA.

Weaknesses: Test Scores. However, I studied super hard for the SAT and am content with the 400+ increase that I got. Also, I didn’t do anything super extraordinary like start a non-profit or cure cancer. I did a lot of common HS activities that anyone could honestly do if they wanted.

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I put my heart and soul into Stanford. I spent every moment of HS working towards this goal. Overall, I think my essays and letter of rec are what got me in.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I haven’t applied anywhere else

29

I forgot to include this in my post, but I am still freaking out that I got into Stanford!! I have been looking at these forums for the longest time, and I felt it was only right that I write my own event through it took way longer than expected. And although some of the posts on here may have discouraged me from applying at some points, they have also given me a lot of guidance. Thank you to the CC community, but my time on here is now over.

30

Decision: Deferred

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Never took.
ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite (35 Math, 36 Everything Else); 12 Writing
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 800 World History (Never actually studied world history)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: Whatever the maximum is
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A but about 1/45
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calculus AB (5), AP Physics C (Mechanics, E&M), AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics
IB (place score in parenthesis): French B SL (6), Math HL, Physics HL, Biology HL, Chemistry HL, English Lang/Lit SL
Senior Year Course Load: Weird system but 5/9 actual credit courses: English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Data Management
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Two-time Intel Finalist and Grand Award Winner (from Canada), Google Science Fair, Sanofi BioGenius, National Science Fair Winner, several prestigious international leadership and science awards (also multiple national ones), Regional Debate Awards, Regional Science Olympiad (we cannot progress higher for either activity)

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Heavy on invention and research; self-initiated both projects and contacted professors to work in their labs, multiple awards. Prime Minister of School. Prestigious historical award to visit battlefields of Europe. Junior Achievement Company (VP Finance). International Competitor in skiing. Varsity Debate (Captain), Science Olympiad (Captain). EV Club Founder.

Job/Work Experience: Intern at regional technology accelerator (self-initiated); Founded blockchain startup (~8000 USD current profit).
Volunteer/Community service: Vice-Chair of Community Foundation Youth Committee, Canadian Cancer Society Representative, Mayor’s Youth Leader, Altar Serving. Over 400 hours total.
Summer Activities: Continued research, SHAD (selective Canadian educational program), French immersion programme, continued work on startups, playing sports

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Not sure how anybody can rate their own essays. I spent a lot of time and had four separate people comprehensively edit them.
Common App: About creating a water filter for developing countries (which I have won several awards for) and how engineering is about improving the lives of others
Roommate: Thought it was pretty fun, talked about a couple random stuff I like (piano, building a 8ft snowfort, skiing, etc.)
Intellectual Vitality: Talked about self-initiating research in a lab to work on Zika Virus without having taken bio or chem (also went to ISEF for this)
What Matters: Talked about my community and helping newcomers including playing hockey with Syrian refugees, etc.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Waived rights to all so can’t say about how good they are.

Teacher Rec #1: IB Chemistry Teacher/Principal
Teacher Rec #2: English Teacher: know this one is for sure great, he has provided my references which helped me win several prestigious awards, have great relationship and very thankful for him
Counselor Rec: New as counselor but has known me for several years, probably pretty good
Additional Rec: Supervisor for youth committee I was at
Interview: Pretty good, there was slight language barrier but we connected well and spoke for about an hour and a half about a lot of different things. Like others, would never call this an interview.

Applied for Financial Aid?: No.
Intended Major: Engineering (Biomedical, Management)
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: Private (but not feeder/magnet, just local school)
Ethnicity: Indian/British
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Doubt I qualify for any financial aid.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM (Hispanic through grandfather)

Strengths: Academics at basically maximum. Honestly I have to say I dedicated myself completely to engineering and thought I did have a pretty strong application, everything fit into engineering and how I talked about how engineering is about improving our society, bringing in to the community stuff.
Weaknesses: High income? Ranked at ISEF but not 1st/2nd place? Maybe they thought I was bs’ing my activities? International?

Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: To be honest, I gave it everything and have pursued activities that use engineering for basically all my free time. I can’t really fit anything more into my schedule. To be honest, knew how much luck is involved at this level and I’m at least glad I wasn’t rejected outright.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Waiting on Michigan and Berkeley, didn’t apply to any other US publics since Canadian schools are way cheaper at about same quality
General Comments: Meh, will see what happens in the regular pool. It would be a dream to go to Stanford but at the same time I know I’ll be fine either way. Glad I at least get the chance to try a second time and see how it goes down. Am about to launch a second startup and begin work on some hands-on engineering work, so hopefully that helps out.

31

Decision: Accepted

This was quite surprising.

Objective:
SAT (breakdown): 1370 (670 math, 700 E/W), I rage quit after my first try.

