<h2>I have posted this on two other threads, but I see so many students questioning themselves and their accomplishments, so bear with me, I am going to copy it here, too -</h2>
<p>I'm not a stanford admissions officer, of course, but at my daughter's school I have seen many fabulous students deferred/denied by Stanford. I don't think you should feel you fell short - it's just that they see so many ultra-strong students in the sciences esp, and given that they need to fill all majors, they can take only so many strong science students. </p>
<p>At my daugher's school last year, someone with an 800R/800 M/750 W, with 3 800s on his science SAT IIs and a major science award was WL at Stanford, and admitted to MIT. I've seen the opposite as well, though MIT is more likely to take super-strong-pure-science-few-EC people than Stanford. </p>
<p>So the real action to take is to apply to a large enough set of top colleges strong in your area of interest that the probabilities start to work in your favor, sincce you will have several independent outcomes. </p>
<p>Given the rather-random nature of outcomes for strong students at the very top-tier colleges, I am a firm believer in the notion that under no circumstances should one fall in love with a school until after you are admitted. There is so much bad advice about this, one would think admissions officers are matchmakers who are capable of plumbing the souls of applicants. They can't and they don't - so this is not about you or your accomplishments - you are still the same talented student you were yesterday. Get your other apps out, research the other schools, get enthused about several, and you are sure to have some great choices in April.</p>
<p>pianogirl, I'll give you her profile, but over the years, students with stellar profiles have been denied at Stanford and other top schools, and admitted to to other equally good schools - many subjective factors go into any given decision, hence my comment about applying to enough of the right schools to increase one's odds. So I genuinely don't think she is more special in any way than many students who have been deferred or denied, and I don't think that any student should feel less able just because of one admisisons outcome.</p>
<p>SAT I (one sitting) 800R/770 M/790 W
SAT II - Chem 800/Math IIC 800/Physics 760
APs - 5s in all to date - Physics B, Chem, Euro History, Calc AB, US history, English Lang
Main EC - professional sports photographer, does freelance photography shoots for local newspaper 2-3 times a week, acceptances at several high profile international photography competitions. Also co-editor-in-chief of school paper
Legacy</p>
<p>1) cry, feel sorry, be miserable for the rest of the yr and not enjoy the college we go to</p>
<p>2) feel bad for ourselves for 2 minutes, stop, continue to live our lives, get accepted to another amazing university, do well, make Stanford wish they had accepted us.</p>
<p>I'm going w/ the 2nd plan. Plus, you can always apply to Stanford for grad school, which in terms of job/career/$ matters much more.</p>