<p>Stanford has been my dream. But in school I struggled. I feel like I am a bright and well rounded student. But my GPA is a 3.0. I have a lot of volunteer experience and maybe a internship this next year for a computer science company here in Denver. I plan on becoming a Software Engineer. I also this Summer will be able to go back to my home country of Sudan and help out with the cause of Education and support multiple families. I also plan to teach immigrants from all over the world to read and write in English and be their “First Friend”. I also plan on playing Varsity Tennis my Senior Year. I will take multiple AP classes my Senior Year. My ACT score hopefully will be 33+ and SAT 2300+. In addition to this, I plan on having decent to excellent recommendations. I will repeat again, I feel I am a bright and motivated student, but will my struggles in high school classes bring me down?</p>
<p>Your ethnicity will help you, but you have to be careful with that GPA and aim to get 2300+ SATs. As much they would hate to admit it, Stanford almost always accepts Black or Hispanic students with 2300+ SATs even they have little notable achievements or ECs. It’s done to keep things diverse on their campus.</p>
<p>^ There are more than enough qualified students of color applying that this statement is misleading. You can check through previous threads to see how many qualified (>3.8, >2100 SAT) students of color are rejected every year.</p>
<p>So there is no chance?</p>
<p>The answer to your question is here: [Stanford</a> University: Common Data Set 2010-2011](<a href=“http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2010.html#admission]Stanford”>http://ucomm.stanford.edu/cds/2010.html#admission)</p>
<p>Less than .05% of students with GPAs lower than 3.25 were admitted last year. Stated differently, less than 10 out of 3000 admitted students had a GPA below 3.25. </p>
<p>Find a new dream. Do you really want to attend a school where 99% of the students did better than you did academically in high school?</p>
<p>It can never hurt you to apply. If you truly are a passionate, motivated student, and you think that you’re Stanford material, then show it to the adcom and maybe they’ll agree. If not, the worst they can do is reject you. The only sure way to make sure you’re rejected is to not apply.</p>
<p>It’s a waste of money and it keeps OP from focusing his or her efforts on finding schools that are more realistic reaches. Normally, I’d suggest applying if a student, especially a ‘hooked’ student, is within range. OP isn’t even close. He or she needs to start using the tools available, like the Common Data Set, to find better dreams.</p>
<p>OP, it’s not about being bright and well-rounded. Everyone applying to Stanford - all 34,000 - are bright and either well-rounded or amazingly talented. The only way you might be viable is if you have stellar grades in grades 10 and 11 (because Stanford doesn’t include your 9th grade in their GPA calculation) and/or you have an amazing life story that makes it reasonable that you would be one of the 10/3000 students that they admit with your grades. </p>
<p>Of course, the chances of a 3.0 student making a 2200+ on the SAT is also extremely small, so this is really just a theoretical discussion.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies. I do have other schools that interest me. Since I live in Denver, I am considering Colorado University at Denver as one of them. Even though my GPA is not high, I will still apply to Stanford. I am currently a Junior, so Summer School is an option for me even though it is very expensive. $300 per semester for a grade replacement. I will continue to work hard and do as much as I can to be admitted to Stanford. Another thing, I feel like I can score a 2300 on the SAT. I just don’t feel right at my school in classes. In my school, teachers advocate less distractions but students do not listen. The school was a poor choice for me as it was the nearest but not the best in the district. I am not blaming anyone but myself for letting these things affect me. Anyway, thank you again and just realize the dream has not died.</p>
<p>The cold, hard reality is that no amount of “help” from College Confidential could secure a place at Stanford for you if you were at the top of your class. Stanford just gets too many applications from outstanding students. Stanford could literally fill its freshman class several times over and still admit only students with GPA over 3.75 and SATs over 2200.</p>
<p>My guess is that the handful of students admitted with GPA < 3.25 have some other remarkable characteristic, such as the ability to dunk a basketball with two hands, or being the child of a Saudi prince.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>
<p>That’s just the truth of the matter. I know how prestigious Stanford is, and how excellent every freshman class is, but I can’t give up or refuse to apply.</p>