<p>I know what you are thinking..Why even try?</p>
<p>Well, I have somewhat interesting extracurriculars:</p>
<p>-3 years of mandarin chinese (didn't do it for a fourth year because it was cancelled at my school)
-Accepted into a program sponsored by the chinese government that gives an almost all expense paid (only had to pay for airfare. Food, tourism expenses, room and board, transportation, learning materials, classes etc all paid for) two week trip to china for further learning of the language and culture. It was incredible.
-3 years of fencing, done pretty well and am being looked at currently by stanford fencing coach
-Interned at a fundraising foundation for the benefit of a free boarding school in Kenya for underprivileged girls.
-This is the kicker: Last February I started a solo project to fund-raise money to outfit the Kenyan school with a computer lab. It was successful and I was actually invited out to the campus to teach computer classes to the girls. I accepted the offer, and just recently returned from my trip. It was life-changing to say the least.
-I started a club for the Kenyan school at my highschool, and we are currently in the process of planning a very large scale fundraiser to take place in february.</p>
<p>Well I’m going for it anyways. Have some contacts within Stanford telling me my chances aren’t that horrendous. Also, you are 17… I doubt you know anything more about the stanford admission process than any other senior out there…and definitely not me… I was hoping for someone who may have gotten in.</p>
<p>Management Science and Engineering is my desired field of study. Also, I didn’t do great on either of the SAT II’s, do you think not sending them would hurt me or help me? My scores were Math 2: 650, USH: 620</p>
<p>CollegeBoardJaJa, looking back over the post it does seem rude. It wasn’t my intention. I honestly just didn’t feel that advice from a similarly situated student would help me. And of course, receiving news that confirms your fears is not always taken nicely either. Unfortunately, I do understand my chances in this, its just I can’t help but hope that I have a shot.</p>
<p>Don’t apply SCEA to the school. SCEA for Stanford has a lot of TOP applicants, and you just wouldn’t stand out against them. You’d have a better chance applying RD than from applying EA.</p>
<p>Ok. The good news though is that one of my contacts at stanford does know an admissions officer, and I’m getting an oppurtunity to talk to her at some point in the next few days. Hopefully, I can at the least get some good tips on what I could do in my essays to improve my chances.</p>
<p>On your essays, or at least supplements, you must show your passion. Whatever you talk about, tie it back to whatever it is you wish to do with your life. Rather than just saying, I did X and learned Y, and subsequently blah, blah, blah, say: I did X. I learned Y. And tie Y into Management Science and Engineering.</p>
<p>Your chance is very low, but it seems nothing can stop you from trying anyway. Stanford is private, so in state or not does not matter. Having a great essay would help, however, what would be the content of the essay? Do you have any passion you can talk about? Do you have anything really standing out from other applicants that have near perfect GPA and test scores?</p>
<p>Your GPA and academics overall will hurt you, but it’s definitely not impossible. A great essay and emphasizing your strengths more would help. No one really knows how Stanford admits students, anyways, and students with low SAT scores do sometimes get in. Good luck!</p>