The Academic Index

<p>Does Stanford use this also like the Ivy Leagues? If not, how does Stanford rate an applicant's academic achievement (major alliteration going on)?</p>

<p>im pretty sure they dont use it. even if they do it will only be for recruited athletes.</p>

<p>There is a book at my local library about the entire Stanford admissions process (although its about 5 years old). I remember reading about an academic index and an extra-curricular index on a scale of 1 to 5. For academics, 1s would be like 4.0 GPAs and 1550+ SAT, and 5s would be like 3.2 GPAs and 1300+ SAT (I'm just estimating, I don't have the book in front of me). The the EC index would be 1 for international achievement (only a dozen or so applicants would have this) and 5 for achievement just at school level or something.</p>

<p>I think the point of that passage was that they don't rely on that index though, and it just gives them a way to know what to expect before reading the application thorougly. The author kept saying how nobody would be admitted just because they had a 1 and a 3, and nobody would be denied just because they only had 4s. Basically, the whole chapter was trying to say how they'll look through the entire appication, and no one statistic like SAT will get you in or keep you out.</p>

<p>hmmm....there's also a book from 1989 ish (wow, which would be over 15 years old...good lord, i feel old) about stanford's entire admission process. perhaps it's the same book?</p>

<p>My book was red :-) The title had a number like a million applications or something.</p>

<p>100,000 :p</p>

<p>"Questions and Admissions." I read a couple of years ago, and was shocked to realize that it quoted my application from 1978.</p>

<p>Really? What did it quote you on?</p>

<p>It was in a section called "Ethical Dilemmas"</p>

<p>She wrote that she tended to discount the applications that made her laugh, and then quoted mine as an example. It went something like this: "I understand that Stanford students tend to be tall, blond, tanned, and very healthy looking. I am short, dark-haired, pale, and rather sickly in appearance. I'm hoping this might make me eligible for some sort of special admissions program."</p>

<p>I figure my file must have made its way into a "funny applications" folder, given the long time that passed between the application and the book's publication.</p>

<p>In those days you had the option of including a picture of yourself on your application. The one I used showed my face all scrunched up in my hands, with a caption reading "You can help this man,or you can turn the page." (At the time, it was a slogan you used to see in a lot of "Save the Children" magazine ads.)</p>

<p>Wow, that is so cool! I remember reading that passage. Did you end up getting in under a special admissions program? =)</p>

<p>Maybe so. There were ten of us who transferred in that quarter (in those days they accepted some transfers every quarter); based on a discussion we had at orientation, it seems I had the lowest GPA of any of them.</p>

<p>my favorite part of the book are the case studies, espically with the con man who went to princeton, lol.</p>

<p>There was an interesting profile on that con-man in the New Yorker a while back. Talk about re-inventing yourself!</p>

<p>what book is this?</p>

<p>wow, i want to read this book too!</p>

<p>Questions and Admissions: Reflections on 100,000 Admissions Decisions at Stanford by Jean H. Fetter.</p>

<p>Amazon</a> link</p>

<p>This book is pretty old. It was published in 1997, and a review written in 1998 describes it as "Dated material."</p>