Chance an OOS RD Engineering Applicant?

Colleges & Universities Stanford University
1

<p>Indian Male, OOS, Engineering, Regular Decision</p>

<p>ACT - 31 (35E;29M;29R;36S); 33 (35E;32M;27R;36S) [Should I send in the 31 because I got a 29 on reading, as opposed to a 27 the second time around?]</p>

<p>SAT2 - chem 760;math2 760</p>

<p>GPA - UW 3.4;W 3.8</p>

<p>Class Rigor - Very intense throughout. Taking 5 APs this year, and most students take 3 maximum.</p>

<p>APs - Chem5; Language3 (meh); Environmental Science (self study) TBA</p>

<p>College Board lost my AP environmental science score, so I have to retake the test December 5th.</p>

<p>Recommendations:
I explained my low GPA in my commonapp essay (i created a prompt very similar to MIT’s & UMich’s “setback” essay). Long story short - I used to only care about what others thought of me and being popular until I got ditched New Years Eve by my best friend. I talked about how much of a change I went through (academically and socially), and my chemistry teacher (who I had sophomore year for honors and junior year for AP) explains it, in her letter, as well because she knows how much of a change I made from one year to the next.</p>

<p>My econ teacher (just regular, not AP) is also the community service club sponsor. She explains how I’m a giant student leader and others look up to me. It was a really nice letter. She also talks about my involvement in community service and, more specifically, my involvement in the local animal shelter and how I got 40 kids to commit to regularly volunteering there for an hour every week.</p>

<p>My counselor talks about my determination to self study AP Env. Science even though most kids in my school barely take APs at all (she made it sound pretty darn nice without sounding cheesy). She also talked about how I completely changed my social circle since sophomore year, and my new group of friends and I all have similar stories (went from being relative slackers to A students with leadership roles in our school). On top of that, she talks about how she always sees us in the hall, and she describes our quirky attitudes (I lol’d and hugged her when I saw she put that in haha).</p>

<p>I will send in a letter from my mentor at the Drexel Summer Mentorship program (she’s a ChemE PHD candidate at Drexel now). It explains the chemical engineering research that I did, and she talks about how I would arrive with a professional attitude and read literature way beyond what was necessary for my research.</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
1.)AP Calc BC
2.)AP Literature
3.)AP Computer Science
4.)Spanish Three
5.)AP Econ (Micro and Macro in one class)
6.)AP Physics B (school doesn’t offer C, and this is the first year they’re offering AP Physics)</p>

<p>Additional:
I’ve done chemical engineering research via the Drexel Summer Mentorship Program.
I’m the founder and president of our school’s science olympiad, and I am the captain of the chemistry lab and environmental chemistry teams.
I’ve been volunteering at the local animal shelter for all four years (ever since I got my dog).
I’m the vice president of our school’s community service club, and I find volunteer opportunities that are animal-specific.
I’m one of the founders (my friend is the other one) of our school’s computer/tech club.
I’m on NHS, and I am working on a way to start a massive drive for the local animal shelter.
I’ve just recently been named an Illinois State Scholar from ISAC.</p>

<p>So the question is… Will I get into the college of engineering at Stanford!? I am so nervous bruv! I am so grateful to all who chance me! I understand my chances are probably EXTREMELY (scratch the probably) low due to my GPA (and even despite the two out of three recommendations that back up my claim in my essay).</p>

2

<p>Oh man I completely forgot to post my rank - 44/450ish students. I calculated it, and I’m exactly at 11%, so I made top quarter for sure, just bordering that top 10%.</p>

3

<p>sorry but I would say Stanford is a Mid-Reach for you</p>

4

<p>@indianmonster</p>

<p>Really? I thought Stanford would be a COMPLETE reach for me, taking my GPA into consideration. And there’s no need to say sorry. I am completely aware of my slim-to-none chances.</p>

5

<p>it seems you have potential from the recommendation, stanford will take serious consideration about this, but your ACT and GPA and being international student will hurt you a lot. i’d say lower than huge-reach for stanford.</p>