ACT (breakdown): Didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.61/4
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP: AP chem - 3, AP lit - 3, APUSH - 4
IB: N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Honor roll from grade 9-12, academic physics award (highest physics mark) in my school.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars: Level 8 piano, lifeguard at local pool, business leadership club member, hosted school events, prom, homecoming, etc unofficially. Won a national level science fair.
Job/Work Experience: McDonald’s cashier for 2.5 years. Private piano tutor for 1 year.
Volunteer/Community service: 100+ hours volunteering at local summer camp
Summer Activities: N/A

Essays (rating 1-10, details): I have no idea. 7/10? They were pretty basic.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I go to a massive public school. As a result, I never got the same teacher more than once. Coupled with the facts that I asked them to start 2 weeks before deadline, didn’t provide any brag sheet, and didn’t attend any of their clubs leads me to give my overall rating as a 5/10.

Teacher Rec #1: Asked my physics teacher. He’s only known me since September 2018. 5/10
Teacher Rec #2: Asked my history teacher. He’s only known me since September 2018. 5/10
Counselor Rec: My original counselor of 3 years left my school so this years counsellor was completely new to me. He’s quite nice though so maybe 7/10.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Decent. I don’t believe the interview actually affected my decision. It was my interviewer asking if I had any questions regarding/about Stanford.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): New York
School Type: Massive public school
Ethnicity: Asian American (Chinese)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Around 100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): No hooks.

Reflection: Even if you think you have 0 chance, just apply anyways. YOU NEVER KNOW. Being Asian, no hooks, and sub 1400 SAT, I thought I had 0 chance so this was incredibly surprising. As long as you meet the 25th percentile, I think you have a chance. You don’t need any national awards, perfect SAT, or anything to be accepted. Luck plays a huge factor in admissions.

Strengths: Everything I had was pretty average imho. Maybe my essays?
Weaknesses: Slightly sub-par SAT score, no hooks, no strong relationships with teachers/GC
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Luck.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Luck.

General Comments:

32

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 790 RW, 770 Math
ACT (breakdown): n/a
SAT II: n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parenthesis): n/a
IB (place score in parenthesis): my counselor sent predicted scores but I don’t know what they are, but they must’ve been decent
Senior Year Course Load: IB Chem HL, IB Bio HL, IB History SL, IB Literature HL, IB2 Math HL, IB French SL
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no national awards, Oratory State Finalist for two years, Summa cum laude

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Student Government 4 yrs (Executive President)
Forensics Speech and Debate (Co-Captain)
Diversity Alliance (Treasurer)
Did work for anti-gun violence in schools such as workshops and rallies
World Hijab Day (Head Organizer)
Mental Health club
Job/Work Experience:
Internship at Local NPR Station (25 hrs)
Internship at Legal Affairs Office at local university (40 hrs)
Tutor for SAT
Volunteer/Community service:
Two local political campaigns
Summer Activities:
My internships and tutoring

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay: 9. I was super vulnerable in this. I talked about how my whole life I’ve been discouraged from going into politics b/c of my race, religion, and gender, and how I began to feel insecure in my own skin. But speech was a source of empowerment for me because I talked about taking charge of my identity and being proud
Intellectual Vitality: 7. I talked about my NPR internship and why I love journalism. But I don’t think it was out of this world amazing.
Roommate Essay: 10. I talked about my favorite throwback songs, my love for kdramas, and how fast I can eat a waffle. It was all over the place and very candid. All of my friends said it showed my personality super well too.
What Matters to You: 8. I talked about how going to a diverse high school showed me how real privilege is, and how this made me want to use my voice to speak up about it.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1:8. I know she likes me a lot and she even showed it to me. It was all good stuff and talked about how I’m into social justice. But I’m definitely not like her best student ever or anything. But still very good overall.
Teacher Rec #2: 8. He’s known me since freshmen year, we weren’t very close when he wrote it but he’s seen how I’ve grown over the years so I’m sure it was good.
Counselor Rec: 9. He knows me personally so I think it must’ve been good.
Additional Rec: 10. I asked her for one for an optional rec. I’m almost 100% sure she talked about my passion for social justice and she really likes me, although we aren’t close. I’m not sure they even read the optional recs though.
Interview: 7. I think it went okay. She wasn’t very energetic but she took a whole lot of notes. Our convo kept dying in the middle and we didn’t go over time or anything. I think I was one of her first interviews b/c she also seemed kinda nervous. But I didn’t feel very confident about it afterwards.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: Public Policy
State (if domestic applicant): MI
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: South east asian :stuck_out_tongue:
Gender: female
Income Bracket: >$100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Muslim? if that counts. I talked about it enough for them to know about how it impacted me

