Stanford Fall 2017 Transfer

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
41

Does anyone know if Stanford notifies transfer applicants of admission decisions earlier than the date that’s on their website? My friend’s friend applied to Stanford as a transfer applicant and already got a decision saying they’re admitted!
Btw, I wish the best of luck to all of you, it’s so nice to see such diverse talented students applying. Here are my stats:

-Female, East-Indian, middle class, transferring from a California community college.
-Major: Anthropology
-College GPA: 3.6
-Extra-curriculars:
Women’s intercollegiate Track & Field athlete
Volunteering in Anthropology department for my current school.
Volunteer for Sacramento Sports commission
-Recommendations: I’m thankful enough to have gotten two recommendation letters from the best professors I’ve had in my life! One from my English professor and one from my Anthro professor.
Essay: Felt pretty good about the essay. Just expressed myself as best as I could and told my story.

High School: I was not the greatest student in HS… had less than a 3.0 average GPA, and wasn’t serious about my studies. I’ve learned a lot through college so far and was able to pick myself up academically.

42

@Shagunbali Are you certain that your friend (of a friend) is accurate in that they received an external transfer acceptance for fall 2017?

Not calling them a liar, but in years past, all transfer decisions have been released in one burst, within the first two weeks of May.

Would be very odd to break that for a single student.

43

@mjr2013 This is what I thought, but I had gone on their social media and they had the news posted on their profile. This is why I asked because I was so confused. :0

44

Perhaps they were taken on as a guest student or something to that effect. Maybe it’s just an alternative fact :wink:

But I’m confident that what they were referring is not what those here are competing for

45

Hey guys,

Do any of you know if Stanford sends out all the admissions decision letters exactly on May 15th, or if its possible for them to start sending them earlier? Also, are the letters sent only by mail or do they send them by email or through the portal as well?

46

@kitkatt24 I was wondering the same exact thing. I know that the Freshman applicants were able to view their admission decisions in the portal on a certain date, so I am assuming we will be able to view on the portal as well on May 15th. :slight_smile:

47

It’s usually before. They all come at once though. Last two years I believe have been May 3rd or 4th

48

May 6th at 3pm PST last year

49

Can someone get into Stanford with B average and a few general ECs, but just an essay by just telling their personality, passion and interests?

50

@l’arc-en-ciel I mean maybe! But they have a 1.98% transfer rate (like 30 transfer acceptances per year), so it’s really hard to say/hope for anyone.

51

I know there aren’t a lot of Vets applying. I’m trying to transfer into Stanford for Fall. I’ve already gotten into a few other good schools, so I think I still have a good shot. Haven’t gotten rejected from anywhere yet! My stats are below… I’m not sure if I’m a strong candidate? No one can really give me a clear answer… and no one knows anything about Vets.

MY STATS:
Military Veteran, Male, Caucasian/Latino, lower middle class, transferring from a Community College

Current School: Local California Community College
Major: Computer Science and Physics
Long term Goal: To go into the Cyber Security field
College GPA: 3.87

Extracurriculars Stuff:

  • Non-traditional student. (27 years old, I have a large gap in my education due to deployments)
  • Ex-Special Forces Vet, Honorably Discharged
  • Know a very rare, specific Middle Eastern Dialect (Currently less than 5 people in the US can teach it)
  • Been deployed to the Middle East Three times and a few European Countries
  • Recovering from combat PTSD
  • Graduated from Defense Language Institute (DLI) in a class with a less than 18% pass rate (this is a specific military intelligence training school) with honors
  • Was heavily involved in overhauling internal Military Computer Systems
  • Won multiple Military awards (Exceptional Service in the field, language awards, ect)
  • Volunteer for Wounded Warriors, The Boys and Girls Club of America, a local Animal Shelter, The local Aquarium
  • On campus tutor for Math, Calculus and Computer Science
  • Part of the college Computer Science club
  • First generation college student in my family
  • Currently going to school on the GI Bill
  • Came from a single parent household, below the poverty threshold

Recommendations: Got glowing reviews from a very close Math Professor and a great Physics Professor. My Math Professor is from MIT, my Physics professor from Berkeley.

