Is this characterization of the EA admissions process correct?

Colleges & Universities Stanford University
1

<p>My counselor said this:</p>

<p>Stanford does a first round in which they eliminate people who don’t have the requisite courseload, grades and test scores.</p>

<p>In the second round they don’t look at any of the previous criteria AT ALL and determine if you’ll be admitted soley based on ECs and essays.</p>

<p>How true is this?</p>

2

<p>There is an old book written by a Stanford Admissions officer, and lots of quotes from a Stanford admissions officer in a more recent book. The first statement is about correct - they do a first sort to cut down the pile. Based on what I’ve read, the second is not. I’ll let others comment, if they have more insider information.</p>

3

<p>I don’t know this for a fact, but there is no way that they don’t look at any of the previous stuff AT ALL. Scores are easy to compare, and there are really really similar ECs even at high levels. Essays… that’s just about how admissions feel about you. They have the scores right in front of them, so why not take a peek?</p>

4

<p>To the OP: Your counselor is just wrong. Be careful about the advice you believe from this person, because it is not an informed opinion.</p>

5

<p>From what I remember from the old Stanford admissions article I read, it went something like: the first round entails sorting applicants into three piles – clear admit pile, non-competitive (i.e. clear rejects) pile, and the “swim” pile (to be evaluated again). After that, they go through the swim pile again and narrow it down till they get the right number of students. I’d think they’d be reviewing the clear admits/swim applicants holistically regardless of the round.</p>

6

<p>Kyldedavid
my Stat teacher, a Stanford grad student (PhD), gave me similar information</p>

7

<p>either way
Stanford treats its students very well once they are accepted
I hope to join the Cardinal fam</p>

8

<p>yes, kyledavid’s description is what I too read in the book I got, so I think we can safely say the OP’s counselor is wrong by a big margin. It’s also contrary to logic - no college admits that way, leave alone a top tier college.</p>