Reflection

Strengths: recs, essays, my major isn’t too popular, courseload, SAT score
Weaknesses: ECs, no major awards, no SAT IIs
Why you think you were accepted: I have no idea. But I wanted my application to highlight my passion for social justice and I think it did that pretty well, and my recs supported that too. I just think my passion must’ve come across or something. But the main reason must be luck, b/c I really thought I had no chance.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: this is my first decision

General Comments:
So I’m writing this after I’ve been accepted so I know I might be biased here. But honestly, if you’re worried about applying, just do it. I had so many people including my parents telling me I had no chance, and I still have no idea what happened. I didn’t have a spike like any major awards or anything but I care a lot about social justice, so I surrounded my whole application around that. I honestly am still freaking out 19 hours later because I really thought I had no chance. This has been my dream school since like forever and I just feel incredibly lucky. But if you’re on the fence about applying, I think you should do it, because a small chance is better than no chance at all.

33

Decision: Accepted

I’m gonna fill this out beforehand and post even when I get my rejection (OMG I GOT ACCEPTED) because I’ve been a silent stalker of these threads for years and only feel like it’s fair to give back.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t report
ACT (breakdown): 34 (31M, 35S, 36E, 33R, 8 writing) - sent October when they came out: 34 (31M, 36S, 35E, 35R, 9 writing); 35 superscore
SAT II: 740 Bio and 700 Chem… yIKES
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.39 (we only weigh AP classes; I took a total of 13 “weighted” courses, including dual enrollment psychology)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/799 (top 2% but only b/c the top 10 are grade grubbers who take every AP online while I grind and grind for my grades… grrr)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo (5), Biology (4), World History (4), English Lang (4), Chemistry (4), APUSH (5), AP Calc AB (5), French (didn’t take)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Calc BC, Scientific Research, Honors Mentorship (internship at clinic)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing major. National Scholastic Gold Key Winner, winner of multiple regional writing competitions, placed 6th at internationals in HOSA event, but nothing crazy

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-HOSA state officer, served on school team for 2 years, my biggest EC, pour up to 15 hrs/week into it. I’m so thankful for it
-Science National Honor Society (President)
-Research in three different neuroscience labs, published co-author on 2 papers
-Student Council member
-Key Club (secretary)
-Beta Club (project leader)
-Generic honor societies

Job/Work Experience:
-Tutor for my first neuroscience internship for 2 years
-Elementary school science camp counselor
-Intern at pulmonary clinic

Volunteer/Community service:
-This was built into most of my extracurriculars. Ranged from helping w blood drives to elementary school science nights to packaging food, etc.
Summer Activities: research research research :slight_smile: also hosa. also swim team. took a couple summer classes. sounds like not a ton but between hosa and research my summers were p-a-c-k-e-d
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I’m not gonna rate b/c I don’t think that’s helpful at all but I’ll discuss.
-I was really proud of my CommonApp b/c I think it hit on every part of who I am; I talked about merging my interest in creative writing and neuroscience and how I write in an attempt to understand people better. I also used a personal experience to tie into my interest in neuroscience. I felt like it hit on who I am as a friend, a little bit of my background, how I think, and my interest in neuroscience/psych.
-Extracurricular essay: Pretty good. Talked about HOSA
-Short answers: I liked my short answer responses a lot. Probably the best part of my writing.
-Intellectual vitality: talked about a project I did on mass murderers and behavioral health.
-Roommate essay: basically a bunch of random facts about me but I’d like to think it was pretty insightful
-Meaningful to me essay: YIKES this one was hella cheesy. couldn’t think of anything and struggled with this for forever so talked about a community service experience and used a metaphor of having vision lol

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Biotechnology/healthcare teacher. Probably very high - 9/10?? She can speak really well to who I am as a person (had her for two years) and how I’m really passionate about what I pursue. She’s one of my HOSA advisors and I went to the Dominican Republic with her and our group. Even tho a Stanford admissions officer straight up told me not to submit a biotech rec I made sure my counselor covered that it was an academic and challenging class in her rec. (And hey, it got me in so what can I say??)
Teacher Rec #2: APUSH teacher. she intimidates me but I respect her like crazyy. I have no idea how this rec was (apparently good!!!). She’s my StudCo advisor. She’s an incredibly strong writer which went into my decision to choose her. She knows my work ethic really well and knows I busted my butt in that class but doesn’t know me super well personally so probably a 7??
Counselor Rec: I don’t really know my counselor, she was new last year but she’s very sweet and at least knows who I am, which is more than some students at my school can say. I’m sure it said what it had to but probably pretty impersonal. I’ll go with a 6. Class of 800 leggo
Additional Rec: From my research mentor who I had two publications with and tutored for. Wonderful lady. We got on suuuuper well and she loved me but she’s from France so her writing skills are probably a little iffy. 9?
Interview: Wasn’t offered one

