Stanford? I chance back!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am going to be a senior this year and am thinking about applying ea to Stanford, but idk if it is to much of a long shot!

I am a white german jewish female from upstate NY and I attend the 26th best hs in the country
I have a 3.8-3.9 GPA uw, all A range grades throughout highschool
My recs and essay should be pretty strong
It’s very obvious that my grades and the difficulty of the classes I have taken during high school have increased through the years, I heard colleges like to see that

My SATs were a 2010 and ACTs a 29
***I know they are kinda low for better schools

Senior classes: AP sats, AP bio, AP micro, Suny Syracuse English (SUPA), Suny Albany Intro to poy sci Honors, Calc

Important ecs are:

Student council class rep, Historian twice, and Vice President
Pep club for 4 years and treasurer for 1
Key club for 4 years
Youth court for 4 years
Temples youth groups for 5 years and on board for 2
In National federation of temple youth for 4 years and a temple rep for it for 2
National Honors Society
40 hour internship
Around 200 hours of community service, including 30 from Israel and the middle east
CIT at a sleep away camp I was a camper at for 8 years
Softball team for 5 years and captain twice
Volleyball team 4 times and captain twice
Travel volleyball team for 3 years and captain 2 times
And I played freshmen basketball for a year

I’m looking to go into international or political communications

HOOK- Junior year I spent a semester abroad in Israel for 4 months without my family, going to schools, learning Israel’s history, learning and embracing and living in Israeli culture, learning hebrew, volunteering around Israel, joining the “mock IDF”, hiking from Jordan to the sea, visiting gaza and the west bank, and going to Poland on a Holocaust remembrance trip–I also lived in Israel for the summer 2014 during the war with Hamas,

My essay will relate living in Israel and traveling around/ learning the culture and laungage and living there, and my semester abroad is why I want to do international communications

2

You have good ECs and really good GPA at a tough school, but that ACT is going to really hold you back when applying to somewhere like Stanford. At the very least, I would say strive to break the 30 mark, and aim for a 32-33. A lot of people are going to tell you to not even bother applying, but if its your dream, go for it. You’ll never know until you try!

3

^^ uh oh. There’s an much higher version of myself out there.

4

Stanford received over 42,000 applications last year from kids doing all sorts of diverse things. How is studying abroad a “Hook”? Your ACT score is really a tough hurdle to overcome particularly since you don’t have anything that really makes you stand out from the crowd. Consider retaking it but even with a better score Stanford will be a reach. You really should be looking at colleges that you are more of a match for. Especially, if you want to apply someplace early. Good luck with everything.

5

^^ I agree. Studying abroad is not a hook. Hook would be something more along the lines of first gen or legacy. That’s just another ec. Stanford is definitely a reach with your sat/act however there is nothing wrong with applying to a few reaches. Just be sure not to put all your eggs in one basket; apply to a wide range of matches and safeties that you will be just as happy with. Focus on sat and act now.

6

You know what they say, Falcon. 97th times the charm.

7

Hate to say it but the first thing a college looks for is scores and 88% of stanford’s freshman class has act over 30, What that says is the other 12% that don’t have the score probably have some type of major hook. In order to be competitive for stanford you should aim to break 30.

8

Whenever anyone creates a “chance me” thread for HYPSM, other Ivies, Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, and the other hyperselective/elite schools, the answer – to avoid misleading the poster – should be “Reach”.

At best, “Low Reach” at some of those schools that allow ED apps.

So: you are a Reach for Stanford. You have a sweet resume except for the test score; do improve that. Even then, Stanford remains a Reach.

So definitely apply to more reaches, a few matches, and at least one admissions safety (typically a state school or less selective private) that you could afford and that you would not mind attending.

9

Breaking the 30 mark will only increase your chances, as will getting it up to a 31, 32, etc. However, you never know until you apply. Some Stanford admissions officer could read your essay and just flat out demand that you be admitted. Now, that is highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened. If Stanford is your dream, go ahead and apply.

10

I agree with previous posters, Stanford is definitely a reach even with higher test scores, not only because of you but the university is extremely unpredictable with its admissions. Although not a hook, your work in Israel is definitely something that will set you aside from other applicants.

I’d say go for it because you never know what they’re looking for, and you’re ECs are really great!

Chance me back!! → http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1804981-carnegie-mellon-computer-science.html#latest

11

@REP26x2, how was your travel to Israel funded and arranged? It is a neat EC, but if your family paid for it then it has much less oomph. If you worked to pay for it yourself then it shows more initiative. If it was sponsored/funded then it is even more impressive. And if it was sponsored/funded and competitive then it is definitely worth highlighting. But under no circumstances is it a “hook”, as others have noted.

