Chance for class of 2016? :)

Colleges & Universities Stanford University
1

<p>BASIC INFO</p>

<p>3.98 unweighted GPA
29/500 weighted class rank
7 AP exams (all 5)</p>

<p>SAT 2360 (760 CR)
SAT II Math, Bio, USH (800/800/770)</p>

<p>Asian female
Suburban California
Not applying for fin aid
No hooks</p>

<p>Counselor rec: doesn’t know me well, but said he’s heard highly of me from teachers</p>

<p>Teacher recs: English and history teachers offered to write recs for me at the end of last year - so hopefully these will be great! </p>

<p>Last year I spontaneously entered an essay contest for fun and won 1st place + trip to DC for myself and my English teacher (however, I was always late to his class…but for the record, it was 1st period at 6:30 in the morning!)</p>

<hr>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS</p>

<p>FBLA - no leadership positions, began a campaign that earned national recognition</p>

<p>National service group - one of 10 teen representatives, brainstormed weird/quirky campaign ideas for youth</p>

<p>Red Cross - chapter treasurer, raised $1000 </p>

<p>Local paper - journalist (part-time job, 10 hours per week since 10th grade)</p>

<p>Piano - no leadership </p>

<hr>

<p>AWARDS</p>

<p>FBLA: state champion, nationally ranked (completely self-study; I’ve never taken a business class), received $1000 total amount in grants for the campaign I designed</p>

<p>Service: city council award, national scholarship finalist</p>

<p>Writing: national essay winner, regional awards, published in national magazine</p>

<p>Piano: some BS local awards (lots of regional/national awards from middle school though - not sure if I’ll even mention piano on common app)</p>

<hr>

<p>SUMMERS</p>

<p>Economics research at Santa Clara U </p>

<p>Reporting intern for national service group (prepared media releases)</p>

<p>Studied at SF Conservatory of Music</p>

<p>Science intern at Stanford (this was a BS program though - mostly busywork)</p>

<hr>

<p>QUESTIONS</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Should I even include ‘Piano’ on my common app? I only play for fun now, but in 6th/7th grade, I studied at a music conservatory in Germany.</p></li>
<li><p>How much will my class rank hurt? 10 other unhooked classmates (all ahead of me in class rank) are also applying to Stanford. They’re all excellent, hardworking students, but not very active participants in class nor community.</p></li>
<li><p>Do I come across as “all over the place”? Business, service, writing, piano… my counselor said being unfocused is detrimental.</p></li>
<li><p>Overall impression, chances, etc. Any feedback is welcome! Thank you so much! :)</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>Your EC’s are weak, because you don’t hold leadership positions. In my opinion, you don’t stand out in anyway from the other 35,000 applicants. You just seem like a normal cookie-cutter Asian applicant.</p>

3

<p>I agree, having no hooks is going to set you far back at a place that preaches diversity, and being Asian just makes things more difficult. I would suggest looking into UCLA, Caltech, or Berkeley.</p>

4

<p>I think you are a great applicant. If you haven’t done anything too significant with piano during high school, then it might benefit you to leave it out (it will increase your uniqueness from other Asians). You seem like your major will be economics, so that’s a good sign that you have direction AND well-roundedness in your ECs. All in all, you make me want to not apply there anymore :slight_smile: good luck! Kill the essays and I would say you’re in!</p>

5

<p>I think if you put more focus and tie in your essay/experience to one of the EC, you may have a chance. Take science and piano out. FBLA and writing can be tied together ?
Good luck, Again Stanford is great but you are a strong candidate. I think the essay will be the key. Not sure of your senior year class load and current efforts in EC. Hopefully they are strong and related.</p>