Applying 8 years after high school?

convexfunction
Sun, 27 Apr 2014 06:04:53 +0000

I’m planning to apply to Stanford but it’s been 8 years since I graduated from high school. All of my close teachers have left, and my high school might have lost my transcript. In the worst case scenario, I think the best I can conjure are my old SAT scores and a few professional recommendations. Would this suffice? What would you advise?

I’ll give an overview of the exact circumstances, in case CC is still as judgmental as it used to be ;): I was supposed to start at a mid-tier college 8 years ago, but sudden circumstances left my family in financial hardship. I weighed the pros and cons, but decided that a career in mathematics would not alleviate my family’s circumstances in time. So I set aside those ambitions and started a data analytics company. My firm became relatively successful, and I’ve been yearning to go back to finish a degree. I decided on Stanford because it’s near my workplace, and I think I still have to devote some time to work before we transition to my successor. I’ve worked very closely with a few professors, so I guess that is a plus and I have a decent idea of what to expect of student life and work. I did earn enough to donate a building to a department, but that’s not a route that I want to consider.

(There’s a few groups that I’ll call next week, e.g. the admissions office, Collegeboard and my high school, but I’m hoping to work out a preliminary plan over the weekend.)

Thanks!