Top Choice or Not?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Originally, Stanford was the school I was applying to just because the FA was too good to be true - how could I not try? Now that I've talked to some actual students, it's quickly becoming my top choice. I'm reluctant to do any more research on Stanford because I'm afraid I don't have a shot. What do you think?</p>

<p>A Very Short Autobiography:
State: MD
Income: <$25,000
Race: African American
Other: first gen</p>

<p>Statistically Speaking...
GPA: 3.84 UW, maximum of 3.88
SAT: 1470 / 2250 - 720M, 750CR, 780W
SAT Subject Tests: Lit 670, Math II 700, US History 730
Rigor: 8 APs, 10 honors (AP Euro 4, AP Envi Sci 4, APUSH 5, AP Lit 5, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP Micro + Micro Econ, AP World)
Notes: Only three foreign language classes (Spanish II, Spanish III, Japanese I - Japanese II got cancelled); school does not weight or rank</p>

<p>That Stuff After School
- 25 hours/week cashier [9, 10, 11, 12]
- 10 hours/week community president [11, 12]
- 5 hours/week community association member [9, 10]
- Freshman Speaker of the Council (highest position, appointed) [9]
- Sophomore Executive Board President (highest position, elected) [10]
- Student Government Association Member [9, 10]</p>

<p>A Really Short List of Awards
- National Achievement Semifinalist (hopefully finalist)
- AP Scholar with Honor
- Employee of the Quarter Third Quarter 2008 [hey, that's a big EC for me]</p>

<p>Other Things to Consider:
- I pay my own way through an online high school because my old high school, the public one where I spent my sophomore and junior years, sucked.
- My recs might be form letters. I have online teachers after all. I have at least one that I connected with; I'm trying to make that as good as possible.
- I don't know whether I will write good essays, but I do know that I am stumped.
- My senior schedule got messed up because one of my classes was cancelled and because I had prepared to take college courses that I could not afford, but I should be able to explain this in additional info.</p>

<p>I'm applying SCEA. Come mid-December, what do you think?</p>

2

<p>Hey man, your stats look pretty good! Stanford is also my dream school. I’ll be applying RD. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>I think you have a good shot. Your “stats” are pretty average (for Stanford and the like!), but as an AA low income student you will stand out, especially if you are male.</p>

4

<p>I think you have a good shot. Your “stats” are pretty average (for Stanford and the like!), but as an AA low income student you will stand out, especially if you are male.</p>

5

<p>To the OP, why do you want to come to Stanford?</p>

6

<p>There are a lot of reasons I want to come to Stanford, but I’ll explain the most important ones.</p>

<p>I want to come to Stanford because of the people. Stanford admits and ultimately enrolls some of the best and the brightest students in the country. I want to be surrounded by people who are so much smarter, so much more active, or even just so much more interesting than me. There’s nothing I love more than sitting down with a group of five or six people and just talking about anything, especially current events and hot topics. At Stanford, that goes beyond my friends into the classroom, throughout the dorm, and more. Sure, that’s available at every college - especially top colleges. But what makes Stanford’s student body unique is the diversity. Stanford has made serious commitments toward recruiting and accepting everyone from upper income students to low-income students, from legacies to first generation students, from local CA students to students from Bangladesh. </p>

<p>Stanford is also a school at which I won’t just fit in, but that will fit me. Stanford is all about extracurricular activities. It’s not competitive in a cutthroat sense (well, not in my prospective field, social science), and I get the feeling that it’s not “all about” grades. I think what really stands out in my mind is the programs for low-income and first-generation students. I really appreciate the student group Next Generation, and of course Stanford financial aid will give me unprecendented opportunity. To be honest, I’ve never been the type of person to flock toward “people like me”, but college is a new atmosphere. It’s a huge change in my life. I want to know that there are people from the same background as me, know that I can get comfortable, and then I can dive into diversity.</p>

<p>Of course, there are less important reasons. Financial aid is huge. Stanford is in California. I’ve really never seen other parts of the country, and I love DC so I may live there forever. I want to get off the east coast and just be some place different. I have chronic depression but don’t want to be medicated; good weather makes me feel at my best and does help combat the depression roller coaster. The Haas Center of Public Service has this cool program that would allow me to volunteer through Stanford programs or even take an unpaid internship and yet collect my federal work study money. That really blew me away. I work now, which excludes me from a lot of ECs. At Stanford, work and extracurricular programs don’t have to be mutually exclusive.</p>

