International Stanford Chance?

TomBor
Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:56:57 +0000

Heya,
I’d like to know what you think about my chances to get into Stanford U undergrad.
I’ve already applied, here are my stats:

Nationality: Middle Eastern (Israeli - Jewish) but have lived in Thailand for already 6 years.
Financial Aid: No
School: Private international school (in Thailand)
Relatives: my uncle got his PhD from Stanford in the 70s, went on to work at some very high profile jobs, been a president of a university, and is now a politician.

SATs:
SAT 1: M 700, CR 700, WR 770 = 2170
SAT 2: Math II 720, Physics 730

I have done my IGCSEs (UK system, highest grade is A* > A > B > C > D > E > F > G > U)
Maths Extended (done a year early) - A
Additional Maths (extra, instead of the 2nd year of Extended) - B
Information Computer Technology - A*
Geography - A*
Science Double Award - two As
English Lit - A
English Lang - A
Design and Technology - A
Business Studies - A*

In school I do IB. My predicted grades are:
Physics Higher Level (HL) - 7/7
Mathematics HL - 7/7
Chemistry HL - 7/7
English A1 Standard Level (SL) - 7/7
Business & Management SL - 7/7
Spanish Ab Initio SL - 7/7
Theory of Knowledge - A, Business Extended Essay - A = 3 extra points
Total - 45/45 (highest grade possible)
*Also my course selection is the most rigorous that my school offers, and I believe it is in fact the most rigorous any school can offer.

ECs:
Founder and leader of Amnesty International Branch at my school (4 years)
Rotary Club Chairperson + Secretary (3 years)
Drama Club (5 years)
School Prefect (2 years - you can only do this for 2 years)
Leadership Pillar Leader (2 years)
Tennis non-varsity (5 years)
Round Square (an organization of schools that work toward the IDEALS: Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership, and Service) Conference Delegate twice (I’ve been sent once to Singapore and one to Canada for these conferences)
Guitar (6 years)
Volunteering - overall all I’ve got over 500 hours of volunteering under many service projects and Amnesty and Rotary…
Global Issues Network (2 years)
Initiator of the debating team (4 years)
House Captain (1 year, you can’t do it for any more - otherwise I would)
^> went on to become the house competition coordinator (2 years)
I’ve set up my own company along with my friends overseas, we do graphic and web design for small-to-medium businesses in Pattaya, Thailand. (4 years)
I am a certified peer mentor (help kids with bullying, issues at home, etc…) (3 years)
IGCSE science tutor (2 years, since I finished my IGCSEs)
There are many more, due to the fact my school offers so many internal opportunities. The only problem is that we never compete nationally or internationally with other schools.
Don’t know if this matters, but I’ve attended a computer programming summer camp on the Stanford Campus two years ago. Creating computer programs and games is a hobby of mine.

Awards:
I’ve won several awards from my school, hadn’t had a chance to get any from other institutions:
-Academic Excellence 2009
-First in Physics 2009
-First in Chemistry 2009
-First in Spanish 2009
-First in Business 2009
-First in English 2008
-First in Geography 2008
-First in Information Computer Technology 2008
-Second in Mathematics 2009
-Round Square Award (IDEALS) - 2008
-House competition award (my house won, but I guess that’s not really all my work)
-there were others in previous years but no point listing them…

Rank: 1% (i.e. first) in my class out of about 60 people.

Recommendations: Very Good
Essays: I thought were good and unique -
-Activity essay was about how I started Amnesty International after hearing Peter Dalglish (founder of Street Kids International, and an admissions officer at Stanford) speak at a round square conference)
-Main Common App essay was about a friend of mine, who I met during another round square conference in Canada. He is from the other side of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Israel, and how our friendship and the war that came shortly after we met helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses. It was a very humble essay with lots of critical thinking.
-Stanford Intellectual Essay was about the intellectual challenge posed by the Holocaust, what it means to me as a third-generation-to-the-Holocaust in Israel, my belief in God and how this challenge affects it, how it led me to work with Amnesty International (human rights) etc…
-Stanford Roommate Essay: about my move from Israel to Thailand on the day of my Bar Mitzvah, the struggle to adjust, how I overcame it, what I take from it and I somehow applied it to my roommate.
-Why Stanford Essay: that one was really unique. I opened with a reference to the video game Mass Effect, how it reflects the society I grew up in, about travel and gathering knowledge to improve society, and how all that ties in to the Stanford community - how it fits exactly to “my life’s mission” and how I fit at Stanford.
*All my essays had a common theme (my home country) and in each essay I looked at it from different angles to answer the question.

I think that’s about it.
Did I forget something?
Oh, yeah! Chance me for Stanford please :P

Thanks a bunch to all the repliers!
-TomBor