Yeah, it makes sense that your major would impact admissions. I almost feel nervous applying as an engineer, as the average stats of engineers are ridiculously high compared to English and other fields of study
@lhw9312 I applied as an English major. Where is the source that confirms this, just curious?
I sent both my ACT and SAT scores. For some reason, it says they have my SAT R scores I sent (from two different dates), but not my ACT scores. Is anyone else having this issue/had this issue?
@ZBlue17 Same! Which is a bit concerning since my ACT>SAT, but I’m going to just give it a couple days.
Guys, remember that you are NOT applying for a specific major! You are just listing your interests on your app. Everyone comes in undeclared, a clean slate. In fact, Stanford assigns every student to a Pre-Major Advisor, whose specific purpose is to help guide you on your journey to choosing a major!
For what it is worth guys, when I submitted all my test scores they all uploaded except for my best ACT test. A few days later my profile was updated and the ACT test showed as received. It takes time for them to gather all the tests and upload them (especially if there are several). Just be patient. If there is no change in a few days, call the admissions office and they’ll help you out.
I got deferral Stanford EA. When they review my application with regular round, does admission officer who reviewed my EA put notes on my file. The letter indicate they might want to see my Fall semester grade or other test scores like my subject chem result which was mailed end of Dec 2016. So what is my chance of acceptance in the regular pool?
My applicant portal says my app was submitted Jan 4 but it was submitted around 11:00 central time (through commonapp). Will it be ok or should I contact them? I’ve heard stanford is super strict about deadlines so
@qwertyemily You’ll be fine, so don’t sweat it. As long as you submitted your app before the deadline, you should be good to go. The submission date thing could be that way for a number of reasons (I think the Common App records times and stuff in EST), but they still downloaded your application and everything.
General question: If something happens (you win a new award, new accomplishment, etc.) and it’s pretty significant compared to the rest of your application, should you send them an e-mail updating your application, or do they not accept that kind of thing?
@ZBlue17 same, and my ACT is better than my SAT so I hope it shows up asap
@qwertyemily Yes CommonApp uses ET to record your submission, but it counts until local time for most schools. Stanford specifically uses PST for deadline, and 11 Central is 9 Pacific, so you are golden.
Did anyone from India/ international student get a interview call for RD ?I heard they have started RD interviews
Hello everyone. REA Stanford 2021 admit here. I just wanted to wish all of you guys good luck on your interviews and eventual decisions. The waiting is the hardest part– I know– but it all will work out in the end, be that at Stanford or elsewhere.
I look forward to being a classmate to some of you!!! 
What I learned observing my kid’s application and acceptance to HYPSM REA: My kid will probably end up attending Stanford whenever that may be. Following is what I learned watching from the sidelines.
- Even though Stanford only wants you to write down Area of Interest, and this Area of Interest is non-binding to the area you want to major at Stanford, there is no doubt in my mind that Stanford will try to build its class with students expressing various areas of interests.
- If you get over 2150+ SAT or 33+ ACT, don't spend more time studying for standardized tests. I really think it's not that important whether you get 33 or 36 in ACT tests. I say this because my kid ended up being a probable NMF even though there were many kids in his high school who got higher test scores on SAT or ACT. Simply put, it's better to spend time working on gaining certain in-school or outside-school experiences that will make you put forth a unique college application. This is a single dumbest mistake students make. In some sense, perfect scores might actually not help you. So stop spending a lot of time trying to raise your SAT score from 2150 to 2300. Instead, work on gaining different perspectives by exposing yourself to different internship or work or volunteer experiences. These experiences will play vital roles in your finding your own voice when you write your essays. Go serve on as a kitchen soup volunteer rather than try to study to raise extra 100 points on your standardized test scores. At least, this will give you a better perspective and wisdom.
- Try to accumulate some evidence that you did something out of ordinary in variety or depth in the area you are interested in pursuing. This is important to demonstrate your "intellectual vitality".
- Learn as much about the school you want to get into and craft your essays in light of what you found out.
- Try to gain different perspectives. If you are interested in Public Health, try to show you participated in some public health internship in Africa on some summer internship. That will be more impressive than getting 4.0.
- Try to be likable rather than impressive. I cannot emphasize this enough. Being impressive is not going to get you in.
- Don't take on too much activities but focus on several activities that align with your area of interest.
- Start working on your college essays early. Even if you are not working on your college essays, take physical or mental notes on how you want to approach your essays.
- Very important. Ask your parents early on how much money they can afford to spend annually on your college education and draw up a list of colleges accordingly. You will find that expensive colleges are mostly for relatively poor or wealthy families. Specifically, if your family is lower middle to upper middle class, you might seriously want to consider applying to one or two public colleges with good Honors Colleges and good programs in your areas of interest. There are some seriously smart kids who choose to attend these Honors Colleges. There are also many colleges which guarantees you admission to medical schools or law schools or whatever if you get into certain programs. Same thing if you end up as a NMF; you have many public schools willing to offer you near or full rides.
- Make sure you visit several schools you are thinking of applying. My kid initially thought he wanted to attend a well-known LAC but after his visit to several, he realized that the campus was way too small for him.
- Being a better student does not get you in. College admission process is more like Bachelor process than you think. Colleges select students they "like", not better students, so don't have inferiority complex if you don't get in, or develop a superiority complex if you somehow end up getting in. There were many better students at my kid's high school who got denied while my kid got in. Personally, I would have picked many "deferred" students over students who got in, and I have a lot of life experiences, so I don't even agree with their decisions. For example, when a kid shows so much excellence in Comp Sci area, who cares if his essays are not that good? I mean, do colleges really expect Comp Sci majors write eloquent essays? And at the same time, I have seen colleges accept some applicants in certain majors in which they are not that good. I mean, if you get 700 in SAT Math II math, that's not going to fly with me if you are applying as an engineer major at Stanford or Harvard.
@websensation great advice, but im gonna have to disagree completely with #2. at the beginning of my college application process, I believed this. many people said it and it seemed reasonable. looking back now, it’s not true. when applying to the top colleges and aiming for the most competitive merit scholarships, there is a massive difference between even a 33 and a 35/36. yes, you need depth, wisdom, strong extracurriculars, and everything you said. but there’s going to be countless applicants with everything. when you have a 33, you’re test scores are around average for the top top schools. a 35/36 pushes you slightly past that. in the end, all top schools prioritize GPA and test scores. this is the first step to moving forward in their decision process.
Hey, I just had a question. I can’t find any information on this online so I wanted to ask here. Does anyone know if Stanford interviews for international students are selective?
Do you have to notify Stanford that we want an interview or something? I haven’t been offered one
Interviews are based on availability.
Stanford says that not all applicants will be offered an interview- it simply depends on alumni availability in your high school’s area: http://admission.stanford.edu/application/freshman/interviews.html
Also, you cannot request an interview.