<p>is there any way getting into stanford in addition to good grades and extracurricular? what about college scouting for sports likes swimming, soccer, basketball, baseball and football? there’s a lot of talented hs kids waiting to be picked up by an ivy league with good grades. perhaps that’s another way of getting in? stanford has an amazing swimming program from what i can remember.</p>
<p>just curious, im already admitted as a grad student at the farm.</p>
<p>@mmmaythe: (1) Rigorous courseload means above and beyond the normal courseload. This could mean (in my opinion) honors and AP classes or in-depth classes in another field (like music for your case). Courses taken at a college or dual-enrollment would also, I believe, show rigor. And is it on your official high school transcript? Then, I don’t think you should have a problem.
(2) The TOEFL is not required. It is “recommended” for students whose first language is not English. ([Testing</a> Requirements : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/freshman/testing.html]Testing”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/freshman/testing.html))</p>
<p>@holycowbanana: I think when you get to HYPMS, good grades are pretty much a necessity regardless of athletics. However, Stanford could be an exception because it is quite strong in athletics and offers athletic scholarships unlike any member of the Ivy League. Hmmm… :-/</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread, but just because someone has gotten in doesn’t make them an authority on how to do it. Nothings quantifiable. Obviously you need good test scores, a hard course load, good grades, and good extracurriculars and then its a crap shoot. Obviously being an olympic athlete or concert level pianist is great, but how many people have that? Just show some passion and good luck…</p>
<p>Wow thanks for killing the mood Bescraze. Even though no one’s an authority, it’s safe to say that there will be a lot of people who got in this year and have TONS of knowledge about the college application process. Just read Shayonsaleh’s post above yours. It’s a great qualitative answer that doesn’t necessarily have to come from an official source- it just needs some sound judgment from someone who’s been through this.</p>
<p>If you’re a recent admit or even an applicant, You’re bound to have a lot of knowledge about the application process, esp that of Stanford if you’d applied here. That’s how advice is imparted my friend- through seniors who’ve been through the whole thing and are willing to help. Please don’t taint the good work of these people who are bothering to help out the applicants.</p>
<p>I go to a big, prestigious public high school (we don’t rank). Not TOO many people from my school apply to Stanford (at least far less than apply to HYP). Also, I’m white. </p>
<p>SAT (Highest Combined)
CR 690
M 710
W 800
Total 2200</p>
<p>SAT IIs
Physics 740
Math 2c 670 (retaking)
Bio 670 (I took this freshman year)</p>
<p>Grades
Freshman Year- B+s
Sophomore year- 1st term 88, 2nd term 94. I took AP Euro (5), honors english, science projects</p>
<p>Junior Year- 1st term 94, 2nd term 98. I took AP psych (5), honors english, honors US, honors spanish, science projects</p>
<p>Senior Classes- AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Calc AB, AP US, AP Gov, honors spanish</p>
<p>ECs- vp of a club (2 years) , captain of an academic team (4 years ive been on it), a lot of volunteer work (2 years, summers), independent research </p>
<p>Also, I’m pretty sure my recs are amazing. </p>
<p>Thanks for any advice!</p>
<p>First post of the thread:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^ahhaa nicely done llpitch!</p>
<p>I honestly haven’t considered Stanford until the MIT admissions person mentioned it during my visit there.
How does Stanford compare to other tech schools (MIT/caltech), in terms of both similarities and differences?</p>
<p>Rigorous courseload question not ended D: I’m so sorry.
So… okay. I live in Canada. And in Canada, not every school (in fact, most schools) has AP or IB. But my school has an “enriched” program for English and Math, and I’ve taken both in grade 10, and achieved quite good grades. I planned to take both enriched courses again for grade 11… However, the guidance bumped me off the enriched math course for grade 11 because it was “full” and I was randomly chosen as a victim among many others.
Do I need to go “beg” for enriched in order to make my transcript look better? 