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Nope
Intended Major: Psychology
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Suburban public high school
Ethnicity: Indian Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: too high to qualify for FA
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): anti-hook I’m brown lol

Reflection

Strengths: Extracurriculars, research, leadership, GPA, really focused “spike” in neuroscience (even though I just pursued what I enjoyed)… tbh idk what else. maybe the fact that I really talked about how I wanted to do both STEM and humanities. And essays. I honestly think they’re what tied together my app and presented myself as the person I am
Weaknesses: math ACT (the timing got me every flipping time), SAT II, no hooks, not even val or close, upper-middle class brown girl who wants to be premed
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: See above, but honestly I don’t know. I poured my heart and soul into my app and have wanted this since 7th grade.

Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted at
University of Georgia, University of Alabama Birmingham (first round acceptance in BS/MD program), Union College (first round acceptance in BS/MD program), Augusta University (first round acceptance in BS/MD program). But I’m done with apps - Stanford here I come!!!

General Comments: I still can’t believe this is real. My biggest piece of advice is don’t be afraid to be authentically you. I had people tell me I shouldn’t apply early because I didn’t have a shot. Some told me my scores weren’t high enough. Stanford admissions told me not to submit the teacher rec I submitted. Someone who looked over my essays told me that they were too “story-like” and didn’t deliver strongly enough. I didn’t listen. I realized if Stanford didn’t want me for who I was, then it wasn’t the right fit for me. So I applied the way I wanted to apply, regardless of what other people told me, and it worked.

If you’ve worked your butt off, the results will show it, no matter where you end up:) Congrats to everyone who was accepted, can’t wait to see you in the fall!!! To those who weren’t, this decision doesn’t define you and you’ll find another school where you’re meant to go. Good luck with the rest of applications!!!

34

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1520 (750 math, 770 English)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (36 English, 36 Science, 35 Reading, 31 Math)
SAT II: 770 Math, 750 Chemistry, 760 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.6 (4.9 the way Stanford calculates it)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5% (School doesn’t rank but announces top 5% at end of Junior year)
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB (5), Statistics (5), English Language (5), USH (5) Chemistry (4), 2D Studio Art (4), European History (3)… RIP I know
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 2, AP Economics, AP Government, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Environmental Science, AP Literature, World Religions/Christian Lifestyles
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMSF, some other regional awards for my photography and a lot from my school but nothing major

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Women in STEM club (cofounder and president), Amnesty International club (cofounder and president), track/cross country, coding class after school, worked in a community center for at-risk youth (aged 5-15), Ambassador for my school, mentor to the freshman, worked with a restoration society to help remove invasive species from an area, volunteered all over the place
Job/Work Experience: Worked in a water quality laboratory at a top 20 university looking at how meth interacts with wastewater treatment chemicals (IT WAS SO COOOLLLLL) for ten to fifteen hours a week for two years
Volunteer/Community service: Created a nonprofit that was based on the farm in Los Angeles that I grew up on (I adopted about fifteen animals, including a pig). I photograph pets to help make more adoptable, blog about animal issues, and advocate for reform for the teacup pig industry (fun fact: teacup pigs don’t exist!).
Summer Activities: Attended Stanford summer engineering institute, worked at a community center and tutored at-risk youth, took a physics class at UCLA that allowed me to skip AP physics 1 and go straight to 2, continued to do research
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
PS (8.5/10)- I wrote about the culture at my school and how it valued boys’ educations over girls’ (relating it back to a club I formed and the history and actions of the administrators of the school) and how I helped to change it through a lot of fighting and advocating in the community
Short Takes (10/10)- I was so myself, they were really funny and original while also providing insight into some of my goals, accomplishments, etc.
IV (10/10)- I wrote about my research and made it really funny, unique take on science and made it clear that I had a lifelong interest in water sustainability
Roommate (10/10)- I wrote about growing up in different places in America and how I used art to bridge the cultural divide between the places, eventually relating it back to how we could make Stanford a home through art, overall it was quirky and showed a lot about my childhood and ability to overcome obstacles
Meaningful (9/10)- I wrote it about my nonprofit, it was really interesting but was a bit more serious and factual than my others
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: My APUSH teacher (10/10)- I asked him to write one for me and he was so excited about it, telling em that he would do anything he could to get me into Stanford, he wrote mine within three days of me asking when it usually takes him about a month for other people, overall a strong rec from a good writer
Teacher Rec #2: My calc teacher (8/10)- I’ve had him for two years and he really likes me, but he gets a lot of requests so I’m sure it was a little less personal than my others. Still probably a very strong academic recommendation
Counselor Rec: (10/10)- My counselor loves, and we built a very strong relationship (She told me that I’m one of the strongest students who she’s seen in her career)
Additional Rec 1: (9/10)- My research mentor (who just got a PhD from Stanford) wrote me a really good one. He called a meeting with the whole lab and they team wrote it so I’m sure it ended up being pretty strong
Additional Rec 2: (10/10)- My teacher from the Stanford summer program that I attended wrote me one. This was the only one I got to read and it was really good. It was a lot about my personality in the classroom, and I think it helped me have another rec
Interview:
My interview was the first my interviewer had ever done so she was a little bit awkward, but we had a two hour conversation (the restaurant kicked us out bc they were closing so we had to stop lol) after things started to relax

