Dreams of Stanford(Who doesn't have them?)

Colleges & Universities Stanford University
1

<p>I know that you guys are probably sick of having all these precocious high-schoolers asking you for your opinion, but I would really appreciate if you would pare some time to help a high school junior in need. You see, Stanford is my tie for #1 dream college. Don’t get me wrong, I’m applying to at least 15 other colleges across the country, but it’s nice to have big dreams, right? Anyway, these are my stats.</p>

<p>Freshman: 4.3 both sems
Sophmore: 4.3 both sems</p>

<p>Junior Year
Precalc Spec: A
APUS History: A
AP English: A or B+
AP Psych: A
Italian III: A
AP Chem: C+</p>

<p>And these are for my semester, so the admissions people are bound to see that last letter. My SAT scores are exactly 2100(I’m going to take it again, hopefully get a 2200+). I’m heavily involved with my school’s drama program, and have gotten a lead in all three productions which I have been involved in, and have competed at the state level for drama twice for singing. I’m the sole student of one of the top voice professors at UF, and have also won a competition for purely classical singing twice at the district level, and am competing this year in the Regionals. Besides singing, I’m also a dilettante composer, and have sent my works to two competitions(results TBD). I’m also the founder and President of our school’s Salsa/Capoeira club. Besides that, I’ve been doing eastern martial arts for the past 8 years or so. As for my rank, I’m #20-22 in my class or so, and I am in the Top 10%.</p>

<p>If I get better results for the next semester, possibly get that Chem score to a B+, maybe an A if I’m lucky, does anyone think that I have any decent shot at Stanford? Please be honest. And what can I do to improve my chances, assuming I have any. Thanks for your help.</p>

<p>PS: If anyone has taken AP Chem, and can help me with studying tips(particularly for Thermodynamics) that would be fantastic. Thank you very much.</p>

2

<p>we seem to have kind of similar ECs–I was accepted through the REA round this december. I am a theatre nerd and do a lot of acting and interning at theatres and teaching kids drama at summer camps and such.
I would say DEFINITELY do an arts supplement for drama (or music, i suppose), and a live audition on campus, so the drama department staff can meet you/see what you have to offer.
It’s not a definite in, nothing is, but it can help!
I would also say continue with the Italian, 4 years of language always looks good :slight_smile:
also, I think your applicant type is a kind of artsy-languages-humanities type, so it may balance out your weaker science grades if you can keep doing well in “your” subject areas</p>

3

<p>I had a 3.5 GPA and an ugly C+ on my transcript too, and I got in. So there’s hope!</p>

<p>But my grade trend went from very low to very high, and the average came out at 3.5
My C+ was a freshman year grade too.</p>

<p>Really show your true interest in EC’s…that’s what helped me…and I hope it helps you!!</p>

4

<p>Good news folks! I bumped up my C+ to an A! And I also have a few extra accomplishments. I won a big talent competition where Nikki Blonsky(the leading lady in the movie Hairspray) was won of the judges. I also won a big regional(FL, GA, and AL) music competition for Advanced High School Classical AND Advanced High School Music Theater. I’m also going to be the Drama Club’s treasurer next year, as well as the president of our school’s “Blues Jammers” Club, which is essentially a club that gets together and just rocks out a variety of songs: We go from Duke Ellington to Queen and everything in between.</p>

<p>So, yeah. Just some extra stuff.</p>

5

<p>i wish you best of luck zakkusu!!! :)</p>

6

<p>Thank you very much. And learner12, if you don’t mind me asking, what were some of the extracurricular stuff you did to help you out on your application?</p>

7

<p>i did everything i could. not for college though, just because i truly enjoyed doing stuff. 90% of days i would be on campus unitl 6PM or later (my school gets out at 3). during basketball i was there until 8:15.</p>

<p>i was involved in so many things that no matter where i was (musical rehersal, sports prac, etc.), i was always supposed to be somewhere else as well. For some of the coaches, directors, mentors, etc, they were fine with me doing a lot of things. Others took a lot of convincing. Some were always puh-issed at me.</p>

<p>In some ways it sucked cause I always felt like I was letting someone down. But most people at my school (students &teachers) were really supportive.</p>

<p>Part of the reason I could do so many varied EC’s is because I go to a small school…really small. Because of the small numbers, many kids HAVE to be involved in multiple things in order for sports, theatrical productions, robotics teams, (clubs in general) to happen. I just took it to the extreme :P</p>

<p>Also, leadership is big. Many EC’s like mine can easily be seen as resume padders…but since I was a lead in the musical, captain of a sports team, student body president, etc. the thread of leadership was very apparent in my app. </p>

<p>At a large public school i wouldnt have been able to do this…too many kids would be going for leadership positions, spots on teams, etc. I would have been required to give more time to each activity and i gladly would have (but there aren’t that many hours in a day)</p>

<p>My academics took a hit from all my activities. I didn’t really have time to do homework or study. And once I got home, all I wanted to do was eat and sleep (maybs check facebook for a few min haha). My grades sucked till junior year when I realized i needed to get it together for college. I had a choice…either drop some activities for more schoolwork time OR just work my ass off ALL the time. I couldnt stop doing stuff…so i just worked my ass off. Getting up at 4:30 AM on some days to do schoolwork was SOOO painful. i was always tired. but i knew i would never forgive myself if i took the easy way out. i would always look back and say “if i had just sucked it up for 12 more months i would have gone to Stanford.” BUT I DID SUCK IT UP…AND NOW I’M IN!!! it feels so worth it. :)</p>

<p>my advice on EC’s…don’t do 'em for college. do them cause you love them. and be SURE to make that apparent in your app. (to the stanford adm counselor, I explained my story of having Bs early on because of EC invovlement…and how junior/senior years i kicked it up to A/A-. i then said how i regret placing academics second after ECs when i was frosh/soph…but jnr/snr i showed that I can balance a heavy EC load with good grades. i asked the ad counselor to not hold the bad grades against me, but rather use them to see how much i have personally grown and matured through high school)</p>

<p>if you want some of my exact ECs…personal message me.</p>

8

<p>Hey guys, long time no talk! Well, I’ve been working my butt off on my essays for Stanford, especially because I want to apply early with a Music Supplement to help me out. I have one last essay to write, and that is the first one, the “intellectually stimulating” thing. The problem is, I’m best at writing stories, and all the topics that have come to my head are next to impossible for me to write about anything well without telling a story. If some of you folks would be willing to tell me how you all thought about this topic, and how you approached it, I would appreciate it very much. Thank you.</p>

9

<p>learner12, u are amazing haha</p>

10

<p>I’m actually having nightmares about it right now</p>

11

<p>About what? Writing the essay or the acceptance/rejection letter?</p>

12

<p>No, I’m class of 2014, haha. My anxiety stems from the fact that I felt high school was relatively easy and that I’m about to be torn to shreds academically.</p>

13

<p>l337toast, the pace or the quarter system combined with the level of difficulty of stanford classwork is what gets you! just stay on top of things from the beginning (ie don’t fall behind) and you’ll be okay.</p>

14

<p>Ah. Well, I was wondering what you could tell me what you thought was your strongest part of the application was. Transcripts, ECs, Essays, you know. Fun stuff like that.</p>