I recently read on this page
That one has to play sports/do some sort of entrepreneur/business thing to go to Stanford. I do not play any sports, and I don’t really have a lot of entrepreneur experience?
Will this ruin my chances of getting in?
Here are some of my stats if anyone’s interested: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1933207-chances-for-stanford-other-engineering-schools-p1.html
I didn’t read the article so I will accept your interpretation of it. I didn’t play a sport in high school. I did not do any entrepreneur/business thing. I was accepted early action. None of my friends at Stanford were into sports. Very few of them did anything of a business nature in high school.
Actually I don’t think playing a high school sport helps at all. I don’t why anyone would say that. Of course, I am not talking about nationally recruited athletes for varsity teams.
It said that playing a sport/entrepreneurship meant that you had leadership/risk-taking qualities that they wanted? I don’t really know, I thought you could demonstrate those qualities without sports, so I was a little worried. Thank you for your feedback!
Being good at sports and other things helps because no one wants to admit a one-track minded robot. The prototypical boy/girl from a comfortable middleclass/upper middleclass family who has the luxury to study 12 hours a day and load up on ECs… very very typical. A poor kid who has to help his single mom take care of his little 6 sisters and brothers while balancing school would be a stronger applicant to most top schools than the stereotypical introvert with a 4.0 who has never faced hardship and never does anything else.
Good grades are important but if you balance it out with sports (and other things that demonstrate broad talent) it demonstrates that you just aren’t some anti-social nerdy person with a lot of free time, and have a more multi-faceted multi-talented personality.
You’ll get in to a lot of really good schools just on grades alone, but the some top schools might see you as flawed for these reasons.
I also play a couple instruments and such, do you think that would help? I mean, I definitely have the upper middle class privilege (based on my school culture), but most of the ECs I do are because I enjoy them. Also I definitely took the more humorous approach to my essays to try to show more personality and that jazz. Would that have been a good approach?
zzb: What you should do is stop reading about Stanford tips.
Rather than spend time and emotion on your “chances”, I’m sure there are about 50million more productive and fun things to do. You’re viable. And no one here can give you your “chances” – and there’s nothing you can do to improve your app at this point anyway.
I understand some anxiety but you really need to STOP. – you’re over the top. You and your 2370 and multiple 800s need to go and get a life outside this screaming insecurity fest. Five or six bumps on your chances thread???
Please. You’re much better than this. You need to read this: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20027516/#Comment_20027516
What can I say. I reek of tears and desperation.
Then that’s not good for your outcome. Really. What top colleges are looking for is how do their applicants think. Do they think deeply and logically and with a purpose? In their class and EC choices. In their essay topic choices and presentation. In how they conduct themselves around classmates and instructors.
Certainly your CC post history is only a small sliver of who you are – but man, it is fraught with unattractive characteristics. Ask yourself: would an insecure and constantly self-doubting person (despite your clear academic achievements) be interesting to be around? Do you know what letting go and being chill even means?
These are serious questions. You’ll have an ulcer before December. Please please please stop and get off this train. Your life will NOT be defined by your test scores and the school that confers your eventual diploma.
… it was a joke. it’s okay to laugh.
T26E4 your lecturing and belittling a 17 year old kid is a little much. His post was obviously in jest. You seem obsessed with chasing him off the board. This is suppose to be a forum to help and support high school students going through a difficult application process. At the moment I see the kid’s number of posts at 54 and yours at over 23K.
Re: OP, as a Stanford alum and interviewer, I can tell you that neither sports nor entrepreneurship is a requirement for admissions. I had zero entrepreneurship and only a couple semesters of non-varsity sports; many of my classmates had neither. For the vast majority of American schools, there are quite few few “must do” things to get in, aside from the obvious ones posted on their admissions websites (e.g., take the SAT or ACT). Many schools including Stanford focus on diversity–you obviously won’t get a very diverse class if everyone accepted was a varsity athlete who started a small business.
If you’re interested in admissions, you can take a peek at this article which was published in our alumni magazine towards the end of my undergrad time there. I’ll let you interpret it as you will. Good luck with your application cycle, and remember that most people love their college experience regardless of where they go. That said, Stanford is an excellent place to go. 
https://alumni.stanford.edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=66225
Thank you so much for the link! I’ll check it out.