7

<p>All you said could apply to Harvard, Yale and some other schools. Why Stanford? If you get in Stanford and Yale, which one do you choose?</p>

8

<p>The weather component, and the “getting away from the east coast” do not apply to Harvard or Yale.</p>

9

<p>I would choose Stanford. I thought about this for a long time because until the last couple of weeks, I was going to apply to Yale instead of Stanford.</p>

<p>When it comes down to it, the schools are similar. So it’s a matter of feel and fit. What I like about Stanford is that the student body is generally very laid back. In fact, I would like to spend some time in the atmosphere of the west coast - less cutthroat and less “old money”. Stanford dedicates more resources to first generation and low-income students than I’ve found at Yale - this means a lot to me. Like I said, while getting comfortable, it’s important to know the people who came from the same place as you… and have an easy means of finding them. Stanford is on the quarter system. At first I didn’t like the quarter system, but now that I’ve learned more about it, I do like it. I like the idea that I an take three sets of classes per year. I like living at a fast-pace. Classes are either longer (in a sequence) or shorter than semester classes, which can drag. The weather component, like I said, isn’t a “big deal” since some of the schools on my list have nasty weather. That’s the way it ended up - schools that fit and that had good financial aid programs aren’t always in the best location. But ideally I’d be at Rice, Stanford, or even GW (which is at least the same as my native habitat, not better or worse). I don’t know if you have any experience with chronic depression in your friends or family, but if it’s raining on a “low day”, I’m sleeping. That’s it. Nothing else. On the other hand, I tend to have more “up days” in the summer. Warm, sunny weather and a set of good peers is pretty infectious. It definitely limits my symptoms.</p>

10

<p>Why not Yale? Yale usually weighs a lot when it comes to make decisions. Some AA did not choose Stanford at the last minute. How do you know Stanford will fit you since you have been there for a single day?</p>

<p>I am trying to ask difficult questions – it not that I am not nice, but to be critical to you. Stanord lost many AA to other HYPS last year. I am sure that they will be careful this time.</p>

11

<p>How will I be sure any college will fit me, since I am not able to spend any more than a day at some of them - and since I am really not able to visit some of them at all? I’m not applying to Yale. I’m only applying to one reach.</p>

12

<p>ewho,
I am not sure why are so aggressive here. This particular OP has some good and well thought-out reasons to prefer Stanford.</p>

13

<p>The reasons may not be good enough. I would rather see that the OP is saying Stanford is located in Silicon Valley and the OP wants to work in the hi-tech world. That would make Stanford unique compared with other schools. My son’s dream school was Yale where he got in through SCEA, and he made the last minute decision to come to Stanford. For the OP,you have to convince others that Stanford is the only school you want to come.</p>

14

<p>Stanford isn’t the only school I want to attend. It is (potentially) my favorite, but it’s not the only school I’d be happy at by far. Your son did the same thing - Stanford wasn’t the perfect school, either. Is it so bad to have options?</p>

15

<p>

If Stanford is commited to get you for a full-ride, what do you think about this question? Do they try to accept people who might not come?</p>

16

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<p>And what if I don’t get accepted? Stanford has an extremely low acceptance rate. My chance of getting in might be middling, small, or nonexistant. I am going to be disappointed if I don’t get in, but my life doesn’t end there. I have to be ready to go somewhere else. If Stanford accepts me, I will almost certainly attend. If they don’t, I have made sure I will be happy elsewhere.</p>

17

<p>My point is that you have to convince them “Why Stanford”. Whether you come or not eventually, it is your choice. </p>

<p>BTW, you have a good chance to get in.</p>

18

<p>Stanford lost many AA to HYP this past year? Isn’t the opposite true, as well?</p>

19

<p>

So it’s ok for your son to change his mind at the last moment, but the OP has to be 100% sure, and convince the world that Stanford is the one and only possible choice for him/her?

They are fully aware that not all the students they accept will end up coming. So what?</p>

20

<p>nngmm, I don’t see your point! What I said to the OP was that he/she can not tell which school is really the real choice right now, especially when he/she writes in the essay to convince Stanford. I did not ask the OP to make sure he/she really wants to come, but how to convince Stanford.</p>