Or instead, should I fill up my spare with a grade 12 course (I’ll be in grade 11)?
Thank you for how-many-th time!</p>
<p>At Stanford, you’ll take classes in the humanities and with humanities majors (in some top departements). At Caltech, I think you need to take a couple humanities classes, but Caltech is not very renowned in that area. Also, at Caltech you’ll have a math/science core that Stanford does not match. Granted, you could take the same classes at Stanford (and you may have to take some depending in your major), but it is not required. Don’t know about MIT. </p>
<p>In engineering, MIT and Stanford are considered top. Caltech is up there, but I heard their focus is more on theoretical science (?). Berkeley’s up there too. I don’t know about math or pure science, but I’d assume all three would be pretty similar. At every school, you can probably find some top research. Same at Berkeley. Caltech has SURF which is pretty sweet. </p>
<p>Now to the big difference…
CULTURE. At Caltech you are in a tiny community of like-minded, intense students. MIT is bigger and more diverse, and the culture is very east-coast (right?). At Stanford you’ll be surrounded by english, music, history, etc. majors, and the culture is the like the paddling duck thingy (cool, laidback on the outside, but really working hard) from what I’ve heard. </p>
<p>Honestly, you can’t really go wrong with any of them if you are into M.S.E.</p>
<p>Take what I say with a grain of salt. I’m going to Stanford (not there yet, so don’t know a ton). I spent a day at Caltech. I never visited MIT (hence my lack of knowledge) but I applied.</p>
<p>@mmmaythe- It’d definitely be great if you could keep up the trend. I’d suggest that you push your dignity as much as you can and beg your way into it. But if you can’t, don’t worry. You’re still in Enriched English (right?) and your previous scores are proof that you’re not taking enriched math this year has nothing to do with your prior performance.</p>
<p>About taking senior-year classes; I’d say that you shouldn’t if you can help it, unless you find the class not over-burdening. Instead, it might be better to just take more or harder courses that are offered for your year.</p>
<p>I hope this finally answers your query! =)</p>
<p>@feuxfollets
I got into both Stanford and Caltech, so I think I can help you a bit with this. GammaGrozza covered most of it, but I’ll add what I can. Caltech and MIT are both basically math and science oriented schools, meaning pretty much everyone there is doing something along those lines for a major. Although there are a few oddballs here and there that decide to pursue a humanities path. Caltech and MIT are in fact quite similar in many regards. However, the main difference between them is basically size. Caltech has a class of about 250 while MIT has over 1000, I don’t know the exact number. The culture is quite similar. I have several friends who got into both of them and compared them for me.</p>
<p>That said, while I was at Caltech, everyone you meet will probably be an engineering or pure science major. In the first years, you do have to take a few humanities courses, but it’s often on a pass/fail system and pretty easy, so no one ever talks about it because in comparison to the difficulty of the other classes, it’s a joke.</p>
<p>However, at Stanford, there are people in every field you can think of. Stanford is really good at engineering and decent at the pure sciences; the main difference is they don’t focus purely on those subjects. You are only required a few classes in those fields. From what I’ve garnered, the classes at MIT and Caltech in these fields are deeper and more intense. In addition, Stanford generally has a more laid-back feel to it.</p>
<p>The benefits I saw at Caltech was a tight-nit group. You pretty much meet everyone in the school since its so small. You’ll have a close group around you, next door, your roommate, across the hall, who will be doing similar things to you. At Stanford, it’s more scattered, but you get more a typical “college” life. In terms of social activities, people at Caltech do party like all other college students, but it’s slightly different than your normal parties. The social scene is there, just not like your usual social scene. Not sure if that made any sense. haha</p>
<p>On a last note, Caltech and MIT are both Division III schools, I think, meaning their athletics pretty much suck, while Stanford is one of the best. That’s if you care about sports. At Caltech and MIT you could probably join any team you wanted, but at Stanford, its highly competitive.</p>
<p>Hello fellow CCers,</p>
