How much does applying SCEA to Stanford affect the chances of a reach applicant?

Applying to College
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<p>If you read the phrase it could make some sense. I’m not sure but the first is that obviously in terms of schools of different caliber, the really “good” private schools, the students there, even if lower ranked, may have an advantage over the less known or rigorous public schools. Something like that…
The other one is basically that admission officers consider the applicant pool as a whole to ensure a diverse class; it isn’t necessarily your classmate who you’re only competing with (of course you are, since they won’t accept like 50 people from 1 school), but that overall consideration as a whole.</p>

<p>@curious- sorry if I misinterpreted anything you said. Just felt like posting something since I was bored.</p>

102

<p>I meant that a high school student who is ranked lower in the high school class may be accepted at an elite college while a higher ranked student from the same high school is rejected. This is due to the many factors that go into the admissions decisions. It is virtually impossible to compare two applicants because of the many “soft” qualifications that are important to admissions officers. For example, where the orchestra needs an oboe player or merely becasue the essays of the lower ranked student are better. As for my second point, while elite colleges want geographic diversity, they will accept more than one student from a particular high school. For example, the tiny high school in Alaska from which Stanford accepted two students this year. I agree that the top colleges probably will not accept 50 students from the same high school, but they will accept 10-15 or a little more (this occurs at a top private or a top public high school). Stanford does this with its “local” high school. There is a great article about the Claremont colleges admissions process that talks about the way a college builds its class. There was also an article in the NY times about a long island val who was rejected from the ivies while the number 10 (or so) student was accepted. I do not have the cites handy.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/cmcmagazine/2006spring/Admission/Admission.pdf[/url]”>http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/cmcmagazine/2006spring/Admission/Admission.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here is the link to the claremont mckenna article, finally!</p>

104

<p>This whole thread has confused the hell out of me. I really want to go to Stanford, but I have no idea if I should apply SCEA. What do you guys think?</p>

<p>I am Hispanic and a legacy. I have a 4.23 weighted GPA and a 3.86 unweighted. My SAT’s aren’t great (1970), and my ACT is 29. My SAT II’s: Math II(790) and US History(660). I plan on retaking the SAT reasoning, the ACT, and the US History exam. I am in the top 10% in my class.</p>

<p>ACT
Composite 29
English 29
Math 35
Reading 28
Science 25
and Writing I got a 9 on the essay, 28 as the score</p>

<p>In terms of extracurriculars, I have been playing football for 4 years, with 2 years on varsity. Our varsity team had the highest average GPA in our section and I won the Most Academic Award (for highest GPA) on that team in 2007. I am also a sectional scholar athlete and have earned my academic letter. I also played Freshman Basketball.</p>

<p>I have over 250 hours of community service. I volunteer weekly at my local hospital and have amassed over 150 hours there. This past summer I have been helping register voters and other volunteer work for Barack Obama’s campaign(about 50 hours, and I really love it). I also do other random volunteer work with the football team and with some clubs at school.</p>

<p>In addition, I was a baseball umpire for a youth league for 2 years. I was also a private tutor for two years, tutoring elementary/middle school kids in math. I was also a videographer for the local youth football league(for 3 years), and taped every film of every squad’s game. I also was an assistant coach for one of the squads of that organization for a year.</p>

<p>Also, I was in a summer program for gifted high school students at UC Berkeley for four years. There I took challenging courses that I got credit for.
In school, other than football, I am a member of the MUN club and the Spanish club. I have been in the California Scholarship Foundation for 7 semesters and have won numerous school and MUN awards. I plan on starting a couple of poltical-based clubs next year. </p>

<p>AP Scores(so far)
5 in US History
4 in Biology
4 in European History
I will have taken a total of 8 weighted courses(with 7 AP’s) by the time of my senior year.</p>

<p>How am I looking? I know I am subpar, but will my URM and legacy status help me a great amount?</p>

105

<p>Wow. I never thought this thread would get 103 responses! Anyway, this is the original poster here, and if anyone’s wondering, I’ve decided to apply regular decision. In fact, I’m not applying anywhere early. I compared the acceptance rates, 9% regular to 13% early, and I felt that it wasn’t that big of a leap to sway me permanently. </p>

<p>Stanford is not my top choice anymore but I’m still going to apply. With that, I don’t really have a first choice so I’ll keep it as it is. Everything’s going regular.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help CC!</p>

<p>PS. itsthemendy, definitely apply. But, I would suggest focusing all your strengths/prep time on one test instead of retaking both the SAT and ACT.</p>

106

<p>I’m closing this thread as I think it’s run it’s course. </p>

<p>itsthemendy16, this is the second time you’ve tacked a chances post on to another thread. Go to the Chances forum and start a new thread.</p>