<p>I heard a story of a kid whose mom met my mom randomly in the street today.</p>
<p>The kid just got into Stanford. The thing is: he went to America 6 years ago (which is very long), got a 4.0 GPA (weighted), and got "some" prize for a math contest. He is not even an officer of a club or does not do anything amazing.</p>
<p>What kind of admission is this? I mean he just went to America 6 years ago, but that was actually long enough for him to be considered as "equal" as other students in the admission for Stanford. I know some people getting into Stanford after only 3 years in America, but they are like really smary (AIME level, USA Math Olympiad winner, Science Olympiad winner, SAT 2300 and SAT 2s with 800, GPA 4.2, presidency and all that crap.)</p>
<p>Some other possible options would be that his SAT score is hella high or that "some" award he got is like USAMO or something. But still, that is not enough to go to Stanford for a kid coming to America 6 years already.</p>
<p>Are admissions that unfair? That makes me feel bad cuz I have been so much time doing ECs since I came to America.</p>
<p>I really don't see why his been 6 years in the country is an issue at all. If people have enough drive, they will be able to achieve ALOT in that time period. I have a friend whose vocabulary is insane (he sounds like a college professor, no kidding) and he has only been here for like 3 years and has learned and super mastered the English language in that time period much better than the average native speaker. </p>
<p>Point is: don't underestimate someone because of the time period they've been in this country. That is completely irrelevant. </p>
<p><<<he is="" not="" even="" an="" officer="" of="" a="" club="" or="" does="" do="" anything="" amazing.="">>></he></p>
<p>He might not be an officer, but that does not mean he doesn't do anything amazing. Perhaps this kid you have only heard of does indeed have an amazing talent. Another possibility is that he brings different experiences to the campus. Colleges look at different backgrounds, etc. They don't want a student body comprised of 100% WASPS because they want to bring more life experiences to the table. It makes sense. Perhaps this kid escaped from a war torn country, moved into a new life, fought his way through the ghetto, you never know. Maybe he lost a loved one. Maybe he witnessed terrorism firsthand. Who knows?</p>
<p>Furthermore, yes, his scores might be incredible, which, when mixed with the rest of his app (which is probably really good) got him into Stanford.</p>
<p>GOSH, he didn't even do the mandatory club officer route? How can you get into a good college without doing this, this and this? </p>
<p>If you think college is that streamlined, I really don't think you're in it for the right reasons.</p>
<p>He could've done something amazing or really thought provoking like starting some community wide food drive or something for hungry kids in Africa.</p>
<p>Never judge an acceptance because of "4.0 and 2300 SAT score". That's only a small portion of the whole story.</p>
<p>I like Dice pretty much summed it up. There is no direct route one needs to take to gain admission to Stanford. Also, I would take the story with a grain of salt considering it is just a story from some random person on the street.</p>
<p>You are aware that the admission proccess is basically a crapshoot?</p>
<p>What does the # of years since arrival in America have anything to do with the college admissions process? The problem with word of mouth reports is that most of it is pure speculation. It happens very often with Asian moms. </p>
<p>"________! You must do 500 hours community service! My friend's friend's friend's daughter got into Harvard with ONLY a 2250 but her mother said they liked her service hours! So you must do that too."
(this was something actually said to me by my mom)</p>
<p>It's all just luck, some of it has to do with grades and stuff of course, but luck also plays a HUGE role in it.</p>