<p>i am an international student applying from New Zealand (ethnicity-wise I am South Korean, but nationality-wise I am a Kiwi.) </p>
<p>I am applying to Stanford early, and it is equally ranked as my top choice with Harvard. I was wondering if anyone knew how good the financial aid packages are for international students at Stanford? As in, to what percentage of accepted students does Stanford give financial aid?</p>
<p>I apologise that this is a very specific question!</p>
<p>Thank you,</p>
<p>Victor</p>
<p>^ This is a good recent thread that discusses international financial aid:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/768269-international-students-applying-stanford-not-much.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/768269-international-students-applying-stanford-not-much.html</a></p>
<p>There are no statistics or percentages for awarded aid. Trust me, I’ve looked everywhere haha.</p>
<p>Tip: Since you’re an international (so you won’t have to disclose your race/ethnicity) DO NOT mention anywhere else that you are of Asian origin. Your chances go up quite a bit if you just follow that. You are of New Zealand origin, capiche?</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Hey, thanks for doing this guys:) it’s really helpful for everyone!</p>
<p>I just have a question: I’ve heard a lot about how it’s important to have one passion (whether it’s for writing, science research, math, etc.) But the thing is, I just like learning in general. My coursework is oriented towards science (because I’m doing IB, and your grade 11/12 courses are pretty much set), but that’s not the only thing I’m interested in. So in this case, is it better for me to write about my academic interests in terms of the sciences, or (attempt to) explain my broad, general passion for learning?</p>
<p>PS: I’m an international, and I’ve moved all over the place so I haven’t really been able to participate in science fairs, etc. even if I wanted to…</p>
<p>^ Straying toooooo much into academics and your coursework can be a bit iffy, since some adcoms see it as “oh so this kid hasn’t explored things outside their coursework”, so I’d suggest you go the general passion for learning route. Make sure you include specific instances and examples that show how you have this passion though. For example, how did you first know you really loved learning?</p>
<p>I really want to study psychology at stanford but am worried… I know I’ll get really good recs and I’m working hard on the essays but I’m worried about my grades…I had a 3.4 GPA at GCSE (international) and I’m studying the IB (Psychology, chemistry, biology at higher level and maths studies, english and german standard) I’m finding the IB easy enough but not sure if I’ll get the grades Stanfords my dream school and I would love some advice.</p>
<p>I’m an american citizen studying in england (not an international applicant). I went to school in america (LA) until 7th grade (around 3.6 GPA) in AVID, FSEA (science program), offered 2 honors courses (possibly three) but had to move and I don’t know if that’ll put me at a dissadvatage…</p>
<p>^ Moving will not put you at a disadvantage. If anything, it gives you a slight advantage.</p>
<p>really how would it put me at an advantage?</p>
<pre><code> Do you think if I get high marks in SATs give me a better chance as well? Also should I add AVID into my essay even though it was only for a year?
</code></pre>
<p>My ECs are so far is there anything else I should add:</p>
<p>-Helping in the school library-4 years
-Ju-Jitsu
-Farming Project (helping with younger years, showing them the manufacturing process and stuff-we think up what we do so some leading involved)
-swedish exchange program with another IB school
-worked at an elementary/primary school as a teaching assistant
-worked at an elementary/primary school as a teaching assistant with students with Autism
-British Heart Foundation (helped with a sponsered walk)
-Sign Language (British sign language)-Stopped now
-Aerobics
-Journalism-writing articles for a music website
-I knitt but don’t know if that would count (It’s a school activity thing).
-sung in the school concert for christmas
-FSEA (this was years ago though in elementary so won’t actually count will it)?
-organized a litter campaign and spoke infront of different years in the school, created posters, and what we would say.</p>
<p>Advantage: good experience for writing essays, increased diversity, England has a lot of opportunities for high school work experiences and internships (more so than in the US). </p>
<p>I’d suggest you make a separate chances thread, sociallyanxious.</p>