SCHOOL
-GPA (unweighted): 3.91 (it is below the average yes, but it is 4.0 considering Sophmore and Junior year)
-GPA (weighted): 4.25 (with only sophomore and junior year it is 4.4)
-SAT: 1600
-ACT: 36 (36 in all categories)
-Ethnicity: Indian (with affirmative action I guess this takes a role)
-Ranking: Unkown but not top 10 in my class
ACADEMIC ACOMPLISHMENTS
-USAPhO 4 time participant, 2 time gold medalist and camp attender
-USACO 2 time participant, no awards
-AIME 3 time participant, USAMO qual in Junior year
-State Math League Top 10 individually
-ARML Top 6
-Science Bowl 2 time National Participant
-Created a non-profit program dedicated to helping students with their struggles in math and preparing them for competition math, currently have 40 members enrolled in our classes
SPORTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
-Currently ranked 3rd in my state for table tennis
-Fencing top 10 state tournament
HOBBIES
Watching anime, having fun in general, reading books
Are you a good writer? What were your most compelling essays for Stanford about? How were your Letters of Recommendation? Have you interviewed, and if so, how did it go and what did you talk about?
Statistically, I assume that you already KNOW you are EXTREMELY competitive (literally NO ONE gets a PERFECT score on the SAT). But although you and I wish that stats would do it, selective colleges like Stanford and plenty of others look at the whole package to see if you would fit in to their college.
Your accomplishments are outstanding, and you should be very proud of your accomplishments, regardless of whether you’re accepted or not.
Getting perfect scores on the act and sat, qualifying for AIME 3 times and USAMO once, as well as fast tracking two years of high school and getting a 4.0 in both is a steep task in two months.
A few years ago Stanford reported an approximate acceptance rate of 33% for those with perfect SAT scores. That is significantly better then the 5% rate overall, but it might have decreased further as more perfect scores are recorded every year.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: The two threads contradict each other because brothers were using the same account. I am going to keep this thread open but delete the earlier one, and the users will create a second account.
Yes, sorry guys my brother was using the same account as me.
As for my essays I wrote about the struggles of creating my non-profit program and how I eventually matured to get it to become truly something part of my community.
For letters of recommendation, I asked my professor at a local university for one. (I took AP Calc in 9th grade so I had no other math electives at my school, so I proceeded to take math courses at my local university. I have taken Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calc in the past two years). I am thinking of majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Physics at Stanford.
What more should/can I do to increase my chances? I understand that I may only have reached the baseline for admissions, but what can I do to show that I really want to go to Stanford?
With an average 4% admissions rate, it really comes down to dumb luck more than anything else. If there was a magic bullet to significantly increase your chances, everyone else would do it too. Your stats are as competitive as anyone else’s. Apply and see what happens. Keep a strong list of affordable reach, target, and safety schools you’re serious about going to.
OP, assuming that you have applied SCEA, keep us posted with how you do. My sense is that it boils down to how you stack up with your cohort from your area.
“What more should/can I do to increase my chances?”
You really can’t. Your stats are superb. Stanford is a high reach. You have a chance to be admitted, but you will probably not be admitted.
One thing that you can do is to apply to Stanford, then forget about it. Focus on other schools where your chances are better.
Given your stats, you should be able to get accepted to a very good university (at least top 100). Do well there. Take every class seriously. Stay ahead in your work and try to get A’s or A+'s. Look for coop or internship possibilities. Get involved in a research project. Do well in it also. Treat everyone with respect – this will open up some opportunities and help with your references.
If you don’t get into Stanford this time around, it will still be there if you are considering graduate school at some point in the future. At least in my experience the overwhelming majority of graduate students at Stanford did their undergrad somewhere else.
here’s how I started: Water. Falling in crisp glacial formations, their blue iridescent surfaces catching shards of golden sunlight. Everywhere I looked there were rainbow reflections, with subtle highlights of shimmering silver. Maybe a hint or two of bronze. I looked behind me once at the mesh of green bushes before stepping ahead, into the unknown.