Chances? I know this is getting stupid!!

Muddslinger
Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:50:41 +0000

Sarcasm and satire? I would never have tried those on a college app, but good for you for breaking the norm. I don’t even remember what I wrote for Stanford >.> Actually, I do vaguely remember. I took the stronger themes from some college apps I completed before Stanford’s app and modified them to fit.

I’m fairly sure that Stanford is more or less the same from an admissions standpoint as its contemporaries. All of them look for people who will contribute significantly to the school during and after their undergrad. They look for strong students to support the academics during their tenure as students and seek strong potential for become walking advertisements. The latter is a tad cynical, but I think it’s true - Stanford wants to have famous alums to continue its prestige.

That said, relaying your convictions of academic strength and future promise to the admissions committee is the primary shot in the dark :\ The most prominent method is to use your essays, but as we all know, Stanford’s app wasn’t exactly the most expression-oriented set of essays in existence :|