Applying to Stanford from UC

[Lowenhart]

<p>I am currently a first-year (sophomore and nearing junior status in terms of credits) at UCSD and am applying to Stanford for Fall 2012. I love the school very much and have trouble imagining myself elsewhere. I was rejected as a regular decision applicant out of high school. It’s also worth mentioning that my second choice out of HS was the University of Michigan, since both of my parents graduated from there. I was rejected after being deferred from EA and no one I know can figure out why. I might apply there as a junior if I do not get into Stanford (quite likely to happen) since UCSD is just not suitable for me to pursue my goals in college.</p>

<p>Feel free to respond however you want to; I mainly just feel like I should post this for peace of mind as the deadline nears and my application gets closer to actually being evaluated. </p>

<p>First will be my HS credentials, followed by those from university.</p>

<p>High School:
I went to a very small, independent high school. Class rank: 5/35, top 4 went to Ivy League and near-Ivy universities.</p>

<p>Cum Laude Honor Society</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.2
Unweighted 3.77
SAT: 2130
Was very ill both times I tried to take subject tests, so not worth submitting the scores.</p>

<p>AP’s (Best scores)
Language/Composition 4
Physics B 4
Calculus BC 4
European History 4
Took 7 during HS—During Junior and Senior year, AP’s are only allowed during Junior and Senior year. I took 7 AP’s and 10 total classes, which was considered by my adviser as one of the heaviest loads a student had ever taken at the school. </p>

<p>Recommendation from my counselor/adviser: I expect it’s quite good. She was also my junior AP English teacher and I’m probably one of the more exceptional students she’s seen in a while (I have always been very modest but I’ve learned that is a terrible trait to have in college applications, unfortunately). She went to Stanford.
(Arts Supplement Rec: This is a supplemental application but my Music Director is writing it for me. She and I had a great relationship so it’s bound to be great, although the admissions office will not see it unless the arts department thinks they should.)</p>

<p>EC’s:
Sports:
3x Scholar-Athlete of the Year at HS, awarded to one male each year.
2x League MVPs, 4x Team MVPs
CIF Sac Joaquin Section Scholar-Athlete Scholarship Winner</p>

<p>Senior season: One of two students in school history to win 3 Team MVP’s in one year, only student to win an MVP in 2 sports in the same season (Spring).</p>

<p>Cross Country: 3 years varsity, 1 year as Captain. 1x League MVP, 1x Individual League Champion, 3x CIF State Championship Individual Qualifier. 3x Team League Champions, 2x Div V Section Champions and CIF State Championship Qualifiers (Section Championships were first-ever school XC section championship and first-ever consecutive section championships in any sport in school history, respectively). In senior season individually set the Div V Section current season record in the 3-mile.</p>

<p>Tennis: 2 years varsity, 2 years as co-captain. 1x League MVP, 1x Individual League Champion (Undefeated) (First time for both in school history), 1x Team League Champions, 1x Team Div V Section Playoff qualifiers. </p>

<p>Track&Field: 3 years varsity, 1 year as captain, 1x League Champion in Long Jump, 1x League Champion in 200m, 1x League Runner-up in 100m, 2x League Runner-up in 800m and 1600m. 2x Div V Sections qualifier in Long Jump and 200m.</p>

<p>The reason I did not do Track and Cross Country for 4 years was that I played Baseball and Basketball…I had not yet found my passion.</p>

<p>Music:</p>

<p>Piano: Suzuki Piano for 13 years, graduated all 10 levels. Performed in the International Suzuki 10-Piano Concert at both the UC Davis Mondavi Center (most well-respected venue in the region) and Sacramento Community Center in a total of 6 concerts. Never won any competitions because the Suzuki method does not encourage participation in competitions. Talented enough in Piano that I am submitting an arts supplement recording.</p>

<p>Cello: 7 years as cellist.
Sacramento Youth Symphony- Academic Orchestra (2007-2008), Premier Orchestra (2009)
California State University Sacramento Symphony Orchestra (2010)
Principal cellist, California Music Educator’s Association Capital Section Honor Orchestra (2010, 2011)
Principal cellist, Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshop, Advanced Orchestra (2010)
Principal cellist, Sacramento Country Day High School Orchestra- 9th-12th grade
Superior/Gold at Golden Empire Orchestra Festival with HS Orchestra (2010)
Invitational to ASTA Conference in Santa Clara, CA 2010
Gold and Command Performance (Highest honors) at Golden Empire Solo/Small Ensemble Festival with chamber groups- 10th , 11th, and 12th grade </p>

<p>Community Service (Regrettably not what I put a lot of time into. Maybe 100 hours):
Voluntarily provided music on cello with my chamber ensembles for numerous school events throughout high school.
Served as school’s 2-week summer Orchestra camp Instructor and Counselor for 3 summers- taught cello to younger students.
Spent summer after my Junior year tutoring students in Pre-Calculus every day for a summer course offered by the school.
Organized a performance at a local senior home in which myself and my friend played Marimba and Ukulele duets.</p>