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: STS, Environmental Engineering, Public Policy
State (if domestic applicant): CA (RIP)
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private, Catholic
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: Essays (!!!) and recommendations… I think the subjective are a lot more important then pure grades because Stanford gets way too many qualified apps. Another strength would be that my whole app made a lot of sense when looked at as a whole. My intended majors and why I chose Stanford made sense given my essays. I never explicitly talked about why Stanford or why my major, but I worked to make sure it could be inferred pretty easily.
Weaknesses: Subject test scores, SAT score (but my ACT made up for it I think), no hooks
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was really authentic. I talked about the good and the bad, and I think Stanford appreciated the realness of me. I was definitely not a kid who tailored their life just to get into college.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
No where yet but I’m going to apply to four other places

General Comments:
Stanford admissions are crazy, but don’t be afraid to apply if it’s what you want. I struggled with the decision to apply to Stanford early because the odds seemed absurd, but, at the end of the day, you need to apply where you think you’ll fit in. Be yourself. If they don’t want you for who you are, it is not the right school for you. Fear the tree and good luck to all future applicants!

35

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1460 (700 math, 760 English) [but did not report it to Stanford]
ACT (breakdown): 34 in September (33M, 33S, 35E, 36R, 10W); 35 superscore (33M, 34S, 35R, 36R)
SAT II: 760 USH, 740 M2, 650 Lit (lol, hi-key did not want to report them, so I didn’t)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.73
Weighted GPA: 4.27
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank (I have no idea what % I am)
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), US History (5), Statistics (4), English Language & Composition (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Physics 1, AP Gov/Econ (accelerated; classes switch after the first semester), AP Calculus AB, AP Music Theory, Leadership (comparable to ASB)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NM Commendation, AP Scholar with Honor, SCHOOL SPECIFIC: Distinguished Scholar (4 semesters) and Award of Merit (2 semesters) (highest and second highest school award for academic achievement, calculated with GPA and AP scores)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

  • Six years in Thespians Honors Society (no leadership positions)
  • Ten years in conservatory at Tony Award-winning regional theatre in Southern California.
  • Commercial actor for 8 years
  • Performed in school shows (as well as assistant music directed a high school premiere of a show)
  • Award-winning soon-to-be-published Composer/Lyricist–Thespian Musicalworks recipient
    Job/Work Experience:
  • Interned with the Asst. City Manager of a neighboring city to learn about municipal government
    Volunteer/Community service:
  • Helped lead a theatre workshop of kids at a local Boys/Girls Club
  • Performed in charity a capella choir at school (past two years).
  • NHS (joined senior year)
  • CSF (member for one semester junior year, and ongoing)
  • Community service events through Leadership class (#Lunchbag, Rise Against Hunger, NESALL)
    Summer Activities:
  • Attended the International Thespian Festival and had my musical staged with professional directors
  • Was an education intern with the regional theater’s youth conservatory (helped lead workshops of hundreds of kids).
    Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9; I am quite against giving myself a perfect grade, there were, of course, places where I could have improved on my essays (I could do with a few revisions on some word choice), but I think my essays really stood out and were diverse and thorough in my interests.
    Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8, I felt pretty confident about my recommendations, my Rec #1 was from a teacher with a fairly good acceptance rate and who famously writes great letters of rec. I was one of her favorite students (I tend to be a favorite among history teachers it seems). My second one I could have found a teacher who I clicked better with, but I hope/think she wrote a good letter (I’ll never know). My counselor had a plethora of background to write about me and my interests, and my additional rec was one of my closest/most trusted mentors.

