Counselor says one thing, Stanford Wait-list Website the other: What do I do?

Colleges & Universities Stanford University
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<p>Hello everyone!</p>

<p>I am an international student from India who was wait-listed at Stanford and humbly request you all to help me. My situation is this: When I talked to my counselor regarding my status at Stanford, she immediately asked me to draft and send an update letter to the Admissions Committee. She asked me to include any new developments in this letter and also to reiterate interest.</p>

<p>But the Stanford ‘Wait-list Response’ Website clearly states the following,</p>

<p>“We respectfully ask that you refrain from calling, mailing or emailing the Admission Office to reiterate your interest in Stanford. Simply accepting your space on the waitlist is indication enough. Do not submit any additional letters of recommendation from your counselor, teachers, alumni, friends, etc. We also ask that you do not send any additional materials such as writing samples, resumes, creative/performing arts credentials, newspaper clippings, photos, research papers, certificates, etc. Additional materials of this sort will not be considered or returned.”</p>

<p>What do I do now? Do you think sending an update letter will increase my chances of acceptance as they will have more information to judge me on? Or will it be better for me to not send in any such update letter?</p>

<p>This very website also has a 600 character text box for sending any ‘new’ developments. I am on a gap year and hence, have no new academic developments. My last such outing was in the month of January when I appeared for the SAT Reasoning Test. Scores of this test have already been reported to Stanford.</p>

<p>To supplement the lack of academic advancements, I have a number of social commitments up my sleeve that I have been religiously involved in. This is primarily what I wanted to update Stanford on in the first place. My query here is simple. Can I use this text box to update them on my social commitments? Also, since it has a 600 character word limit, how many times can I send updates?</p>

<p>“You may use the space provided below to inform us of any new information, awards, accomplishments, grades or scores since you last communicated with us. You may return to this Web site address to submit additional updates as necessary. The maximum number of characters for this text box is 600, including spaces.” (Stanford Wait-list response website)</p>

<p>If given a chance, I would love to attend Stanford. Thank you one and all for your time and effort!</p>

<p>Best,
Harvard17</p>

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<p>i would suggest you simply respond in the online text box. </p>

<p>what have you done since sending your application?
whatever you have accomplished since then should be included.
we could better help you if you let us know what you have done during your gap year</p>

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<p>Thanks NJDS for posting your take on the issue!</p>

<p>If I had to describe my gap year activities in short, I would say that they were eclectic. My grandfather is the general secretary of the neighborhood Senior Citizen Society. I helped this very society in organizing their weekly social gatherings and also disseminated technological awareness amongst the elderly. I taught them the operations of a typical mobile phone and also skilled them in browsing the internet, amongst many other things.</p>

<p>My mother is a homeopathic consultant and a social worker. I accompanied her to various Non Government Organizations and aided her in preparing medicines and maintaining records. I also taught a couple of deprived children English.</p>

<p>I was also working as a Student Counselor and an Assistant at a local coaching center all throughout my gap year. This a run through what I have been doing in my gap year. I wanted to convey this to the committee and also tell them how each of these experiences has shaped me into who I am today!</p>

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<p>Do both. Fill in the box in concise form - no need to write full sentences. Then send in the letter your counselor is suggesting you write - one or two pages max- with minimum reference to your mom/dad and what role they play in the community.</p>

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<p>Use the box only. What your counselor advised you to do is the correct course for most colleges, it sounds like he or she was just not familiar with Stanford’s particular policy.</p>

<p>I don’t think there is a limit on how many times you can submit new information using this system, but I would be as brief and succinct in my descriptions as possible. At this point they are happy to hear what you’ve been up to but they want brevity. I suspect their wait list is very large.</p>

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<p>If the online form can be used multiple times, I was hoping to maybe send one activity at a time as an update and give them a much clearer picture of the situation at hand!</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t send it off more than once. Two times max.</p>

<p>There’s a 600char maximum for a reason.</p>

<p>After getting deferred EA, the online update form had an unlimited number of characters across three text boxes. From what you’ve said, the waitlist update form appears to be quite different… And there must be a reason behind it. I wouldn’t push your luck.</p>

<p>Spend some time drafting your 600 characters; making it as short and concise as possible while still maintaining a “clear picture of the situation at hand.” If you can’t fit it all in, send it off twice; but I’d refrain from any more. I know it’s tough to fit it all in… But try having a parent, a friend or a teacher help you edit it. Good luck!</p>

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<p>harvard17 – no kidding, be clear but be as concise as you can possibly be. Do not waste one word. From what I have heard the wait lists at the top colleges this year are huge and everyone knows to be accepted off of a wait list you have to push. Stanford sounds like they have seen enough pushing in previous years and they are tired of getting buried under mountains of supplemental information from everyone on the wait list. I’m surprised more schools aren’t posting the kind of message they did.</p>

<p>You will make a much better impression if you follow their instructions and succinctly tell them only about important new information.</p>

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<p>@Xombie and @Pea: Thanks a lot!</p>

<p>Going through the responses, I had another query: Do I only focus on what I have been doing in this gap year or do I also write as to how each of these working experiences has shaped me into who I am today?</p>

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<p>I’d focus on the latter. Stanford admission officers don’t care about what you did; they care about what you’ve learned from your experiences, they care about how these experiences have matured you as a person and how sharing these experiences can benefit Stanford, should you choose to attend.</p>

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<p>@Xombie: What I wanted to do was this: Describe as briefly and succinctly as possible the activity that I was involved in and follow it up with the positive effect that it has had on me. But this seems very difficult because of that 600 character limit. I at least need two to three lines to be able to communicate this effectively to the Admissions Committee. And that overshoots the limiting barrier!</p>

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<p>You could use the Update Form as an overview for all of your activities, and then send Stanford a fax describing each activity in-depth as well as what you’ve learned. I know for a fact that faxes go straight into your file… But of course there is no guarantee that your adcom will read it. However, if you mention at the bottom of the Update Form something along the lines of “Please refer to my fax for more information regarding these activities,” there’s a good chance he or she will. Remember to just to send a one-page fax, as I don’t think you’ll have a problem fitting everything onto it.</p>