<p>This is just a question sparked from curiousity...</p>
<p>I know that Stanford leaves much more room for creative answers than other schools. This makes me believe that Stanford looks for more interesting candidates, rather than intellectual perfect-score candidates. When I looked through Harvard, Yale, and Princeton's application, they seemed more "stay-in-the-box", although it may have been because H + P use the CommonApp. Princeton did have a few questions asking "What's your favorite book" and stuff like that.</p>
<p>But basically my question is, what type of student do you think Stanford looks for? Compared to Harvard? Princeton? Yale? etc... (btw, I posted this same message on the Search & Selection forum)</p>
<p>I think Stanford looks for someone with passion and potential. And a willingness to try new/different things. Perhaps I am somewhat biased living in the big frosh dorm, but I feel like they look for people who want to have fun, get involved, and learn a lot. :-)</p>
<p>In our school (and I've heard it being said elsewhere too), Stanford is known to be the hardest school to get into, on the basis that their selection appears quite random. Top, perfect-scorers, are not guaranteed a place there by any means, whereas with Harvard and Princeton, it's more predictable and the top students do usually get in. Stanford seems to be looking more for personality and an intrinsic drive to succeed, whereas Harvard/Princeton look more for accomplishments. Btw, I'm a SCEA acceptee, and this is just my opinion!</p>
<p>From the Stanford Undergraduate Admission Website: "In addition to academic excellence, we are interested in students who have made significant contributions to the life of their school or community. We do not favor one type of activity over another; nor is it necessary to participate in a large number of activities. Rather, we look for students who have committed themselves to their chosen activities over a period of time and who have shown energy and enthusiasm in working with others."</p>
<p>dreamer9 ~ you're one of the few not listed as accepted on the SCEA thread. Why don't you let your peers know that you made it in! And congratualtions.</p>
<p>"Stanford seems to be looking more for personality and an intrinsic drive to succeed"
"students who have made significant contributions to the life of their school or community."</p>
<p>i'm with dreamer9 - and the only way you can really convey any of these traits are through your essays. i put all my heart into my essays and i think that's what got me in. my main essay in particular focused on the past three years where i've been in two regularly gigging bands - a blues and rock band. it talked about how we essentially built up a community with our bands and how i'd be able to contribute to the vitality of the university in the same manner (with more interesting wording, haha).</p>
<p>yeah, i had a hard time presenting myself to harvard (princeton was a little easier) through the commonapp. on the other hand, stanford's app, intense and filled with essays, worked well for me...</p>
<p>that, in and of itself, tells you a thing or two about the schools</p>
<p>So you guys are saying that writiing about your activities and what you have contributed to those activites would make good topics for the Stanford essays huh?</p>
<p>Hmm... worked for me. I was quite focused on activities for 2 of my short answer questions, whereas for my long essay, I only used some of my activities as examples to illustrate my thesis rather than as the focal point. Just try and make your passion for the activity come through and show how it has achieved concrete results as well (ie. your contributions to the activity).</p>