Teacher Rec #1: First teacher recommendation was my teacher for APUSH (which I had my junior year). As stated above, I was one of her favorite students and she would always brag about the work I did to other teachers. She was friends with an alumna of my high school who now attends Harvard (who has been a close friend of mine since I was 8 or 9). Her letter of rec had a bit of a problem, because of Stanford’s two-letter limit. My teacher didn’t put hers in until the last minute and since Naviance got pushed through with a different teacher, we had to email Stanford, and she had to personally send it to them (which she promptly did, she’s the best).
Teacher Rec #2: My second recommendation came from my AP Statistics teacher (who I also had my junior year). This one I was hesitant about, because for the longest time I thought she didn’t like me, but I knew I needed a STEM teacher (and I got a B in APES, so you bet I wasn’t eager to get a letter from her). But, by the end of the year, I made sure she saw I was engaged with the material (which I was) and I think her letter was pretty good.
Counselor Rec: This is my counselor’s second year at the school, so she hasn’t known me for too long, but she was astounded by all the stuff I had done and I made sure to catch her up on everything I had done (she was maybe a bit overwhelmed when my questionnaire answers were six pages).
Additional Rec: My director at the regional theatre wrote my additional letter of rec. She is prolific and an incredible human being and she has known me since I was 8 years old. She has seen my growth as an actor and a person and she has had a lot of experience writing letters of rec (with acceptances into Stanford/Harvard/etc.).
Interview: My interview was okay. My interviewer apparently had a kid who was going to my school, which was a bit of an oddity, but it made for a good discussion. My interviewer was pretty passive about everything (infamously said that Stanford didn’t care what he said–that wasn’t the exact wording, but I don’t wanna use that language). The more I thought about it, the less confident I felt.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Theater and Performance Studies (but I also am considering minoring in public policy or political science)
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Charter School
Ethnicity: White (non-Hispanic)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <need to="" check="" back="" on="" this="" one,="" i="" forgot;="" it’s="" higher="" up="" there,="" but="" just="" forgot="">
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I think my biggest hook was my art and my interdisciplinary passion for political science. I think establishing myself as a writer gave me some ethos, and my essays showed my deep passion for politics and legislation (my experiencing a period of time essay was on the passage of Medicare and Medicaid through Congress). One thing that may have been a hook, despite the Common App trying to thwart me, was my brother’s attendance at Stanford. The Common App asks if any family member has “received a degree” which I had to answer “no”-- because he hasn’t, but I made sure to let them know that I did have a sibling and had visited the campus many times prior to applying (to show my interest and connection to the school).

Reflection

Strengths: I think I had really strong essays and my going up to audition for the TAPS department really helped show them I had an interest and passion for the school.
Weaknesses: I had low test scores and GPA. It’s a weakness of mine. I’m not the perfect student. I wish I was able to achieve a perfect GPA or get a 36 or achieve more than a commendation.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I like to think I was a good candidate. I had intellectual curiosity and a diverse set of interests, I was passionate about what I did. I don’t know any definitive reason, but I am nevertheless grateful they gave me this opportunity.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: This was my first school I have heard back from (we love an REA), so I will have to update this as time progresses.

General Comments: If you are on the fence or in doubt: apply. I know it may seem like this is one of the craziest of super reaches, but if you show a passion and think you would be a good candidate, apply. You never know. You may not have the highest test scores or GPA (I’ve read some of these and people with much higher GPA’s than mine and other good extracurriculars didn’t get in), but you just need to show them you. And if they like you, you may find yourself surprised. Go for it. You got it. :slight_smile:

36

[asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 33 (32,36,32,33)
SAT II: Math 2 - 780
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School w/no GPA
Weighted GPA: School w/no GPA
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School w/no class rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): 42 Predicted
Senior Year Course Load: HL Chem, HL Econ, HL Portuguese, SL Math, SL Brazilian Social Studies, SL English L&L
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: 3 Internships
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer for ~3 years in a charity community
Summer Activities: Yale Summer Program
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10, completely showed my personality.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 econ teacher, i love the guy like he is simply amazing
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 port. teacher, encourages me to always aim for more. A true inspiration.
Counselor Rec: 10/10
Additional Rec: 10/10
Interview: 8/10, tbh im not sure how exactly it went, it was pretty cool, but i thought that the guy thought i was a bit of a pleb lol.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: Econ/CS
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): Brazil
School Type: Priv.
Ethnicity:
Gender: M
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS, huge improvement in grades from 4-5 (freshman) to all 7 in senior year.
Weaknesses: Standardised Testing
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No results yet

General Comments: ESSAYS ESSAYS ESSAYS

37

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1500 (750 Math, 750 English)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 Reading, 35 English, 33 Math, 33 Science)
SAT II: Math II 760, US History 660 (Didn’t submit either)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.60
Weighted GPA: 4.60/5.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A but likely top 15%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics C: Mechanics (3), Calculus AB (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP French, AP Economics (Micro and Macro), AP Statistics, Honors English, Honors History, Honors Biology, Intensive Journalism
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2 x Scholastic All-American, 2 x All-American

