Chance me for Stanford REA and T20s as a Humanities Senior [VA Resident, 3.96 UW GPA, 4.624 W GPA, 17 APs 1510 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Note: Stanford is my dream school, but I don’t know if I should REA or RD to improve my application, and I’m trying to decide mainly between Stanford REA or Princeton REA (maybe Yale as well).

Demographics:

  • US Domestic
  • Virginia
  • Large Public High School (700+ class size)
  • Legacy?? Dad went to Columbia Grad (don’t think it counts though)

Intended Major: Linguistics, Sociology, Global Studies

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores:

  • 3.966 UW
  • 4.624/4.0 W (HN = + 0.5, AP/IB/DE/AV = + 1.0)
  • School doesn’t rank, but I’m roughly ~2/729
  • SAT Superscore: 1510; 790 M, 720 EBRW; will take retake in August
  • AP Scores: 11 so far. AP Computer Science Principles (4), AP Macroeconomics (5), AP US History (5), AP Microeconomics (4), AP Computer Science A (4), AP Chemistry (5), AP US Government (5), AP Precalculus (5), AP Spanish Lang (4), AP Physics 1 (4), and AP Comparative Government (3).

Coursework

Freshman: HN English 9 (A), HN World History I (A), Honors Geometry (A), AP CSP (A), HN Bio (A), Spanish 3 (A)

Summer: DE World 2 History (A-)

Sophomore: HN English 10 (A), APUSH (A), AP Mac/Mic Econ (A), HN Algebra 2 (A), AP CSA (A), HN Chem (A), HN Spanish 4 (A)

Junior: DE English 11 (A-), AP US & Comp Gov (A), AP Precalc (A), AV (post-ap) CS Data Structures (A), AP Chemistry (A-), AP Physics 1 (A), AP Spanish Lang (A)

Senior (not started yet): AP English Lit, AP Psych, AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP Spanish Lit, DE Exploring the Language of Medicine

Community College GPA: 3.8

Community College Coursework: HIS 112 (A), HIS 102 (B), MUS 121 (A), ENG 111 (A), ENG 112 (A)

Honors/Awards:

  1. IAC Regional Scholastic Science Bee Intl. Qualifier, ~ Top 50% @ Nats, 1st @ Regionals (11)

  2. Quiz Bowl Nats Qualifier, 3rd @ Region, 2nd @ Districts (10, 11)

  3. Virginia State Seal of Biliteracy—Spanish (11)

  4. National Merit Commended Scholar (11)Qualifier

  5. AP Scholar w/Distinction (10, 11)

Extracurriculars: (**NOTE: I didn’t put the role/org/desc for the more straightforward ecs**)

  1. Spanish Governor’s School: Role: Student Resident (1/60 in VA; 1/16 boys). Organization: Governor’s World Language Academy (GWLA)—3-week total Spanish immersion & classes; full scholarship. Description: Studied sociolinguistics, Arabic, & LatinAm lit; co-authored 7 academy blogs (2k+ views); won inter-academy world cup; gave 3 presentations in Spanish.

  2. Sociolinguistics Research: Role: Research Assistant. Organization: Stanford University Sociolinguistics w/PhD Student [REDACTED], advised by Professor [REDACTED]. Description: Add reduction markers, clean data, sync audio files w/transcripts to first 49 interviews with Eastern Maine dialect.

