The Quintessential Unimpressive Valedictorian

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Asian, valedictorian of a somewhat competitive high school, class of ~690. High SAT, AP Scholar. Band leadership, lost a club president election because of one vote (yes, I voted for him which tipped it), other minor club things. Contributed to an iPhone app. HOBY delegate. </p>

<p>I'm typing all of this with a disappointing resignation. Stanford is probably my top choice and I want to do everything I can to get in, but I can't live with the recurring thought that it is too late. I'll give myself this: I can write. And write well. I could have sold many of my essays by now but I didn't (and there goes that for any college app recognition, huh). But will passionate essays, a good academic record, and a less-than-impressive societal contribution be enough. When people say "Oh yeah Stanford even rejected our VALEDICTORIAN! (Since people have a flawed interpretation of how great it actually is. I mean, it's not that big of a deal)," they will be referring to someone identical to me. I'm sure it's a combination of me being a little hard on myself as well as legitimately not having a chance, but CC decisions threads are usually the best of the best admitted. So I guess my question would be, well along with any other advice or response you may have, what's the most typical guy getting into Stanford like? I am hesitant to use the word typical, I get that there's no archetypal accepted applicant for a school like this, but you know what I mean. </p>

<p>tl;dr: I feel like the unimpressive valedictorian whom this refers to: "___ school rejected our valedictorian." What to do... class of 2014.</p>

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<p>What to do? Stop wallowing in your self-pity… … … Done? Well now, you’re already halfway there!</p>

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<p>Hey thanks for your response.</p>

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<p>Oh man your life will be such a failure if you don’t get into Stanford…</p>

5

<p>Okay, so that post was over dramatic looking back at it, but whatever, it’s not my point. I guess a better question to ask is, how do you express how much academic upside or potential you really have if your application won’t do it justice. Yeah Stanford has the “academic vitality” prompt, but I wouldn’t want to come off as overconfident.</p>

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<p>Btw, I’m a mere salutatorian. Community College it is for me… NOT!</p>

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<p>I know it is hard not to compare yourself with others in a similar situation. But it is true (esp. for a competitive school like Stanford), that each applicant is unique. The reasons they rejected him might not apply to you. So, I say keep your head up. The ability to write well is a gift, and it will take you far beyond college. Not to mention you are in a great position either way; you get in and you’re happy, or you don’t and you can tell people ‘well, even our valedictorian was rejected’. I believe that you will find a school that you will thrive in, if you can stop comparing yourself to others.
The84thline does have a small point though (edit: in post #2). Instead of seeing how you compare to the valedictorian (and then worrying about getting in), focus on the aspects that make you, you! Also put 100% into your application, that way you have no regrets.</p>

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<p>Eh second choice would be UT engineering, which is, admittedly, a fantastic program.</p>