In answer to your title, it’s actually better to be a recruited athlete. That’s really the only path from our high school to Stanford (based on the last 5 years of evidence). This year they had no trouble at all rejecting the 4.0 uw valedictorian who incidentally did take Calc BC as a sophomore and went on to take MV Calc and DiffEq at the local university - receiving all As. I’ve seen dozens of most rigorous available, 4.0 unweighted students rejected by Stanford. They like our runners and volleyball players - usually pick up 1 a year - maybe 2 in a particularly fine athletic year. All fine students none of whom contemplated taking any form of Calculus their sophomore year. If you’re expecting equity and life lessons from the college application process - particularly at sub 10% acceptance schools, you’re in for a rough road.
1 Like