Please Give an Excellent Student Honest Chances for Stanford!

bluebubbles
Tue, 26 May 2009 11:19:53 +0000

Your app looks awesome at first glance. Great grades (snaps for you, fellow IBer ;D), sick test scores, excellent ECs.

What you lack, like others said, is direction and true passion for one or two things. Yes, you’re very involved in your ECs and have great leadership ability, but you need to SHOW HOW THESE ECs RELATE! Right now, with a bunch of random clubs, it seems a bit like you’re simply padding your app.

You need to make sure that you show why you joined/started these activities, show HOW YOUR ACTIVITIES RELATE TO EACH OTHER, why you joined, and how they have benefited you. Show depth and passion for one or two issues. What do your activities in school have to do with your research? It’s important for you to package yourself well and present yourself as a candidate of QUALITY NOT QUANTITY. Do not be afraid of leaving something out.

How do you do this? Attach a resume on the Common App detailing your responsibilities and reasons for starting those clubs. Ask your recommenders to highlight your reasons for wanting to start these clubs (which were definitely not for your college app…right?).

Also, essays, essays, essays! To Stanford, this is the most important part of the application. There’s a reason they want three.