Decision: Rejected
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2370 (CR: 800 M: 800 W: 770). Superscore 2380 (W: 780)
ACT (breakdown): Never taken
SAT II: Math I: 800, Math II: 800, Physics: 800, Literature: 740
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): My school doesn’t calculate a GPA
Weighted GPA: Not applicable
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics C Mechanics: 5, Computer Science A: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): Not Applicable
Senior Year Course Load: Most challenging offered (English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Mime artist, singing, (Captain of house at school) in addition to those below.
Job/Work Experience: Mobile App Developer for a popular company for more than a year
Volunteer/Community service: Worked at orphanages, etc. approximately 7 hours per week
Summer Activities: Stanford High School Summer College program 8 weeks (all As) – that’s what made me LOVE Stanford. Before that I did community service.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 7.5/10 - Probably a little cliché but was done well. I talked about my experience with computers and with app development and how that makes me what I am.
Intellectual Vitality: 9/10 - Talked about my experience as a mime.
Letter to roommate: 9/10 - Quite fun and unusual - sometimes funny. Some references to my favorite things about Stanford.
What Matters: 8.5/10 - Talked about the philosophical questions that matter to me and how I attempt to answer them in every walk of life.
Activities: 7/10 - Calligraphy and writing letters.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I did not read the teachers’ and the counselor’s, but based on my conversations with them:
Teacher Rec #1: 9/10 Liked me a lot.
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 Said he thought I was the best student he’s ever had.
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec: 9.5/10 The person who wrote it was a Philosophy professor at Stanford (he had taught me in the summer). He quite liked me and wrote very well.
Interview: It was overall pretty good. She seemed very impressed and intrigued. The only thing I probably did not convey well was my depth of commitment to a particular field.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: (In order of choice) Physics, Computer Science, Philosophy
State (if domestic applicant): N/A
Country (if international applicant): India
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~$60,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
Reflection
Strengths: Test scores, essays, interview
Weaknesses: No idea. Over-represented minority?
Why you think you were rejected: It is beyond me. I was expecting at least a deferral. This was my dream school.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Applied only to Stanford early.
General Comments:
I am very disappointed in this result. I do not know what I did wrong. My essays were quite different and good, and I honestly believe I’m a good match for this school (based on my 8 weeks there). I guess everybody cannot be at Stanford after all.