Stanford is perhaps the most “holistic” of the elite schools, taking whom they want and not being very influenced by test scores. It’s possible that your application could find a sympathetic voice within the adcom. With that said, the vast majority of admits - especially REA admits - will have the grades, scores, curricular rigor AND will have done some really exceptional things.

If you apply to Stanford you should be realistic about your chances, which are currently low. Your test scores are below the 25th percentile, and your ECs do not particularly stand out, though your Israel trip may be a compelling story.

You should also realize that Stanford REA not only has a lower admit rate than many other top schools, but - perhaps even more importantly - also a much higher outright rejection rate. For example, in 2012 Stanford admitted 11.8% of REA applicants (725/6103) but deferred only 9.4% (572/6103). They outright rejected the vast majority (4806/6103, or 78.8%).

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2012/12/14/stanford-admits-725-early-applicants-from-record-breaking-pool/

In contrast, last year Harvard not only admitted a much higher percentage of early applicants (977/5919, or 16.5%), but they only rejected 9.2% outright; the vast majority were deferred (4292/5919 or 72.5%; another 1.8% of applications were either withdrawn or incomplete).

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/12/12/early-admissions-class-2019/

So REA applicants to Harvard in 2014 had an 89% chance of either being accepted or deferred, whereas REA applicants to Stanford in 2012 (the last year for which I’ve found published deferral numbers) had only a 21.2% chance of being accepted or deferred. Big difference. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Stanford’s 2014 numbers were even more harsh. And it’s not just Harvard. Last year Yale admitted 16% and deferred 57% of SCEA applicants, with only 26% rejected. I haven’t been able to find deferral data for Princeton SCEA, but last year they admitted 19.9%, almost as high as Stanford’s 2012 admission+deferral rate combined.

So you may want to think twice about applying REA to Stanford, especially if you don’t have updated test scores before the deadline. And you should have a lot of contingencies line up.

12

I found some 2013 numbers for Stanford, which were similar: 10.8% accepted (748/6948), 8.5% deferred (593/6948), and a whopping 80.7% rejected (5607/6948).

http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/12/14/stanford-accepts-748-for-early-admission-to-class-of-2018/

The deferral rate for 2014 isn’t out, but the admit rate was 10.1%, and I would guess that the deferral/rejection numbers are similar. When you factor in legacies and athletic recruits being admitted early, the REA admissions rate for unhooked applicants is ridiculously low, and the chances of getting rejected outright extremely high.

13

Hi I’m in NFTY class of 2016 too so I just wanted to say hi! Couple things - it’s North American Federation of Temple Youth, not national, just fyi :slight_smile: also for the israel program you did, make sure to emphasize how it affected you and not just how awesome it was. I do agree it would be helpful to try and get your scores up a little, but the main thing Stanford emphasized when I visited was wanting people with “Intellectual vitality”, so try to show that!

14

Grades are fine - SAT’s are low - EC’s are ooookay. You have no spike, nothing that stands out, and no awards above the state level really.


[QUOTE=""]

HOOK- Junior year I spent a semester abroad in Israel for 4 months without my family, going to schools, learning Israel’s history, learning and embracing and living in Israeli culture, learning hebrew, volunteering around Israel, joining the “mock IDF”, hiking from Jordan to the sea, visiting gaza and the west bank, and going to Poland on a Holocaust remembrance trip–I also lived in Israel for the summer 2014 during the war with Hamas,

[/QUOTE]

This is not a hook. At all. It’s a fun thing you had the fortune to do, and if it’s important to you, you can write the essay on it. But it’s not a hook. Being jewish/Israeli/bilingual/having stayed in another country isn’t a hook. K.

Stanford - high reach. You have an OK shot but eh.

Chance me back?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1804650-bad-grades-good-test-scores-good-ecs-please-chance-me-for-tiers-hypsm-through-george-washington.html

15

As all the other posters have said, your test scores are really holding you back. And, unfortunately, while studying abroad adds a lot to your resume, it’s not a hook and doesn’t particularly stand out so much so that it would make or break an admissions decision. You never know though, you could write an absolutely killer essay and get in! HYPSM admissions are like an 8th world wonder so don’t be discouraged to apply to Stanford if it’s your dream!

Chance me back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1796213-good-test-scores-and-leadership-but-average-gpa-chance-me-for-these-schools-please.html#latest

16

Or lower, depending on how you look at it.

17

Stanford? Very unlikely. What is your class rank?