<p>Let's start with the nuts and bolts:
4 of my aunts and uncles, my dad, and my sister have gone or (sister) are currently attending Stanford. At the same time my GPA is 3.68 unweighted and class rank 110 out of 503. I got a 33 composite ACT with a 36 in reading comprehension but my math scores hover around 31/32. My SAT was actually pretty sad knowing my ACT performance: 1960 composite. I got a 780 on my SAT II literature test, and a 730 on my Math II SAT II. Oh, and I live in North Dakota.</p>
<p>So I've basically lived my whole life in my sister's shadow, she was "the smart one" and I was kind of "the screw-up". My dad talked to us (her) every night at dinner about how going to Stanford was the best thing he ever did. I coasted through the beginning of high school procrastinating homework and forgetting to turn in assignments, but my extra-curriculurs were decent (I'm not going into detail, nothing stand-out, but good involvement in a local air museum etc.). After seeing my PSAT qualified me for NMerit Semi-finalist I realized that I might also be smart too. This year I loaded up with 5 AP classes and so far I have only one B. I've always thought my application to Stanford would just be a perfunctory gesture toward pleasing my dad, but a couple of experiences (once again no room for detail) led me to think that Stanford might actually be the best choice <em>for me</em>. </p>
<p>I wrote my essays and sent them to my sister to look over and she sent them to her friends. Quote from her response to me: "Holy [expletive] Sixtuplegacy, I can't believe you wrote this in two hours. I just sent this to six of my Stanford friends and so far the response has been pretty much "holy [expletive]". It's finals now but they're all still going to make a bunch of notes and send them to you" Now I'm going to discount a lot of that because she may just be saying that as encouragement (and only one person actually sent any notes), but I still think that might mean my essays were pretty good. Would my potential "hooks" (Six time legacy status, acceptable ACT, pretty good SAT IIs, rural location, possibly good essays) outweigh my poor performance in school? In the additional information section I basically said that my GPA has improved dramatically this year and to wait before passing judgement, but I don't have a clue if they'll actually listen to me. I just want to know maybe a percentage shot of getting in, I know it's definitely far from a "sure thing" but is it really 0% or do I maybe have a 5% or better shot?</p>
<p>lol, it would be nice not to be excluded at family gatherings...</p>
<p>not going to lie to you legacy is +++++ but its not gonna amelorate bad bads or stuff like that, can help but not gonna be deciding factor, with taht said your ACT fits in at stanford and GPA is not bad so go for it</p>
<p>I was under the impression that the only legacies that meant anything would be those of your father and sister, not your aunt/uncles. Can anyone clarify this?</p>
<p>well if the aunt and uncle are sister and brother respectively of the OP’s father it would indicate that ‘smartness’ runs in the family :o</p>
<p>legacies are supposed to have better chances at ED than RD but being a sixtuple legacy :o i really dunno lol,</p>
<p>ur ACT is great, ignore the SAT, subject tests are good, grades are good, top 20% of class and if your essays are as great as they appear to be, you defo have a shot =)</p>
<p>A double legacy is not worth more than a single legacy, you’re just a legacy ( file gets so tagged) or you’re not. If your family has been giving for generations, that makes you a development candidate.</p>
<p>In this case the father is the only one that makes him a legacy anyway.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen at Stanford and it’s peers, legacies admitted have the stats. The break seems to come in terms of ECs…</p>
<p>I also grew up in the shadow of a very accomplished older sister. When I was applying to colleges my mother wanted me to apply to the same college she was attending. My father pointed out to her that it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to attend the same school. My mother realized he was right and I was encouraged to apply elsewhere. I went to a different school and found myself out from under my sister’s shadow for the first time in my life.</p>
<p>If you go to Stanford you will perpetuate the atmosphere of comparisons. You can expect your grade point to be compared with hers. Is that what you want? If you parents have given thought to this beyond what a wonderful school Stanford is then maybe they don’t even want you to go there.</p>
<p>Legacy is great, the only person who got into Stanford EA last year from my school had a triple legacy. However, he also had great GPA and Test Scores. I’d say Stanford is definitely a reach, but the those essays are as good as they sound, you might have a shot</p>
<p>A nephew was 5x legacy (3 sibs, father, and grandfather). He has better grades than you, test scores not quite as strong, and doesn’t have the rural state bump. He got rejected REA in December.</p>
<p>Great posts everyone! Thanks you so much, and by all means post if you’re thinking about it. Pea: You make an interesting point about going to another school so as not to be in my sister’s shadow anymore, I have been considering the University of Minnesota as “my other 1st choice school” for some time now and I still may choose to go there (the finances are much more attractive with my scholarships). But when it came to sending my sister my essay, I wouldn’t think of doing something like this without her, she’s always been the most supportive person in my life, and in fact she was the only one who honestly told me that she thought I had a chance of getting in (which even I had already written off), although she later tempered that statement with a discussion of the falling admission rate and my marginal GPA. I don’t want to compete with her, I just hope to be able to follow her and my dad’s example, and to be able to share in what they now share. Also, I want to be an entrepreneur and it would be a lot easier to get VC funding, not to mention innovative ideas, at a place like Stanford.</p>
<p>I would have done REA but I was informed (by good 'ol sis) that RD was a better choice with my marginal GPA, don’t ask me why. </p>
<p>It sounds like a legacy boost is just a legacy boost and more family members don’t give me any more of a hook. That’s disappointing, but jbourne I don’t know how you could consider a deferral at Stanford “appeasement”, that’s something to be proud of at a school this selective even with legacy. Another thing I’m curious about, and maybe nobody knows this, but does the fact that my sister was /very/ prominent in student government and had a very direct interaction with the alumni association have any bearing on my application? Would a school ever go, “well she turned out to be awesome, maybe there’s something this guy has to offer too…” or would they just stick to <em>my</em> credentials and evaluate me like everyone else? I just found out a girl that I had a crush on at a summer leadership program got accepted REA at Stan, so now I want to get in even more lol. Also Congrats to the Cardinal on the Orange Bowl!</p>
<p>What jbourne is referring to is the fact that many schools defer/wait list legacies as a courtesy with no intent of accepting them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you need to count on being judged by your accomplishments alone. Stanford isn’t big on legacies, they take a smaller percent than ivies as a whole, and a way smaller percentage than a Princeton where you have 4X the chance as a legacy.</p>