*GPA is a 4.5 (weighted)
*Top 10% of my class
*I am trilingual (English, Spanish, Chinese)
*I will have taken 7 years of Chinese. (6th to 12th grade)
*I will have taken four years of debate (including AP Seminar and AP Capstone)
*8 AP Classes
*Clubs include: 4 years debate club, 4 years Model UN Club, and 3 years Chinese Club
*Sports include 4 years of varsity basketball
*I am a Hispanic female
Sorry if it seems like I’m bragging, I’m simply trying to list off information. If you have any advice on how I could increase my chances of getting into Stanford University or into other reputable universities it would be greatly appreciated!
Standardized test scores? I’m assuming you’re a junior now? With that being said, Stanford is one of the most difficult schools to get into in the world. You have a nice hook and an amazing gpa but your extracurriculars are not on par with Stanford kids. With that being said, you can definitely prove me wrong by writing killer essays and getting amazing recs!
Thank you for your input. My SAT score is a 2200 but I will probably take it again to super score my SAT. I also failed to mention that I have been co-vice president of the Model UN club for 4 years and I helped establish it in my school. Can you please elaborate on how I could improve my extracurriculars? How are they different than those of Stanford kids? Can you inform me on what extracurriculars Stanford kids do/ Stanford likes? Also, how many extracurriculars do Stanford kids usually partake in? Your help is much appreciated!
My D was admitted for 2021. Yesterday we had a meet and greet Stanford staff at the LA Central Library. Met the SoCal admissions officer and the Dean of Admissions. Believe it or not but the regional admissions officer remembered my daughter’s name and essay. The Dean in his opening speech quoted directly from D’s essay along with many others. Your stats are very good but you need to show leadership positions at the clubs and in the sports activities. D stats are 2340 SAT and 36 ACT (one sitting) and wgpa of 4.9. Many leadership positions at school and outside it. Multiple national, state, local and school awards. But D has nothing on you for the sports, she couldn’t throw a rock into the Pacific Ocean.
From my conversation with the admissions officers there is a baseline for test scores and gpa but S with hooks like yourself is a plus. Every application gets read so the initial read through must impress. They are really good picking out the “Stanford” student. What that “Stanford” student is, your guess as good as mine. The main thing was they were looking for S that will make an impact locally, regionally, nationally or on the world stage. If you are first to college from your family a huge plus. I asked how many times an application is read before it heads to the accepted group. She said that most of the accepted S apps get read multiple times and are scored on an index card by multiple people. Those they deem “Stanford” students survive the admissions committee and are awarded an acceptance letter. It is very difficult to get in but we thought our D has little chance to get in like so many others because there are so many outstanding S with so few spots available. But dreams do come true with hard work and a little prayer.
Be yourself and have fun with the essay. Work really hard at getting the highest wgpa possible and raise your SAT score. You many want to take the ACT, it is easier and more logical according to D (she didn’t study for the ACT). Good luck and hope the best for you.