Stanford University Is My Dream School And I Really Want To Get In. I Am A High School Freshman. Please Tell Me What I Should Do To Get In.
try doing Speech and Debate, Quiz bowl, science olympiad, model un. Make sure to do EC’s that you are really passionate about, or that you can win recognition it.
I’d recommend that you give up the idea of a dream school. The people I see who get hurt by the college admission process are the ones who focus on one or two hyper-competitive schools and then don’t get in. Stanford, with under a 5% acceptance rate, is a huge reach for everyone. Tons of exceedingly well qualified candidates are not offered admission.
If there were a template for admission to a school like Stanford someone would package and sell it – the best thing is to be the best “you” possible.
When the time comes work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (find out your parents’ budget and run the net price calculator for each school) and that you would be happy to attend. Cast a wide net and recognize that there are tons of amazing colleges and universities out that that can give you a great 4 year experience and get you where you want to go in life.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Find activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
I’m tempted to write something snarky like “star in a top grossing film” or “write a top selling book” or “cure cancer” but honestly, beyond this level of achievement there are no guarantees.
Instead I’ll follow happy1’s example and say do what you enjoy doing and seek out opportunities to do that (or those) at the highest level you can. And know that doing that, along with earning top grades and test scores, will put you in a position to go to a great college.
My friend won international hacking competitions (going up against people of all ages) and worked for the Ukrainian Government in order to help fix their security system against cyber attacks. He will also be working for the Pentagon over this upcoming summer to help increase their security. He got into Stanford.
I guess you could do that. Good luck though.
(For real, if you spent your highschool trying to be the person you think colleges want you to be, you’ll likely be miserable and destroyed when you don’t get in. Find something that you love and pursue it with all of your heart. For me, I fell in love with German Wheeling, a circus act, and performed in parades and show, as well as national and international competitions. I’ll be attending Northwestern University in the Fall.)
I hear they are always looking for women water polo players - seriously!
Sports, but you have to be REALLY good.
“Please Tell Me What I Should Do To Get In.”
Honestly? Get off CC. Keep your grades up. Find what YOU’RE passionate about- no one here can tell you that. (Try a bunch of clubs, find your interests!). And most of all, enjoy high school- it shouldn’t be four years of pure college prep.
And honestly? I agree with the other posters telling you to forget a “dream school.” It’s much too early for you to set a heart on a school. Enjoy your time in high school, then after junior year ends figure out where you are and what you want to do.
intern in fields you’re interested in, work, volunteer, take leadership positions in school clubs and organizations, compete in national and international competitions etc. but whatever you choose to do REALLY invest yourself in it.
Unlike the other replies, I don’t think it’s too early to think about a “dream school.” If the thought of getting into a top university like Stanford can keep you motivated and get you out of bed in the morning, I’m all for it. However, be careful not to idolize any school. Understand that universities like Stanford are extremely selective and will reject even the best students. Developing an emotional attachment can be dangerous in that you will be miserable if you’re denied, and it is very likely that you’ll be denied. Good students can succeed anywhere, not just Stanford.
While I agree with some of the other replies that you should do the extracurriculars that interest you, not just what you think will get you into the school, I wish that I was told about some of the extraordinary things that students can be involved in when I was a highschool freshman. As an example, if you are interested in science, being involved and dedicated in scientific research is highly regarded by top schools. Or if you want to do engineering, seek out an internship that will help you root your interest.
The bottom line is find your interests and get SERIOUS about them! Don’t just join a club, be it’s president. Don’t just compete in math Olympiad, go for first place. And show long term interest in these activities for all of high school. To get into top schools, you have to show dedication on a different level.
Ignore the negative comments on college confidential, but don’t forget to be realistic. Good luck!
I agree with @happy1 and several other posts: The best things that you can do are:
- Keep ahead in your classes
- Participate in ECs that you enjoy and care about
- Have some fun in high school and find time to get enough sleep at night.
- Give up on the idea that there is such a thing as a "dream school".
- When the time comes, apply to a range of schools, including match and safety schools.
I will also point out that I have a master’s degree from Stanford. I went there partly because I didn’t get into my top choice. When I was there, I pretty much studied every moment that I was awake (including weekends and between classes). I loved it and ended up being glad that I hadn’t gotten into my top choice. However, you have to want to do it, and if I had worked that hard at pretty much any of the top 200 universities in the US, I would have done just fine at them also and had pretty much the same life since graduation.
There are a lot of very good universities in the US, and you don’t need to go to any particular school to do well.
Be an athlete good enough to be recruited for the football team