<p>I am currently a sophomore and I plan on applying early action to Stanford. Currently, I am ranked number 1 out of a class of 450 and I have a 4.3. My school doesn't offer very many AP courses, so I am actually registering in two other schools as a part time student in order to take extra courses, particularly in the sciences and languages. I expect to graduate having around a 4.8 my senior year and taking around 20 AP Courses (trust me, this is what I want to do, I'm not doing it for admission). I plan on going into medicine in the future and have a personal experience that I plan on writing my essay about (I have a sibling that had cancer). I know that schools, particularly Stanford, like to see students that take something that happened to them and make an impact on others with it. I have done several things not just to "fulfill the requirement" but out of personal interest and generousity. I have raised money for Child Life services at UCSF Medical Center to help improve cancer treatment experiences especially for young children that may be in the hospital for several months at a time. I will be interning/job shaddowing/volunteering there intensively over the summer in particular but also throughout the school year. It is in basic planning stages, but I am working on a potential idea for a "network" sort of things where patients and families can talk about what they are feeling/experiencing/etc. as I can apply this to my own experiences. I also volunteer a couple hours a week at my local hospital and have completed a couple summer programs and internships associated with medicine.</p>
<p>I also really like Model UN. I turned my schools program around and have turned out team into a surprisingly successful group. Personally, I am not the best debater but I enjoy participating and organizing. I have taken leadership as the secretariat of my school's group and now I am planning to host a conference. We will have at least 400 people based on latest estimates but it could be more. This money will likely be used to create a sort of international debate team where a small group of qualified candidates will go to a couple of MUN conferences in different states or even internationally depending on the price of airfare and what is going on at school at that time. </p>
<p>I do several other things in and outside of school. I have played piano for 11 years, cello and viola for 2, I am part of student government and have a leadership role in service club, I have played varsity tennis and cross country since freshman year, and am in my school's Academic Decathlon in which we are ranked in the top ten in California. I tutor people, intern, and have a job, occupying my spare time. I have and will attend some summer programs, likely shorter ones with a more specific and intensive approach. As it is nearly 11:30 and my brain isn't functioning too well, I'll add more or you can message me for more info.</p>
<p>I know essays are very important. At our county Academic Decathlon competition, I won best essay out of nearly 300 of the top performing students in the county...as a freshman. I have strong writing skills and a lot of information (particularly from personal experience) to pull from. As a generalization, how strong do you think my chances are?</p>
<p>That’s what everyone tells me but it is my number 1 choice right now which is kind of stressful as it is highly competitive. Do you think it would help to have an internship with a faculty member? It would be interesting for me, but I think it would be a good thing to tie into my essay as well.</p>
<p>Please comment on what you think my chances are and possible ideas to strengthen my application.</p>
<p>Ok. You’re on the right track. I do admit that I did several things in terms of EC’s with admissions in mind but in the end I enjoyed doing them and I think they helped me grow as a person. If you want to do something purely to get into Stanford I don’t think it’s good for your maturation or learning experience. No one can ever accurately predict your chances of being admitted into one of the best institutions in the world.</p>
<p>Get a hook. You’re working your butt off like this for a likely rejection in the era of hook dominated admissions. I’m inferring you aren’t URM, legacy/developmental case, collegiate-caliber athlete, or academic/research superstar, so try and become a national standout at something IF you want increase your chances at Stanford by a significant amount.</p>
<p>What are you guys talking about with a “hook”? If you are talking about my reason for doing my ECs, like volunteering and interning in oncology, it is because I had a sibling that battled cancer and it was (as cliche as it sounds) a life changing experience. And by the way, I’m not doing any of my extra curriculars based on admissions; I sign up and take part of things out of interest not what would look good on an application.</p>
<p>So please explain what y’all mean of a hook/give possible examples. Thanks</p>
<p>A hook means you have a national award in something. Colleges want such people, like a nationally ranked athlete or Intel Science award or nationally played musician or you have been published in some magazine or somewhere due to your making a Difference in your community, academic medal winner at the international level or at least a finalist (AMC, Science olympiad). If you are into science, get into science olympiad and try to win or be a finalist in intel/siemens or something similar science fair. But seriously, why Stanford…ther are plenty of good colleges. So don’t get your heart set on one.</p>
<p>A hook is something like being a legacy, being the child of a professor at the university you’re applying to, being a recruited athlete, being a race that generally has less academically competitive students (if that makes sense) e.g. Native American, Filipino, Latino, African American, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers guys. I don’t think I will be high enough ranked in tennis even to consider playing for Stanford. I haven’t actually done cross country yet at school because it conflicted with my volunteer schedule but we have a new coach that is much more flexible. My 5k time averages 17:15 but I haven’t been running too intensively. Stanford’s recruits are usually in the 16 minute range which I think is possible for me. Should I try to use this as my hook or get recruited?</p>
<p>Ok…I agree that you should “chill out” and enjoy high school. But since you are so obsessed, here are my pointers.
Getting recruited at Stanford - you would need to be like almost playing nationally. They take olympic caliber athletes.
You are spread a bit thin - If you are doing varsity track/tennis, get to being the captain by senior year.
If you want to show interest in premed (from your science background) - get into science fair and compete.
If you want to show your interest in charity - organise something, raise funds.
Yes, have a super GPA/SAT on top of all this. So yes, it is cliche, but do what you love and do it really well. It is too early to post chances thread as a sophomore.</p>
<p>The problem with Stanford (and most of the Ivies and schools like that) is that you cannot JUST be an amazing students and uber-involved. It’s not enough. You’re definitely a standout student and have a lot going on, but you need to develop one aspect of that scattered extracurricular/academic life of yours into, well, a “hook”.</p>
<p>Any suggestions for a “hook”? When I start my research internship in cancer biology, I could see if I could get a professor to help me with an experiment to use for intel science fair? Any help will be gratefully accepted.</p>
<p>@20more is absolutely correct… These ultra competitive schools are essentially a toss up. Like everyone has said, chill out. Getting rejected from your top choice, high caliber school is not the end of the world. As long as you stay focused and work hard you’ll get into med school (and it’s going to be much harder to keep your gpa up at the tougher schools). Good luck from a prevet kid.</p>
<p>Reading this thread makes me so sad. Everyone is trying to “design” a winning college app. I don’t know who"s fault it is-adcomms, overachieving parents, ultra-competitive high schools or profit-driven college prep counselors. I too had this master plan for my daughter’s education until I was laid off and guess what? No more private school. No pricey summer programs or tutors. She takes what she enjoys and she’s happy. Her grades are even better than before. Her summer programs are free. And she will be applying to Stanford next year with the 30,000 other kids for her shot. Enjoy your youth, figure out what you’re good at or passionate about and take your shot. There’s no formula for your own personal success.</p>