Unique Enough Extracurriculars for a Decent Shot?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

Hi there! Stanford is my dream school and I’m wondering what you think of my chances.
I think that my extra curriculars show a very clear passion and relate to my major, and am wondering if you all think it is good enough to get into any of the schools listed!
Hooks:
URM -South American -Female -First generation American

W GPA: 4.4
UW GPA: (I did not do well in freshman year, so with 9th grade, my gpa is a 3.8 but without counting 9th it is a 3.96. I am hoping that colleges will see how much I improved after that year)
State: California
Languages: English and Spanish
Intended Major: Political Science/International Relations

For 11-12th grade I am doing/have done concurrent enrollment, that’s why there are only two HS courses for those years and a ton of college classes.

HS Courses:
10th:
AS English - A/A
Algebra II/Trig - A
AS Chem - B-/A (1st/2nd semester)
Spanish II - A
European History - A
Student Teacher

11th:
English (No AS version available)-A
US History- A

College Courses (11th):
(AB) Calc I - A (Counts as a full year)
(BC) Calc II - A (Counts as a full year)
Abnormal Psych - A
English 100 - A
Spanish (III) - A
Art History - A
Intro to theater - A
Business - A

Senior year schedule (Aside from standard English 4 and Gov/Econ)
College courses (12th):
Honors Intro to Political Theory
Sociology, Contemporary Social Issues
Physics I
Spanish (IV)
Statistics
Mexican-American Literature

ACT: 32 on first try no studying at all (stupid decision), very likely will get 34 on next try.

EC’s (strongest point IMO):
Internship at Facebook HQ: Human Resources - Diversity Department (Basically Facebook’s team aimed at diversifying it’s company and helping the surrounding community), strongest EC in my opinion, 1 summer for 175 hours total
President/Creator of Civil Liberties Club (11th/12th) - Club I started on CC campus aimed at raising awareness on social injustices in my community. Various events regarding Islamophobia and an LGBTQ youth panel
Youth Commisioner for the county I live in (12th). Advocate for various policy changes in my community, part of the Immigrant Youth Commission
Program Management Intern for Summer School (Boys and Girls Club) (12th) - 1 summer, approx 110 hours
Youth Advisor on the board of a local teen health clinic (10th-12th)
Feminist Club - 9th/10th grade, frequent club meetings led by me
Class Newsletter - Creator (1 year)
Job at a restaurant
Foreign Language study: Spanish. I am South American and am self taught. Traveled to Bolivia (where my parents are from) twice for language practice.

Awards (Practically nothing):
Event of the Year at my Community College: Event my club hosted raising awareness on Islamophobia
Outstanding Achievement in Alg II/Trig

2

If you worked at Facebook’s headquarters, that’s impressive. They have 1,000s of applications to choose from for internships. The fact you presented yourself well enough to Facebook in your interview to get hired is a major accomplishment. It is also impressive you went from Algebra to Calculus II in two years.

Your ECs are good. The key IMO is to translate one or two of your ECs or life experiences into an essay. A long list of ECs helps students but I feel (based on my experience and what I have heard) is the essays are what sets an applicant apart from others.

You might write about your trips to Bolivia and how it impacted your life and helps form your desire to make changes to the world. You could write about involvement in one of your clubs. The main point is making the leap from an impersonal list of ECs to a personal account in an essay is needed to separate you from other qualified candidates.

Now, after having given you my advice, I recommend you ignore all advice on this forum including my advice and do what you think is best.

3

Yes, the internship was at Facebook’s HQ, it was one of the best experiences of my life.

I have not gotten this good of feedback from this website, so I greatly appreciate it! Thank you so much!

4

You’ve got an amazing shot. Take @googledrone 's excellent advice and I’d say you’ve a better shot than most. Too hard to predict, but just reading your description gives me a feeling intuitively. Work your butt off on your essays and application narrative so that they know who you are, why you’re amazing, and so that they see the same qualities in you that FB saw when they hired you over 1000s of others for than internship.

5

Don’t worry about GPA, if I recall correctly Stanford recalculates your GPA without the freshman year.

6

But Stanford will look at how you academically challenged yourself, as well as in activities. Not just grades. If you’ve combed through the info S makes available, what do you think distinguishes you? Do you know what they look for? You’ve got a social justice club in he hs. What else outside hs that shows you pursued poli sci, rolled up your sleeves an dug in?

7

@lookingforward , I am a youth commissioner for the county that I live in, on the commission for immigrant youth. Also my internship at Facebook regarding diversity and inclusion. I feel that those both show my passion and interest in social justice.

8

@lookingforward Well, I think that all of my EC’s are fairly focused in the same direction. I plan on writing one of my essays about being Latina and first generation, and how it led me to want to fight for other latinos to have more opportunities for success (tech prep @ FB, working at a summer school for latino elementary school kids, immigrant youth commission, etc).

9

@merovingian oh okay! Thank yoU!

10

@lookingforward also, I am full time at the community college, so the club is actually an established club at the community college. We receive funding from the school though.

11

Facebook is not directly related to poli sci, though it could be spun to support your interest in IR, identity groups, and justice. Same for the youth commission (which is an opportunity in many areas and has varying levels of impact. Or not. We don;t know what responsibilities you took on, what results.) You’re somewhat looking at this from your own perspective: your interests, your “passion,” what you think. And maybe, as lines on a resume. But it will help to dig into what a school at S’s level values, wants in its college community, looks for. At the tippy top level, it’s “show, not just tell.” It’s important to have this addl perspective, so you can show the level of thinking they want.

You met a first need by getting out there, climbing out of the same of hs box. (How did you get FB?) But now you need to figure how to present this, on their level. If you “want to fight for other latinos to have more opportunities for success,” one of the first questions can be, other than the special experience of FB, sitting in on meetings of the youth committee, did you roll up your sleeves and actually work in the community? Traveling “for language practice” can be a euphemism for “travel, touring, having fun, seeing family.” Lots of kids do go back to their family countries, but also make use of their time on projects. And it can matter just what such a project was. I don’t mean to sound tough, but I think you’e smart enough to take this one or more steps further.

Are you a citizen or would you be considered international? Are you immersed in your cultural community in more ways than the elem kids? You will need to weave an effective presentation in the app and supp. Think about it and try to learn what that is, for a tippy top.

12

@lookingforward Thank you for being tough, I think these are all really solid points that I should put effort into incorporating into my application. I truly do appreciate your feedback!