<p>@conflictedb3 I responded in a very similar way when I was told I wasn’t going to get into Stanford or Columbia. I think a lot of the members of this forum, especially those that come as sophomores or freshmen, go through a similar phase of sincerely believing that they can be the mistake, the accidental admit to a school like Stanford.</p>
<p>I don’t think you do well by your fellow students when you tell them that they can get into a school with a GPA and SAT score well below the established averages and ECs that will fail to distinguish them from other applicants. </p>
<p>Anyone applying to top schools must know and embrace the objective, statistically verifiable fact that their admission is unlikely. When you understand that, your decision to apply is an informed one. Keep in mind that what you’re gambling with is not yours. Unfortunately, some people on the internet will take what you say a little too seriously.</p>
<p>It’s not your $75 application fee, it’s not your hours of filling out supplement after supplement in addition to the Common App. It’s not your stress level. It’s not your hopes and dreams.</p>
<p>So if you’re going to try to influence a person’s decision, influence them with the facts. If you can’t develop a factual basis for why a person should apply to a school, then I don’t know what purpose you could have in maintaining that they should apply, if that purpose is not malicious in nature. It seems completely dishonest to me.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong with applying to Stanford when admission is unlikely. I’m applying, and I have no shot at getting in. My reasons for deciding to apply despite this are personal, and that may be true for a lot of people. </p>
<p>But there is no profit to be had whatsoever in spreading misinformation regarding the likelihood of admission to persuade another to apply. Let it be an informed decision. That is crucial.</p>