I am an international student from Azerbaijan. I am currently doing my SAT, my A levels (British equivalent of AP courses) and I am planning to work on my SAT Subject Tests this summer.
I want to apply to Stanford but i can’t decide if if should apply early. What are my chances as an international student? Do universities like Stanford tend to accept more American students for their early application pool? Will my chances of getting to Stanford increase?
I hope someone can help me because i can’t decide when to apply. Thank you!
They accept students who have already made a difference. With a 5% admit, you need to be a D1 athlete or someone who has changed the world already. It’s the hard truth.
Stanford is very difficult to get into, but you don’t have to have “changed the world world already.” People on CC like to pretend that your admissions chance at HYPSM is 0 unless you’re already a bestselling author or leading scientist by the age of 18. Last year, one kid from my school got into Harvard and another Stanford; they were 1 and 2 in the class, had phenomenal scores, and were both rejected from other Top 20 schools, but they still managed to get into H and S without curing cancer.
Without knowing your scores, grades, and course rigor, it is impossible to say whether you have a chance. For most international applicants, admissions is even more competitive. However, I suspect Stanford does not have many students from Azerbaijan, which would make it a bit of a geographical hook. Either way, you will need very high grades and scores to have a shot.
@usualhopeful Thanks for the confidence boost! Stanford already has 3 students from Azerbaijan and their scores are very high (I know all of them). I do realise that it is very competitive but as you have already mentioned there is no need to be an author by the age of 18.
The only question that still bothers me though is the early action. Do you think it is worth applying in November? Does it really increase my chances of getting into Stanford or it would be even more challenging since the early application pool is extremely competitive?
It depends on if Stanford is your number one choice (or if you want to use that REA slot for another school) and your application strength. Unless your application will be noticeably stronger by the later deadline then I’d apply early. If they think you’re on the edge they can always defer you to the regular applicant pool.
The numbers were posted by the school after REA decisions were released. If I remember correctly, REA had around a 10% acceptance rate, whereas RD had a percentage rate somewhere in the 3’s. Someone on CC ran those numbers. But I’m sure you can look up that info too.
It’s a good way to show interest in a school too. Just keep in mind though that a lot of early applicants include athletes and other “reserved” slots so arguably it’s a more competitive pool - that higher percentage acceptance rate can be misleading. For a “normal” applicant the acceptance rate may be slightly lower than the 10% (but likely is still slightly higher than your chances regular decision).