  3. High School Diplomats Program: Role: Student Delegate (20/400+ in US (<5%); 1/10 boys). Organization: HS Diplomats (HSD)—full scholarship US-JPN exchange: HSD US 10 days @ UVA + HSD JPN 17 days in Japan. Description: Presented US edu/gov to 39 peers; learned calligraphy & Hiragana; gave 2 speeches on intl. peace; shared HSD w/60+ students, led to 1 future delegate

  4. Spanish Culture Club/Honor Society (President): Led cultural events for 40+ members; prepared homemade dishes; overhauled tutoring system, doubling tutor availability from 8->16

  5. Quiz Bowl (Captain): Tripled tournament team (4->12); secured $750 sponsorship; hosted 2 online practices/wk; created 300+ term study guides; mentored 10+ members

  6. ASSIP Program Research Intern: Role: George Mason Research Intern (400/3300 in US (12%). Organization: Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Pgrm (ASSIP)—w/[REDACTED] @ RAND & Dr. [REDACTED] @ GMU. Description: Conducted RL research for autonomous UAVs on robust flight w/noise after 200k step training; co-authored published abstract & poster for presentation.

  7. Chess Club (President): Organized 8 school tournaments/yr (15+ players); grew matches 6× online; taught 10+/wk; revived club 5->15; linked members to local elementary schools

  8. Varsity Tennis (Captain): Led conditioning for 20; coached 10 new teammates; collected $800 in rackets for players abroad; 1st regional qualifier in 5 yrs; strung 20+ rackets

  9. Religious (Sunday School Leader): Led 10+ 1st–6th graders/wk in a new 3rd-service Sunday School class, creating space for more families in the first 2 services.

  10. Volunteering (Food Runner): Collected 100+ lbs of food monthly from 10+ households; delivered to a local high school, combating local food insecurity

Essay: Talks about how I became reconnected with my culture & heritage after becoming basically fluent in Spanish after Spanish Gov School and got to learn stories from people I never had the opportunity to speak to in Spanish, like my parents’ family friends.

LORs

  • APUSH and AP US & Comp Gov Teacher (10th, 11th): Close relationship and always talk after school and in class; was the only sophomore/junior in her class—9/10

  • HN Spanish 4 Teacher (10th): Not as close a LOR # 1, but still always stayed after class to ask questions about Spanish and she wrote me a rec letter already for Spanish Gov School—8/10

  • Stanford PhD Grad Student (12th): Started working together recently; hoping to get a letter that speaks to my linguistic curiosity—9/10

College List - Obviously I expect to be chanced for Stanford over the others, but feel free to talk about the others (Also I’m not sure about the bolded schools below, whether I should apply or not).

  • Stanford

  • Princeton

  • Yale

  • Harvard

  • Columbia

  • UPenn

  • Brown

  • Dartmouth

  • Cornell

  • Duke

  • Johns Hopkins

  • Rice

  • Vanderbilt

  • Georgia Tech (CS? OOS)

  • UNC Chapel Hill (OOS)

  • UVA

  • William and Mary

  • Richmond

  • Mary Washington

  • George Mason

Current Goal: Just continuing research, doing SAT reading, and writing essays.

Any feedback is appreciated, especially on what the biggest strengths and weaknesses of my application & what my realistic chances are if I apply REA or RD.

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OP - Forgot to add that income is about 300k and cost isn’t a huge factor for any of the schools.

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With the exception of the bottom five, the schools you have listed should be considered reaches for any unhooked applicant.

I would cut down your list of reaches. It is important to spend the time to write supplemental essays that are thoughtful, meaningful, and show a fit for the particular school.

If Stanford is your top choice, there is no harm in applying REA.

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Are ENG 111 and 112 the same as DE English 11? If so, how do you have different grades, especially with the high school grade being lower than the college grade?

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The high school I go to has an A range of 92.5% and the community college I’m dual enrolled at has an A minimum of 90.0%. So, it’s entirely possible to have different grades since the grade books are different and there’s different policies regarding late work etc

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Sorry for future reference

Stanford - Big Reach

Princeton - Big Reach

Yale - Big Reach

Harvard - Big Reach

Columbia - Low Reach

UPenn - Reach

Brown - Low Reach

Dartmouth - Reach

Cornell - Low Reach

Duke - Reach

John’s Hopkins - Reach

Rice - Reach

Vanderbilt - Low Reach

Georgia Tech OOS - Low Reach

UNC OOS - Target

UVA - High Target

The Rest - Safeties

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I think when deciding where to REA, you pick the one you want.

