Am I good enough to get into Stanford?

Applying to College
1

<p>I am a Norwegian who really wants to get into Stanford.</p>

<p>Currently, I have 6 (equivalent to A, or whatever your best grade is) in every subject, but I am still a junior.</p>

<p>I have purchased a book about practicing for the SAT, and I will travel to the University of Oslo in a few months to take it, since high school kids in Norway normally don’t have SATs. I aim to get north of 2300.</p>

<p>We don’t have extracurriculars in Norway, but outside of school i have one great passion; running. I’m a middle distance runner who competes at a national level. My PBs are:
400m: 49,00
800m: 1:52
1500m: 4:00</p>

<p>We don’t have APs in Norway either, but we have something called optional subjects, and among these subjects I have chosen only the hardest science subjects (hardest math, physics, chemistry).</p>

<p>After I’m done with high school here in Norway, I want to go to the USA both to study at one of the world’s best universities, and to run/train/compete with some of Americas best distance runners (in my age group, of course). What I look for in a university is basically that it must have great academics (preferably in the fields of engineering/technology), it also must have lots of soft running trails close to campus (woods, mountains, beaches, etc), and it should also have a great running team so that I don’t have to train alone (which I am currently doing). Therefore i have my heat set on Stanford.</p>

<p>So the questions that I was hoping you guys could help me with, are these:</p>

<p>Am I good enough to get into Stanford? What can I do to increase my chances? </p>

<p>How is Stanford’s policy/view on admitting foreigners? </p>

<p>Are there any better options for me? I have considered Berkeley and the UCLA. Also UVA has been considered, but don’t they have kind of bad academics there? I’ve heard a lot of people say that they are almost on height with Berkeley and UCLA, but topuniversities.com says otherwise. Is topuniversities.com a reliable source?</p>

<p>Thank you for your time.</p>

2

<p>You have really good academics but Stanford’s international pool is very competitive. If I were you, since you are an excellent runner, try to get recruited for Stanford track (if you want to continue running). They have a great athletics program and it could be a route into the school.</p>

3

<p>My advice: contact the track departments of all the schools you’re interested in. Tell them your statistics, your desire to run for that school. The coaching staff at each school should be able to tell you whether your times are competitive enough for admission. You should also consider the Ivy League schools, which, if you’re admitted, will likely give you enough money to attend. </p>

<p>Berkeley and UCLA are fabulous schools - but, being public schools, don’t offer much financial aid to foreign students. Still, it’s worth contacting them since athletes are often offered opportunities unavailable to others. </p>

<p>UVA is a superb school - along with UCLA, Berkeley and Michigan it’s sometimes referred to as a “public” Ivy. </p>

<p>I don’t know topuniversities.com, so I can’t comment on its reliability. But I think you can get great advice on this site, particularly on the parents forum, where there are many, many helpful people with great knowledge of schools. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Stanford has an extremely competitive track/cross country team. It’s gonna be hard to get recruited as an international because they can’t scout you or see you in action. </p>

<p>There’s not much guessing to do without SAT scores, but I would definitely have some less competitive schools planned out.</p>

5

<p>I don’t think you need to be “seen” for any timed sport like track or swimming.
Check the NCAA website to get times where you are competitive. If your times are from sanctioned events, they should be good for recruitment.
You do need to be seen for soccer, football, basketball and lacrosse.</p>

6

<p>A quick search of Stanford’s track website:</p>

<p>[Stanford</a> University - Stanford University’s Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://www.gostanford.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/stan/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/Men-All-Time-Outdoor-10]Stanford”>http://www.gostanford.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/stan/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/Men-All-Time-Outdoor-10)</p>

<p>400 Meters Year Time
Quincy Watts (USC) 1992 44.00
Pac-10 Record Year Time
Quincy Watts (USC) 1992 43.50
Cobb Track & Angell Field Year Time
Tyree Washington (Nike) 2003 44.33
Stanford Record Year Time

  1. Rene Rodriguez 1994 45.85
  2. Alan Sheats 1977 46.08
  3. Jimmie Johnson 1996 46.17
  4. Nick Sebes 2004 46.20
  5. Amaechi Morton 2011 46.52
  6. Andrew Dargie 2008 46.53
  7. James Lofton 1977 46.54
  8. Ben Eastman 1932 46.54
  9. James Cramton 1991 46.71
  10. Evan Kelty 2002 46.86
    MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
    800 Meters Year Time
    World Record Year Time
    David Rudisha (Kenya) 2010 1:41.09
    American Record Year Time
    Johnny Gray (SMTC) 1985 1:42.60
    Collegiate Record Year Time
    Joaquim Cruz (Oregon) 1984 1:41.77
    Pac-10 Record Year Time
    Joaquim Cruz (Oregon) 1984 1:41.77
    Cobb Track & Angell Field Year Time
    David Krummenacher (USA) 2005 1:45.19
    Stanford Record Year Time
  11. Michael Stember 2000 1:46.20
  12. Ernie Cunliffe 1960 1:46.60
  13. Gabe Jennings 2001 1:46.83
  14. David Strang 1990 1:46.90
  15. Christian Skoog 1986 1:47.92
  16. Grant Robison 2003 1:47.96
  17. Russell Brown 2007 1:47.96
  18. Bill Crowley 1990 1:48.20
  19. John Schaer 1979 1:48.30
  20. Ryan Carroll 2001 1:48.42</p>
7

<p>Just out of curiosity, wouldn’t times hopefully be decreased during the high level training at the school? What I mean is, the high school athletes are not expected to have those times when they arrive at the school, correct? </p>

<p>So shaving off 3-ish seconds over the course of extensive training seems possible to me…</p>

8

<p>Wait, so does that mean your mile time(1600m) is less than 4:15? That’s amazing!nKeep training, and you will definitely be able to run for a great school.</p>

9

<p>We normally never run mile races in Norway, but yeah, a sub 4:15 mile is possible!</p>

10

<p>thats great^. Even if you don’t get to stanford for some reason, a top school (inside the top 10 or 5) is in your future.</p>

11

<p>at harvard you can just fill out a questionnaire to start the recruitment process. <a href=“https://www.cyberquestlive.com/cql/harvardtrack/[/url]”>https://www.cyberquestlive.com/cql/harvardtrack/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;