<p>Senior Project:
Writing my intellectual vitality essay about this. I built a 3-octave marimba (wooden xylophone) from scratch with no prior woodworking experience and almost no help. According to our music director it was very playable and could not believe I had built it myself. Donating it to my school’s music department this summer after I put preserving touches on it, since my school does not have a marimba and the Pre K-8th graders would love it. </p>

<p>Additionally: I’m not sure if I’ll end up mentioning this in the “circumstances” part of the application, but my worst grades in HS were the first semester of Junior year. I had a very traumatic hand injury that prevented me from doing pretty much all my EC’s for 2 months. During that same time, my best friend (went to a different HS)'s parents were both murdered. This is certainly not an excuse of any kind but it had a huge impact on my mood and work ethic for two or three months. </p>

<p>College:
I’ve been enrolled at UCSD for only two quarters now, at the time of my application. </p>

<p>Major: Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s): Thinking about minoring in Anthropology and/or Music.</p>

<p>National Society of Collegiate Scholars Member</p>

<p>GPA: 3.76 (3 A’s and 1 B during only quarter for which I’ve received grades. Probably will have slightly higher GPA at the end of this quarter, although that doesn’t even matter for this application.)
Provost Honors (Dean’s List, basically)</p>

<p>Entered with 32 units.
First quarter: 17 Units
Second quarter: 20 Units
Third quarter: Planned 22 units. </p>

<p>End of year: 91 units (96 is considered Junior status)</p>

<p>I’ve found it hard to get involved in EC’s since I don’t feel like I quite fit in with this school and I sadly plan on leaving at some point.
ECs:
Human-Powered Vehicle Team: Design Team member/fabricator. We’ll be taking our vehicle that we have built from scratch to a national collegiate competition in Utah in May.
UCSD Tennis Club
UCSD Strides Running Club</p>

<p>Recommendations:
I have mostly only been in large lectures, so my first quarter French Literature professor and one of my TA’s are writing my recs. They should be pretty good, especially for a student with only one quarter under his belt at a huge research university. They both got to know me pretty well and I earned a solid A in both their classes.</p>

<p>Essays:
My teachers have always told me I’m a stellar writer. Unfortunately, I think last time around I let too much outside advice influence my essays (from college counselors, parents, etc.). This time it’s all me and I feel like my essays are creative and show ME and are way better than last time.</p>

<p>Additionally, I am not part of a minority (I am half white, half Iranian) and am not eligible for need-based financial aid. </p>

<p>I figure my best chance is this year rather than the next since my HS credentials are a lot stronger than my college ones, I think.</p>

<p>Any thoughts, comments, or questions are appreciated. Wish me luck…I’ll be applying next year if I don’t get in.</p>

[entomom]

<p>

I figure my best chance is this year rather than the next since my HS credentials are a lot stronger than my college ones, I think.

</p>

<p>You are correct that HS is weighted more heavily for soph than for jr transfer applicants. However, my reasoning on your situation is different from yours:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You were not accepted as a fr applicant. I can see why looking at your stats, your gpa, SAT and AP scores are all at the low end of being a reasonable applicant for S. </p></li>
<li><p>The acceptance rate for fr applicants last year was 7%, for transfers it was 4%, and that is high, often it is <2%.</p></li>
<li><p>You have not shown improvement in your college gpa.</p></li>
<li><p>Since the acceptance rate is lower for transfers and you haven’t shown any significant positive changes in college, your likelyhood of being accepted is lower than it was when you were a fr applicant.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>

UCSD is just not suitable for me to pursue my goals in college

</p>

<p>Why?</p>

[Lowenhart]

<p>@entomom:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>No disputing that the numbers are barely acceptable for Stanford, but I feel like my depth in EC’s and the quality of my essays gives me a chance. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes…scary, of course.</p></li>
<li><p>Though my GPA is about the same as HS, I mostly got A- and a B+ in my AP’s Junior year and first half of senior year, while I got straight A’s up until then. This semester was the first time I’d had three solid A’s since I was a sophomore in HS. Also, Stanford never saw my second semester senior grades, which were also my highest grades since I was a sophomore. </p></li>
<li><p>So since Stanford hasn’t seen my grades since my first semester of senior year, I think they’d actually see improvement considering the letter grades I’ve received since then.
I’m not sure I know what you mean “positive changes in college.”</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I won’t be focusing on negatives in my transfer essay, but to name a few things, UCSD is too large and impersonal of an environment, not very challenging with the exception of math courses (which I’ve always had to work extra hard in), and I have trouble getting the classes that I want to take because there are SO many people trying to enroll in them. Also, if you want to graduate with an engineering degree in 4 years, you have very little room to explore any other areas of study. Stanford is the opposite of all these, and I’ve always felt that it has an unparalleled learning environment.</p>

[Lowenhart]

<p>Minor detail I forgot to mention, but I am also currently in the UCSD Chamber Orchestra (had to audition; also taking for credit).</p>

[shawnyz]

<p>Same situation here :)</p>

[Lowenhart]

<p>@shawnyz: Best of luck! :)</p>

[shawnyz]

<p>Thank you! You too!</p>

[Waverly]

<p>I’d have to agree with Entomom, it wasn’t there for you to get in as a freshmen and you haven’t added anything compelling. I’d focus on Michigan.</p>