What does it take to get into Stanford?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>Hi. I'm currently a high school freshman, and I was wondering what it took to get into a great school like Stanford. I know that there's no "secret" to getting in, but I was just wondering what type of students were accepted. Thanks!</p>

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<p>To be considered, you’ll need a high GPA (3.7 at the lowest) and SAT/ACT/subject test scores (2200+, 33+, and 700+). That’s the bare minimum. On top of that, you’ll need good EC’s, leadership positions, and volunteering/community service. The most important thing is that you write a good college essay. Then, you have recs and interviews.</p>

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<p>“To be considered, you’ll need a high GPA (3.7 at the lowest) and SAT/ACT/subject test scores (2200+, 33+, and 700+). That’s the bare minimum.”</p>

<p>Not true–you will be considered regardless of test scores/GPA.</p>

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<p>^Agree with AustroHungarian. </p>

<p>My SAT was a 2110, ACT was a 30. Subjet Tests were low 700s.
You can look at the Stanford Class of 2017 Official Decisions thread to get a general idea of what “type” of students are accepted, but the overall student body does seem to be quite diverse.</p>

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<p>What does it take? A familiarity with Stanford Admissions website. Start there</p>

<p>Scroll thru this too
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1480174-stanford-class-2017-official-decisions-thread-rd.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1480174-stanford-class-2017-official-decisions-thread-rd.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>

I disagree. I’m a Stanford alumni and met hardly any of the criteria in your post. I found high school extremely boring, which was reflected in my grades. I had a ~91 average in high school, which was in the top 10-15% of my class. I only got a 500 on my verbal SAT. I was never on a sports team, did not do any volunteering/community work, and averaged about an hour of extra curricular activities per week. Instead I spent most of my free time playing video games.</p>

<p>What stood out on my application was perfect scores on math SAT and achievement tests, my main EC being a math-related competition where I did well, being several years ahead in math, and when I ran out of math classes offered at my high school taking them at a nearby university (a basic school with only ~3 AP classes offered in total). During my senior year, I generally took 1 math class and 1 or 2 humanity or soft science classes I found interesting at the university. An example is a class called. Biopsychology & Behavioral Neuroscience. I also took some science classes at a different university in the summer. My GPA on these classes in colleges was higher than my HS GPA. It also didn’t hurt to have a good essay, a portion of which they quoted in my acceptance letter (related to risk taking).</p>

<p>My point is getting into Stanford cannot be easily determined by grades, test scores, or how many common ECs you take. Stanford gets far more students than they could admit with near 4.0GPAs and top SAT scores, and lots of ECs, resulting in the majority of those students being rejected. So it helps tremendously if there is something unique on your application that separates it from the others by making it stand out as unique in a desirable way , such as a skill that hardly anyone applying has or doing something amazing that hardly any other applicants can do. Examples include being exceptional at a sport, winning a competition, doing something amazing with volunteer work that helps a large number of people, starting a successful website or app business, overcoming an extremely difficult background with few opportunities, etc.</p>

<p>A quote from the admissions page of the Stanford website along these lines is below:

</p>

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Check out this blog: https://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/how-to-get-into-stanford/

Basically, you have to do something pretty incredible…

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I disagree with some of the above link. I do agree with this.

A Former Admissions Officer from Stanford once said, “Stanford prefers lopsided candidates to well-rounded students.” So, if you’re wondering how to get into Stanford, think about what makes you angular or “lopsided” – don’t fall into the trap of being well-rounded.

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@data10. When did you graduate from Stanford? Was it recently?

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ACT: 30 | SAT: 2130 | USH: 720 | BIO: 650

Admitted Regular Decision the past cycle

Don’t let these guys scare you off. Do your best on your application and hope for the best, because good things can happen!

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This is a pretty old thread…