Please chance my daughter, Does she have a "hook"?

littledot
Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:20:59 +0000

First off, good luck in the admissions process and congratulations on what sounds like an awesome kid.

I wasn’t valedictorian at my high school, my SAT/GPA were good, not stellar, and my ECs weren’t as good as your daughter’s. I am Stanford 2015.

The whole admissions process is incredibly subjective, and I think for your daughter it’s the essay section that wil be her chance to really shine. Junior year my grades really nose-dived, and I’m fairly sure my essay is what made up for that. Going off of what I know of my peers, your daughter would fit. A good friend of mine wrote her essay about illegally immigrating to the US to escape her mother’s abusive relationship, only to gain an alcoholic stepfather, and her struggle to become legal while also paying the bills. I actually cried when she showed me her essay.

The trick is to apply to a whole range of schools - my grades meant I went from state schools to Stanford and an ivy or two.