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: Seasonal Lifeguard, Editor for school newspaper, contributing writer for local weekly newspaper
Volunteer/Community service: Some volunteer work through my local Church
Summer Activities: Training, life-guarding
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 9.5, spent a lot of time on them and wrote about things other than my sport like my passion for writing/media. I really think I nailed the 50 word essays

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:(10+/10). English teacher who I had for 3 years, I was one of his last recs before he retired. Really got along well with him and would stop by his room often to chat about politics and sports, He mailed me a letter over the summer telling me to stay in touch and that he would be following my athletic career on the West Coast.
Teacher Rec #2: (9/10). She was my junior year history teacher and we really got along well despite occasional differences over political ideology. She asked me if I wanted a rec from her before I had even reached out and she was really good about getting my rec done before the end of junior year.
Counselor Rec: (9/10). We got along really well and she had both of my older brothers so she knew my family well. She really understood the athletic recruiting process and helped me out a ton when I missed large chunks of school for traveling and competing.
Additional Rec: No additional recs but I think my recommendations were really good because they were written in the Spring of Junior year when my teachers had less things to do and weren’t writing a bunch of other recs like they do in the Fall. It was their first time writing recs that early but it was part of the athletic recruiting process.
Interview: Did not have one. I got my acceptance letter in July and my understanding is that most interviews take place in the Fall so I did not have one.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: MS & E, Economics, or Political Science
State (if domestic applicant): Connecticut
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Recruited athlete

Reflection

Strengths: Recruited athlete, essays/recommendations, test scores
Weaknesses: GPA
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I worked really, really hard at school and athletics for many years and it paid off. I fully understand that I would not have gotten into Stanford without my sport, but I also dedicated and sacrificed enormous amounts of time and effort to my sport and Stanford must have taken that into consideration.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I did not formally apply anywhere else but I received positive pre-reads at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and some other big public schools

General Comments: Athletes are people too.

38

Decision: Rejected

Objective:
Took all standardized tests only once, so don’t think I took like an insane amount of tries to get to these:
SAT I (breakdown): 1590; 800 Math, 790 RW; 7/6/8 on essay
ACT (breakdown): 36; 36 Math, 36 English, 36 Writing, 36 Science; 10 on essay
SAT II: 800 Math II; 800 Physics; 800 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: School doesn’t do this, but if calculated is a 4.55

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t do rank. But definitely top 3 out of class of 420.
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Stats (5), AP Phys C: Mech (5), AP Phys C: E&M (5), AP Chem (5), AP Comp Sci (5), APWH (4), APUSH (4), AP Lang (4), AP Economics (4/4)

IB (place score in parenthesis): Not offered
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Bio, AP Psych, AP Literature, AP French, Differential Equations (math class at local college), Theater Production and Academic Coach (basically a TA)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Made AIME every year from AMC, National AP Scholar 2 years, Placed top 3 in like 8 events in the state science olympiad over 3 years, same with the state Mu Alpha Theta.

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Swim Team (Captain), Water Polo (Starting Varsity), Math Club (Treasurer), Science Club (VP), National Science Honors Society (Founder)

Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard in the summer between junior and senior year. Explained that couldn’t work before that because I wasn’t 16 yet.

Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at local Boys and Girls Club. Volunteered at a local Science Center, and got promoted to a position that only people who were over 18 years were allowed to have. Swim Instructor.

Summer Activities: Work, Volunteering

Essays (rating 1-10, details):
8/10 Common App: Wrote about my move from India my freshman year, and how I joined the water polo and swim teams and found my place. Tried to steer away from cliches of being sad or having a jock story. Just described my first week of practice, and how that was super hard and how staying with it showed different aspects of my personality.
9/10 Supplement: Wrote pretty witty answers that I thought showed various aspects of my behavior. Humor and the fun side, but also a thoughtful and dedicated person.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 English teacher who was in awe of me. He was an extremely good writer so I’m sure he made his letter like a work of art.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10 Physics teacher. He was super chill and a great teacher and friend. I used to love talking to him about physics stuff and he knew I wanted to major in astrophysics too so I’m sure he wrote about that.
Counselor Rec: 6/10 He knew that I was a great student and everything, but I don’t think it would have been very personal. I hadn’t really put in the time or effort to get to know him or even talk to him much.
Additional Rec:
Interview: 8/10 Came off as very passionate about the college and knew what I was talking about in terms of both Stanford, astrophysics and how the two came together.

