<p>ironic story. last year, the admissions email actually came out a day early for me. i opened it expecting it to be a warning letter of the actual admissions letter. but the acceptance caught me by surprise, and i def did not sleep that night.</p>
<p>to all of you who applied to Stanford: i want to say that i was in your exact position last year. and i was scared witless… but the beautiful thing about Stanford is that the admissions officers actually intricately read your essays and try to figure out who you are. they want people who have the potential to do extraordinary things here: people with passion. and trust me, i know, because i spoke to my own admissions officer (and gave her eternal thanks). so, if you spent your entire essay bragging about the same academic success that shows up on your transcript, sorry… but if you were honest with yourself, and demonstrated your greatest passions through your essays, then you have a firm chance of getting in. dont kill yourself with statistics. relax. and though now i am a proud cardinal, remember that in the great scheme of things, four years is a very small period of your life. good luck. i look forward to meeting some of you next year.</p>