<p>I am insanely interested in going to Stanford for Fall 2015. I rank #6 out of 95 people in my class (I'm a Junior) and my best friend ranks #7. We both want to go to Stanford. I am personally quite jealous of her extracurricular activities. She is so active in school, and she has a spot in the local newspaper. She also is one of the officers of NHS and I am not in NHS. She participates in so many activities and I only attend some of them.</p>
<p>So the thing is this: I have a higher ranking, she has better ECs. I have a higher SAT score, she has better ECs. She is so involved in everything! BUT... HERE'S THE THING: she told me she doesn't have passion, and it's true. She doesn't know what she enjoys, so she just takes part in everything. As for me, I know that I want to major in Economics, so I've been participating in Economic clubs and taking on leadership positions in Junior Achievement (a student-made entrepreneurship program). I know that I want to major in Economics so I have shaped myself into an Economics person.</p>
<p>We both want to know: which one would have the better chance at getting in? Or is it too hard to tell? I have heard that Stanford looks for students who are well-rounded but intellectually strong, and they also look for students who HAVE PASSION. Please be honest! We are both dying to hear some thoughts.</p>
<p>Honestly, and sadly, the most likely outcome is that neither of you gets in. Stanford rejects more than 90% of its freshman applicants. And the vast majority of them are–just like you and your friend–perfectly well qualified to be admitted and capable of doing the work. </p>
<p>If you want to engage in speculation over who’s more likely to get in, I suppose you may, but there isn’t any value in the exercise. </p>
<p>Not the answer you wanted, I’m sure. Sorry, but it’s the only opinion I got.</p>
<p>@Sikorsky, thank you for taking the time out to read this! We both needed serious answers and we’re both glad you gave it to us. I agree too… my sister told me that we need to both stand out EXCEPTIONALLY to get in, and that will be hard. Thank you so much for your input!</p>
<p>Being in a bunch of extracurricular activities often displays a lack of true passion as you noted. It may work against her, appearing that she just joins a bunch of ECs to pad her resume.</p>
<p>Ideally, you end up joining a few extracurricular activities that you’re dedicated to, rather than a bunch you just dabble in.</p>
<p>Rank is immaterial in most cases unless it comes with a huge difference in GPA. I do agree neither of you may get in with a caveat - your school history with the college. If a student or more gets admitted to Stanford regularly, someone in your school will be admitted. It does not need to be one of you two.</p>
<p>Even though your rank and SATs may be higher, the ranks and SATs for both of you are in Stanford’s range, then the fact that yours are higher will probably not matter much. You both may be academically competitive applicants and it will then be the ECs, essays, and recs that may separate you.</p>
<p>@friedokra20 (lol! your username made me laugh), that’s what she was worrying about. She joins a lot of things such as fitness programs and then writing for a local newspaper, and she doesn’t really know what she wants to major in in college. Agreed!</p>
<p>@texaspg, good advice! Thank you. Usually once a year there is only ONE person from my school who gets admitted into Stanford, because no one else really applies. This year she and I are both applying so there will be competition. The difference is that I’m going for Early Action whereas she’s going for Regular.</p>
<p>@cba, thank you! I agree as well. I think I should probably mention concerns over class rigor: she’s taking rigorous classes, I am only taking one. My school offers only three per year. She’s taking all three whereas I’m taking only one. So I suppose that will bring me down a little bit, but I’m trying to work on my ECs.</p>
<p>@texaspg, yes! Class of 2019. I’m not sure, but I know that last year at my private school (in a U.S. territory, made up of 400 students), only one person (the valedictorian) applied to Stanford. The rest did not. She got in!</p>
<p>If your school only offers three “rigorous” classes per year and you’re only taking one, I could see that as having a very significantly negative effect on your application. Stanford wants students who have challenged themselves as much as possible throughout high school, and from what you’ve written here it doesn’t seem that you have done so. Why should they accept you over someone who has?</p>
<p>@orbdas, I know! I took all the rigorous classes offered to me in Freshman and Sophomore year but I missed the entrance exam for AP Language and Composition at the end of Junior year and they wouldn’t let me take the exam, so I wasn’t able to get in. My GC told me that she’ll write that in my college applications. I tried my hardest to get into APLC but they wouldn’t budge.</p>
<p>You don’t give enough information, like what your test scores are, gpas, and the courses taken. What sort of high school you are attending and where are the kids going to college at that school? </p>
<p>To get accepted to a school like Stanford, the ECs have to stand out on a national level. Being the big fish in high school pond isn’t enough. Concert Master of school orchestra, for example, isn’t going to mean much. Concert Master at Young Juilliard, state orchestras, winning known young artist’s competitions would be what would get the high marks in terms of ECs. Being top three in your graduating class with the most difficult curriculum plus seeking even more difficult opportunities is what might do it for academic difficulty and class rank/grades. And then, of course the test scores, ever so important. Then some hook, usually is in the picture too.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse, I took the SATs last month and scored a 2000+. She took it last month and scored an 1800+. My high school only offers Honors math and AP History and English classes. We’ve both been in Honors math throughout our high school years, we both dropped APWH last year, and I couldn’t get into APLC this year because I missed the entrance exam (but she got in). Our unweighted GPAs are 4.0. My weighted GPA is a 4.43 and hers is a 4.28. We come from a U.S. territory, a private all-girls Catholic school, with only 400 students in all. Most of the graduated kids get accepted to and attend UC schools or University of Washington along with St. Mary’s College and USF. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely take that into consideration.</p>
<p>@texaspg, me? Same grades! She also did not take APWH sophomore year and APUSH junior year so I feel a little hopeful. As for her ECs, she mainly focused on writing, as she wanted to major in Journalism. She wrote for the local newspaper and compiled all her writings into one book, but she didn’t publish it. She told me that she thought her essays were what got her into Stanford!</p>
<p>@GMTplus7, yes. We are both Filipino. I probably should mention that she comes from a very high-income family, making over 100k a year, whereas I come from a very low-income family, making about 12k a year (how do we get by?!). That’s our biggest difference, I would say!</p>
<p>@texaspg, test scores as in… AP test scores? I have never taken an AP class. My friend got a 3 on her APWH test last year!</p>
<p>My ECs: Vice President of Finance of a Junior Achievement company, President of Future Educators of America, facilitator at leadership conferences hosted by school, internship at a bank, member of various clubs</p>
<p>Her ECs: Writer at local newspaper, National Honor Society, Founder and President of Filipino Club, facilitator at leadership conferences hosted by school, member of various clubs</p>