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Astrophysics
State (if domestic applicant): Washington
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Indian (like the country)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Prefer not to say
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection:
Strengths: Great test scores, GPA, extracurriculars, and volunteering.
Weaknesses: Maybe my essays or rec letters, although I don’t think it was that.
Why you think you were rejected: Like 7 or 8 people applied from our school, and as an almost steadfast rule, only one gets in. I thought it was going to be me, but other people had some other factors cough cough race cough on their side. Maybe even despite the extracurriculars and roundedness that I tried to display, they still thought I didn’t have anything super significant like a research paper or something.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Have applied to UW, UCSB, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Columbia, UChicago. Waiting to hear back, but in my mind I’m going to UW (my safety), and if I get in anywhere else that’s an upgrade…

General Comments: I literally made this profile for just this post, to get this off my chest and hopefully show through comparisons, how the admissions process is effectively just luck once you reach an acceptance rate <10%. Hopefully, all of you great people keep in mind that a rejection from Stanford is an acceptance for some other college, and that other college will be happy to have you. It’s Stanford’s loss. Stay strong, and remain happy!

39

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1590 (800 Math, 790 Reading)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800 Math II, Physics, Chemistry; 780 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): > 4
Weighted GPA:
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics C E&M (5) + Mechanics (5), Bio (5), Chem (5), English Lang (5), Calc BC (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: hard as hell
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AIME x2, other stuff

Subjective:

Job/Work Experience: paid research
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10 poured my heart into them
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 8 (?)

Teacher Rec #1: great
Teacher Rec #2: meh, should’ve asked smn else
Counselor Rec: great
Additional Rec: great
Interview: surprisingly good; his career matched my interests

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: some science
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: boarding school
Ethnicity: asian
Gender: female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): kinda first gen

Reflection

Strengths: essays and scores def
Weaknesses: basically no volunteer exp in hs
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: :wink:
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: done

General Comments: SO EXCITED TO MEET EVERYONE ELSE SEE YALL IN THE FALL <3

40

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1600 (800 M/800 EBRW)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E/36 M/33 R/36 S/30 ELA/9 Writing)
SAT II:
US History, Math 2, Physics (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/248
AP (place score in parenthesis):
World History, CS A, APUSH, Physics 1, Physics 2, Eng Lang, Calc BC, Calc AB Subscore (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
Dual-Credit Biotech Internship, Linear Algebra/Multivariable Calculus, AP Chinese, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Physics C: E&M/Mech, Independent Study Computer Science, Art I, Health
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
National Merit Semifinalist/National Hispanic Scholar
State recognition in expository writing

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
National Hispanic Institute - NHI (Head Coach, John F Lopez Fellow, 2018 CA Speaker of the House)
School Ambassador (Ambassador)
Earth and Space Science Club, School Chapter of NHI (President/Director)
Job/Work Experience:
Internship at Y Combinator bioinformatic startup
Started biotech company (dnalocker.org)
NASA SEES Internship
Volunteer/Community service:
NHS
NHI
Summer Activities:
Travel (Galapagos, Camino de Santiago)
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies Summer Institutes and Stanford Lagunita online.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay - 10, detailed how my experience at NASA changed the way I perceived myself as I became empowered to mentor others at school and NHI.
Stanford Supplements: 8, worried about lacking specificity for question about what I’d like to experience at Stanford
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10, from biotech teacher who knows professor at Stanford, really good friendship and I helped him out a lot setting up his equipment and computers.
Teacher Rec #2: 6, English teacher, enjoyed class but I didn’t think there was too much opportunity for engagement
Counselor Rec: 10, good relationship as she ran the school ambassador program, talked about my background (from Montana)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Excellent, interviewer also participated in NHI, had intriguing discussions about favorite books, my reasoning for starting company and volunteering at NHI

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Listed Biomedical Computation
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Comprehensive magnet, #16 in nation (US News and World Report)
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Masculine
Income Bracket: ~$150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, legacy (dad, uncle did masters degrees), born at (and conceived in vitro by) Stanford, raised in Montana

Reflection

Strengths:
Strong sense of community and the importance of unity and diversity. Extreme focus on my passions in decentralized computing and biotech.
Weaknesses:
Thought I could have been more specific when explaining why Stanford specifically, but I think I made up for it in the interview.
Why you think you were accepted:
Probably a combination of academic rigor, extracurriculars (Stanford is on the NHI College Register), and legacy preference. According to Stanford, it was my “passion, determination, accomplishments, and heart.”
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Auto-admit at UT Austin, haven’t heard back from anywhere else yet.
Also applied to UCLA and UC Berkeley, plan to finish MIT application (since I already submitted Part 1)

See my Quora post about my application: https://www.quora.com/What-was-on-your-application-that-got-you-into-Stanford-MIT-or-an-Ivy-League-school/answer/Alex-Loia