Do you want to be in CA or closer to home in NJ? Which curriculum suits you best?

For example, if you do Internationa Affairs at Princeton, they say - Students take courses in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Geosciences, History, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, and Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Perhaps you mean something like Asian Studies but check the curriculums.

Same for the other majors.

I think you will struggle with your list - in part because theyse are high reaches and in part because your AP scores don’t show mastery. And top schools either require submission (Stanford) or strongly encourage which is the same (Yale). You have to check the policy of each but if you don’t submit, then they may wonder why you don’t.

I have no idea why you’d apply to Ga Tech although they have the School of International Affairs but UGA has one of the tops in the country.

I think you likely get into UVA, W&M, and certainly Richmond, UMW and GMU.

You could get into a Rice/Vandy but likely not.

You go from the creme de la creme to easy but are missing schools I’d say are in between. - like an Indiana U Hamilton Lugar school, UGA and more that could meet your needs and have top programs in global studies and I’m assuming decent programs in Linguistics. W&M has an interesting sociology program with various sectors you can study in.

You can also look at a school like College of Charleston where, yes, you are well above but within their Honors College, they have the Charleston Fellows, a small group that gets lots of enrichment.

I think you are too name focused and there are some fantastic names with great programs - I know UMASS is world renowned for linguistcs and Rutgers is well thought of as well. These give you an easier entry. I think Syracuse is another that works.

But your list works because you have a few schools you’ll get into. But will you be happy if you end up at GMU or UMW?

So I’d cut many of the schools and add some that you might think are a bit below - but really aren’t in the areas you want - to give you some heft in your acceptances. I’m not an adcom of course, but unless you’re able to handle a lot of rejection emotionally, I do think this is a difficult list for you.

PS - I would rate most your schools a big reach with Rice a reach. I don’t get Ga Tech but it’s a reach…and UNC is a high reach, not a target, IMHO.

I agree UVA is a high target and the rest are safe or likely (W&M, Richmond).
Best of luck.

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I agree with @aunt_bea, narrow your reaches. Your chances are as good as any unhooked applicant, which is to say…low. Students get into those schools for random reasons. They survived a heart transplant, or whatever, but they are no more academically qualified than you are. It’s just that FAR too many highly qualified candidates apply to FAR too few schools. If you don’t get in, and odds are that you won’t, know that research has shown that the likelihood of your success is already high whether you get in or not. Good luck.

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I don’t see a post from aunt bea. Are you referencing from another posting or perhaps I’m not able to see it ?

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This will be a high reach too, especially since you plan to apply for CS.

I agree that you have way too many reaches.

Given your interests, you might want to consider UMD. They have well-regarded programs in these majors/minors, and it’s more legitimately a target for you than UNC.

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I think your “big reach/reach” distinction is clouding your assessments here…a reach is a reach, whether or not you feel more or less confident about your chances!

Agree with the advice to trim your list and find a solid match you are excited about. Good luck!

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Congratulations on your achievements. I can’t chance you, but I agree with others who suggest cutting back on reaches. I am curious why Georgetown is not on your list (but that’s another reach). And why Ga Tech for CS, as you don’t seem interested in CS and your ECs don’t read CS? What are some careers you may be interested in?

I’ll page @dfbdfb to help you identify some additional target schools good in linguistics.

I would also make sure your parents understand that some of these schools cost $100K per year, assuming you don’t qualify for need based aid.

DE grade from the college is not always the same as on the HS transcript because some HSs weight the DE grade, some by a full letter grade. This is one reason some colleges want DE transcripts even if the DE grade is on the HS transcript. And no, the HS profile does not explain this. It’s one of the areas that AI reading of transcripts doesn’t always work.

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Duplicate accounts are not permit on CC. OP is welcome to repost with their original account.

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