<p>I think kyledavid80 is right to say you shouldn’t count on your SAT to get you into Stanford. (or Berkeley!) I personally know a very strong Math/Science concentrator, who got 800R/800M/760W the first and only time he took the SAT, and got 800 in Physics SAT II and 800 in Math IIC, was denied outright at Stanford (not WL) and admitted to MIT. He had very strong grades, too, and had challenged himself with 12 AP classes in all, including Euro and US history, Spanish, Eng Lit etc, so he wasn’t one-dimensional science.</p>
<p>(Obviously, he also had ECs - he wasn’t just scores and grades - and had some high level awards in his science ECs.)</p>
<p>Net - the top tier colleges are unpredictable - there’s no sure thing.</p>
<p>Thanks for mentioning some safety colleges. I do hope that everyone applying to Stanford in this competitive year makes sure to have a back-up plan.</p>
<p>For someone who’s competitive for Stanford, I’d say schools ranked about 30 and beyond can be considered either a safe match or safety. For Californians, that would be all Cal States and all UCs except Berkeley and UCLA (yes, even UCSD can be a safety, especially if you’re an ELC student). Of course, certain schools you might be just a “match” at while other schools are safeties for you, since different schools have different admissions. But generally, I’d say they can be considered safeties if you’re competitive for Stanford, and by “competitive,” I mean a high GPA (3.8+), strong SAT scores (2100+), some ECs that show a passion/focus and leadership, some good awards/honors, good essays, etc.</p>
<p>Guys, Cal and UCLA aren’t safeties for anyone! You can think you have a reasonable shot of getting in, but there are no guarantees. And we all know that this year will be the toughest yet!</p>
<p>Stanford has restrictive early action (what most of us call “single-choice early action” or SCEA), so you can’t send out a lot of other applications if you are applying to Stanford just now. But Stanford’s rules </p>
<p>allow you to make as many rolling admission applications as you like, so now is the time to apply to your safety college if you haven’t already. It’s less wearing on the nerves to have a college in hand before hearing Stanford’s decision. </p>
<p>When I read “safety school for Stanford hopeful” I think of a school with a similar atmosphere, location, etc., but less selective in admissions. Using those criteria, the obvious response hasn’t been mentioned: Santa Clara University. Just a few miles down the road from Stanford, similar campus appearance, SAT 75th percentile about 1320. It doesn’t have Stanford’s national reputation, of course, but then - “safety school”, right? Particularly for anyone interested in business, and locating in Northern California, it’s a gem well worth checking out.</p>
<p>How is everyone doing this admission season? Have a lot of you already heard from a suitable college that you’re in while you are waiting for news from Stanford’s regular decision round?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, have all of you Stanford applicants received good news from your safety colleges? Does everyone have an offer of admission to a good college in hand?</p>
<p>Not to be more peevish than I already have been with a super moderator (and risking becoming a target for Zeusian lightning bolts) it doesn’t seem like “Our aim is to provide you with an admission decision no later than April 1.” reveals anything useful. Better would be to call Admissions in your official capacity, ask them for an update, and post their answer. </p>
<p>^I doubt they’ll say anything more helpful (I’m probably not the only one who finds that “update” letter to be more stressful than anything - “well, you have an impossible amount of competition, have fun waiting!” lol), but I suppose that would be worth a shot.</p>
<p>tokenadult - I have been admitted to a few great schools that I would be pretty happy going to. It’s great, but Stanford is still always on my mind. :)</p>
<p>All it takes to get into Stanford is to have halfway decent numbers, be an “interesting” person, and make sure your writing catches the eye of the readers and gives them a decent picture of you. Their admiss dog-and-pony-show people are really pleased to tell everyone how many perfect GPA, perfect SAT people they deny each year in their search for more interesting candidates. So don’t despair based on your numbers, especially if you had something to say and said it.</p>
Let’s see. Have you applied to Stanford?</p>