6

<p>@abrahemgen</p>

<p>Thanks a lot bruv, but I’m not international! I’m from Illinois LOL. When I stated I was Indian, I strictly meant my ethnicity.</p>

7

<p>what’s OOS?</p>

8

<p>^
Out of state.</p>

9

<p>Stanford is a private university; they don’t give a damn if you’re in state or out of state.</p>

<p>Do they? </p>

<p>Anyway, your chances may have been better if you applied SCEA. However, I don’t think you’re a goner. You have a chance depending on your essays/everything else.</p>

<p>Reach, certainly. How much of a reach, I can’t say…</p>

10

<p>out of state/in state status is essentially irrelevant. you could try to make some argument that it might play a role in Stanford’s attempt to create a geographically (nationally anyway) diverse class, but that’s not going to really affect any given individuals chances. </p>

<p>Also, I wouldn’t come on here asking about your chances. I know that indianmonster, for instance, is just now applying to stanford as well. It should be clear that this person is therefore not really in a position to judge whether or not you can get in. As I’ve said a bunch of times before, all anyone can do on this forum is compare your statistics with Stanford’s published statistics/random people they know that got in/rejected, assume that your essays/recommendations are “good”, and then try to make some relative assessment as to how “good” your ECs are based again on their friends/random people that know.</p>

<p>I think that whoever runs this site should very seriously consider removing all chance me threads, or at the very least all those pertaining to the top view schools. most of them are filled with all kinds of misinformation handed out by people that are equally uninformed as the people asking to be chanced (i.e. chance me and I’ll chance you back!). dumbest thing ever.</p>

11

<p>@Grisam</p>

<p>I doubt my chances would have been much better if I had applied SCEA.</p>

<p>@BigMike3541</p>

<p>I understand. I should have actually known better than to post chance threads for schools like Stanford, since it’s so shoot-or-miss. I mean you hear about people with perfect GPAs getting rejected, and that once-in-a-blue-moon acceptance from someone with a mid to low 3 point whatever. Consider this thread closed.</p>

12

<p>@BigMike3541</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I agree with the latter half. I also look at chance threads with disgust. I read through post after post of misinformation and baseless conjectures to get my daily dose of inner satisfaction and relief from knowing that my fate (for I have applied for 2014 REA) is NOT in the hands of those who post on threads like this, who often reek of pomp and the ulterior motive of silencing that little voice inside their head that constantly bemoans inadequacy and rejection by tearing the profiles of their anonymous peers to shreds.</p>

<p>However, as to the former half, I disagree even more. I’m not trying to hold you accountable for:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>(Despite its adamant “srsbsns-ness,” I don’t think you truly meant it to be taken super literally.)</p>

<p>I am merely arguing the notion of “Chance threads are pointless, misinformation that fails to accomplish anything for anybody,” which is seems to be underlying message of your post.</p>

<p>I don’t think anyone really takes them seriously as “chance threads.” It just seems like it’s a place for scared, obsessive applicants to vent. Everything is out of our control after we hit the submit button but, being the driven over-achieving individuals we are still do whatever we can to find artificial closure.</p>

<p>And I think these threads do that well, not that posters actually achieve that artificial closure but they at least get some food for thought that can be chewed over while waiting for the all important email. I mean we may be desperate but we aren’t stupid, we can wade through the crap and pick out the tiny tidbits of truth that keep us going until decision day.</p>

<p>haha, umm YEA!! i dont like them personally but i think they serve a purpose…</p>

<p>kthxbai.</p>

13

<p>^While I don’t agree that chance threads should be banned, I do find them somewhat useless.</p>

<p>I mean, whether or not some random person tells you whether you’re going to get in shouldn’t change the fact that you’re applying anyway.</p>

<p>The best chance threads can do is to help you shape your application to better represent one or more of your interests, based on the advice of others.</p>

14

<p>@bigmike</p>

<p>this may be a bit irrelavant but I applied SCEA :P</p>