Chances? I know this is getting stupid!!

giajale · 03-22-2008, 11:22 AM

When do we get our RD decisions?
I am pretty sure I will be rejected, but I might as well ask:

SAT CR 770 Math 710 Writing 680
SAT 2 World History 690 Literature 740 Math 2 780

GPA 3.83/4.0 (my GPA is now perfect, but my school hasn't sent out my midyear!! theyre planning to on monday)

EC: Leadership, Debate (national level), Elocution, Writing
Awards: Best student and best speaker (entire school) 2 years in a row
Editor of school newspaper, Editor of ASISC National Sports meet newspaper

I do have a life, and I won't appreciate ppl telling me to go find one.
I just want affirmation of the looming rejection.

ilc · 03-22-2008, 12:27 PM

hope for the best, expect the worst. no perfect standardized test score or glowing EC track record can grant you safe passage into college.

Muddslinger · 03-22-2008, 10:04 PM

^ Well, not into Stanford anyway.

I'd chance you at 20%, just like everyone else who's qualified. The 10% value reflects ALL applications, but the ranks have swelled with people who have no hope of getting admitted but who applied "just to see." From the looks of it, you're not one of those people. Therefore you get 20%.

I thus affirm your looming rejection since there's an 80% chance that I'm right XP

Hanajima Arashi · 03-22-2008, 10:17 PM

^Wow, people who applied "just to see" must be extremely masochistic. I can't imagine doing all of those essays (at least doing them well) if I didn't really care.

OP, I agree with Muddslinger. No one has a very good chance at Stanford. It's ok, I'm waiting for the rejection as well.

I assume you've looked this up, but just in case: the going estimate is that we'll get our RD notifications on the last day of March. Official Stanford word: "no later than April 1st."

giajale · 03-23-2008, 04:35 AM

I have looked that up. It's scary, very very scary.

I know - so many people apply to the most selective colleges and say "let's try luck" or whatever.

I just hope that I won't get too many rejections.

Muddslinger · 03-23-2008, 03:39 PM

Well, in a sense that's what I did :| When it comes to Stanford, Caltech, etc, it's a complete crapshot. I've seen people with ACT 26 admitted to them and people with ACT 36 rejected. Judging by the threads in the Caltech and MIT forums, this year is completely whack for ED and probably for RD too.

Stories of people rejected from MIT are accepted at Caltech and vice-versa, people getting rejected from Lehigh but admitted to Stanford, people shafted by Yale but getting in everywhere else... I don't even know what to think anymore. My advice? Try luck because it's all we have

Frankly, thank you for posting. I see way too many "Rise of the Automaton Student" people posting with 15 AP's and going "Durr... can I get into Jerome Fisher at Penn?" Knowing that there are people like you and Hanajima that aren't perfect is a great relief

Hanajima Arashi · 03-23-2008, 11:24 PM

^Well, there's a difference between going, "hey, let's apply in the hopes of getting in somewhere," and going, "hey, I don't want to go here, but I want to see if I'm cool enough to get in." You're totally right about the former case, because college admissions this year are so random it's scary. There's nothing wrong with trying your luck there. But in the latter case, it's like...why do you spend so much effort on destroying the dreams of people who really want to get in? D:

Aaaanyway, it is certainly good to see other imperfect people. I dearly hope that those perfect-grade-scores-ECs CCers don't represent the norm, because that's just scary. o.o I mean, it's excellent and admirable that they are so capable, but I run nonstop just for my "imperfect" grades and ECs, so it leaves me wondering why I'm so bad at everything. xD

giajale · 03-24-2008, 01:39 AM

Same here, Muddslinger and Hanajima.

I get so scared whenever I see perfect 2400 SAT scores and loads of APs and ECs. I mean, aren't they HUMAN BEINGS??

But even places like Stanford recognize that perfect scores aren't the beginning or the end. I have heard of people with normal scores but good personalities/thoughts getting in.

My worry is, I haven't LET my personality come out through my application, they haven't seen my writing (there is only a form for Fine Arts and Sports!

).

Hanajima Arashi · 03-24-2008, 10:46 AM

I know how you feel. Stanford, out of all of the places I applied, has the most room to express yourself. Still, I feel like there's so much more that I could have said about my passions, and even about why I chose the courses and activities I do. I wish they could read my extended essay. >.<

Who knows, though? Maybe you expressed yourself better than you thought. And there's always letters of rec.

...Trying to stay positive while expecting a rejection is confusing. xP

cooledge · 03-24-2008, 05:17 PM

Is Stanford unique among HYPS to really look for personality as opposed to you know, crazy ECs and stuff? And what do you think they consider a good personality? I sort of wrote my essays with either sarcastic, biting humour or satire.

Muddslinger · 03-24-2008, 09:50 PM

Sarcasm and satire? I would never have tried those on a college app, but good for you for breaking the norm. I don't even remember what I wrote for Stanford >.> Actually, I do vaguely remember. I took the stronger themes from some college apps I completed before Stanford's app and modified them to fit.

I'm fairly sure that Stanford is more or less the same from an admissions standpoint as its contemporaries. All of them look for people who will contribute significantly to the school during and after their undergrad. They look for strong students to support the academics during their tenure as students and seek strong potential for become walking advertisements. The latter is a tad cynical, but I think it's true - Stanford wants to have famous alums to continue its prestige.

That said, relaying your convictions of academic strength and future promise to the admissions committee is the primary shot in the dark :\ The most prominent method is to use your essays, but as we all know, Stanford's app wasn't exactly the most expression-oriented set of essays in existence :|

Blueduckie54367 · 03-24-2008, 11:14 PM

Actually...I felt that Stanford didn't really let the applicants express themselves at all...pretty lame..Harvard gave applicants a much better opportunity to show that they were more than just Perfect test scores and GPA...

giajale · 03-25-2008, 09:56 AM

Yes, the essay topics weren't very good. How can they possibly know us by asking us to describe ourselves in "five words"?

Yet hope continues to reign the pitiable soul. :P (not for Stanford though)

Muddslinger · 03-25-2008, 06:14 PM

Stanford claims #2 with crummiest application ever - a bunch of two-liners that you can't possibly express yourself effectively with, three small essay-things that weren't very expressive, etc

#1 was definitely Caltech - a few small-answer things, you must describe yourself in THREE words and the big essay was "How do you express yourself in math, science and engineering?" Basically, you get to talk about math and science. Again. How are you supposed to write a great and creative essay on expressing interest in math and science? Bleh - rehash of the rest of the application in prose

Frankly, with the generic-sounding essay I wrote, it was a miracle I was waitlisted.

Maybe better essays will make the difference between the waitlist and being accepted for Stanford

theprez · 03-25-2008, 06:26 PM

Stanford's essays were a *****. If I'd known all I know now when I wrote them, I would have taken a completely different route. I think they could have done a lot for my app, but oh well.

The only thing I will give Stanford is that the "why Stanford?" essay was short, if I remember correctly... So many schools had that as their only supplementary essay... I'm vaguely certain I probably put the adcomms to sleep with those.