Essays: I think my essays were excellent. I wrote about my wartime experience, dealing with PTSD, overcoming poverty to search for a better education and specifically going into why Stanford is interesting to me and the professors I want to learn from while I’m there. Stanford has great Cyber Security specific classes and professors, so I spent a lot of time writing about that. Spend about 4 months on them. I worked closely with several people in vetting out issues in them. A local editor I know said they were “Grad School Material”.

High School GPA: Weighted: 4.4 UW: 4.0
SAT: 1700 (Only took it once, the advisor at Stanford said I did not need to take it again)

Other schools that I applied to other than Stanford: UCSC, UCB, Columbia, NYU, local state schools
Accepted: UCSC, Columbia, NYU, all state schools
Pending: UCB, and Stanford

Comments: The Veteran’s office said I was quite a strong contender. I guess Vets are taken into a special transfer pool (they have specific slots set aside for us) and I’m up for one of the reserved spots.

I still dont feel very strong… what do you guys think?

52

Has the decisions of Columbia come out? @pinkcloudsonmars

53

@luckybaby, from what I understand Vets got in earlier. They let me know super fast.

54

@pinkcloudsonmars Woah you already heard back from Columbia??? Congrats! I almost think that you should choose Columbia over Stanford if you’re accepted… It sounds like you have a great chance.

55

@pinkcloudsonmars When did you find out about Columbia?

56

@lexluther96 I found out late last week - I got an email from their Veteran’s office and the application page updated. I do want to stay in California. New York is so expensive. I do have some time to wait for Stanford though, however.

57

@pinkcloudsonmars As a fellow California (and Bay Area) native, I understand! The weather in NY blows, and everything is expensive as heck. However, Columbia generally offers very generous FA packages — it’d cost me only $22k (including living expenses) to attend and I’m from a middle class family, whereas the UCs will cost me $30k, and UMich is going to cost me about $40k . Nevertheless, Columbia is an amazing school. I wish you the best of luck in whatever route you choose! I’m sure you’ll get into Stanford.

58

@pinkcloudsonmars
First of all, thank you for your service! I live just a couple miles from the DLI in Monterey, so I have a great respect for all the servicemen and women who pass through there. A couple of my friends attend DLI, and from what I’ve heard, the pace of those language classes is intense!

It seems pretty clear to me that you make a strong candidate since you’ve already been accepted to an incredibly reputable school like Columbia (Congratulations by the way!) Your essays will definitely help, especially since you’ve gotten such good feedback on them. I’m sure Stanford values those who have shown that they can overcome adversity and succeed on an exceptional level. It’s probably more assuring for them that you have the ability to tackle any difficult challenges that may come up while you’re a student at Stanford.

Also, I think what may really work in your favor is that the field you are interested in ties into your history with the military. It highlights how your experiences have shaped your intellectual pursuits Our relations with the Middle East are more important than ever, and your knowledge (and hands-on experience) in a specific dialect in that region can set you apart from a lot of other people applying to the field of cyber security.

Your other activities all have a certain theme connecting them- an excellent indicator that you do these things because you are truly passionate about them. Volunteering at Vet support centers and other areas in the community demonstrates that you still serve others even after being discharged from military service. Your direct experience with military computer systems, plus your demonstrated interest in math, calculus, etc., only adds to the overall picture of your application.

I’m just a fellow transfer applicant to though, so at the end of the day I’m in really no place to say what Stanford is/isn’t looking for…and overall Stanford can be near impossible for anyone to get into. It does seem that they are looking to craft a student body that can offer many different perspectives and insights though, since they seem to place a stronger emphasis on their essays than other schools in their caliber. Your life experiences definitely boost your chances in that category. I hope that you really do feel proud of all that you have accomplished, and know that even if you are denied from Stanford (hopefully not!), you’ll still have Columbia, NYU, and the UCs, which are all amazing schools, to choose from. Best of luck to you!

59

@pinkcloudsonmars And thanks for letting us know! I guess us regular applicants should expect the Columbia decisions to start rolling out…! :slight_smile:

60

is it bad if I provide additional information to Stanford through email?

About three years ago, I wrote on the word document why I had bad grades from previous college and sent them by an email with ADD medical certificate.

Yesterday, I wrote about things I want to do in the future to Stanford through email. This time I did not write in the word document.

Will they still read them? Or was it not a good idea?