Am I only a middle-range/borderline applicant??

Colleges & Universities Stanford University
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<p>I just applied to Stanford Early Action last night. X.X It’s my first first first choice college, and I am SO SCARED that I will be rejected. Could you guys have pity on me and evaluate my chances?</p>

<p>Personal: first-generation Filipino American (Asian American) female, age 16 (apparently, I’ll get my acceptance/rejection letter on my birthday on 12/15, isn’t that swell?), dad has Ph.D. and mom has Masters, both UC Berkeley alumni, live in Upper Michigan</p>

<p>GPA: top 10% of class of 117ish students (basically all straight A’s and one or two 9th grade Marking Period A-'s, but straight A-'s in General Chemistry and straight B+'s/B’s in AP Chemistry)
ACT w/ writing: 30
SAT IIs: Chemistry 720, Math IC 700</p>

<p>Teacher Recs: One “one of best students I ever had” (English), other either that or “outstanding”… or just really good (Foreign Language)
Guidance Counselor Rec: ?? probably supports what my teachers said</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-piano (9-12), to test for Level 10 of 10 in March 2009
-Rotary Youth Exchange 2009-2010 (12-PG) (will obviously have to defer if I get admitted)
-violin (10-12), Suzuki Book 5 of 10
-local youth orchestra first violin, chamber strings second violin (10-12)
-school newspaper (11-12), editor for grade 12
-nursing home volunteer (11-12)
-aikido (9-11), take classes alongside college students and assist beginners</p>

<p>In Additional info: 2003 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee participant… and other minor stuff</p>

<p>Essays: Arrrgh! The supplement ones are what kinda worry me… they were all rather last-minute. Especially the first one about the “intellectually engaging” thing, which I had to rewrite on the spot when I realized that my original plan did not adequately answer the question. But they were all rather short… (1800 character thing made sure of that.) do the admissions people place more weight on the Common App Essay, which was actually “very well-written” for sure?</p>

<p>I just don’t know! :frowning: Around my school, I’m a solid student, but when I compare myself to all of you guys who are waaaaay above me and are STILL worrying, I just feel as if I have no chance. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get in. >.<</p>

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<p>Simple answer: No.</p>

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<p>^^
TMP: Why do you say “no” without giving her any explanation? </p>

<p>As you know, all applicants are up against an outstanding pool of prospective students, yet Stanford seems to truly utilize a wholistic approach. They will admit students that don’t necessarily have the perfect profile because of something else that is less tangible to fellow students responding to chance threads.</p>

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<p>End, i’ve been given people explanations for a few weeks now, am tired of it. I’m sorry you were the one I did it to OP. I made a couple of chance threads, feel like an idiot for doing so. If you’ve applied, great, nothing will really matter at this point.</p>

<p>But Endventure is right, college admissions are a crapshoot after a certain point, especially at Stanford. The way i see it, there are two cuts. The first one is the academic one where they take into account the SATs, GPA, AP scores, etc. I’d probably say 75% of SCEA applicants will make this first cut (I think you’re one of those 75%). After that point, they look at the other stuff you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished in that other stuff. Also, recommendations. In my opinion, the most important thing in the subjective part is the essay, though. If your essay is great and the reader really feels that you’re a special person, you’re in.</p>

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<p>Your academics are subpar for Stanford applicants, and I don’t what in your EC’s would make up for it. Finally, you say that a lot of the written parts of your application you did rather hastily, those are the sections where you really needed to separate yourself.</p>

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<p>Okay. So only endventure <em>maybe</em> thinks I even have a chance. Yay.</p>

<p>Essays: By “last-minute essays”, I meant that I wrote them a couple of days before I sent them in. I think my “college roommate/tell us about yourself” one was good, and so was the “what makes Stanford a good place for you” one was, too… But I haven’t read anybody else’s, so that’s just my opinion. Just because I wrote the first essay on the fly, doesn’t mean it’s totally sh-tty, though; I’m pretty sure it at least shows them who I am (same with the second essay).</p>

<p>Grades: I essentially have straight A’s in everything except chemistry subjects, which I tried SO hard in but still got B+'s in. If I challenged myself to the point where I could no longer get A’s because it was so difficult for me, then I sure hope that counts for something.</p>

<p>Why am I even defending myself here? What you guys say isn’t going to affect what Stanford says, anyway…</p>

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<p>Did i say something bad?</p>

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<p>Um, what do you mean by “bad”? I dunno, that was pretty harsh back there…</p>

<p>Not that I wasn’t expecting it, considering how smart everyone else on this forum is.</p>

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<p>I don’t think I said anything harsh. I said that you admission to Stanford would depend on your essays, recommendations and Ecs.</p>

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<p>Oh, okay, I guess I just misinterpreted the “I’m so tired of reading other people’s whiny ‘chance me’ threads” as “You’re a sucky applicant and you don’t have a chance”. ;)</p>

<p>Recs: awesome
Essays: depends
Extracurriculars: good?</p>

<p>Do they really care about the order the extracurriculars are listed in?</p>

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<p>I would never say you’re going to get rejected to anyone because I would be flat-out lying. Other than that, I’d say you’re a competitive applicant just like the majority of us applying. Its still going to be a crap shoot for you (just as it will be for me) because there are so many factors going into the admissions process that are out of our control.</p>

<p>And yes, on the common app it says list your activities in the order that they are important to you so order is important.</p>

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<p>ECs are average by Stanford standards.</p>

<p>Weak test scores, GPA sounds fine, race will probably work against you, unfortunately.</p>

<p>First generation immigrant won’t count for much when both parents have advanced degrees.</p>

<p>Good luck! And don’t worry too much. All out of your hands now.</p>

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<p>By first-gen, I meant that I was born in America, but my parents weren’t. Sorry if that was confusing. And I thought that race was never supposed to work against an applicant. Still, how many Filipino Americans are from Michigan? Most of 'em are gonna be from California, more specifically the BAY AREA.</p>

<p>Blargh! Whatever, I guess I can live with what you all are saying. Waiting sucks, but that’s life, huh? :expressionless: Good luck to all of us, I suppose!</p>

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<p>i sure hope you have a shot your grades are sorta similar to mine</p>

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<p>If you get in, I have hope, but I think I’m still a long shot.</p>

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<p>btw my brothers birthday is also december 15th lol</p>