My D just got an email today inviting her to an interview with a Stanford alum in the area. So yes, interviews for the RD round are now getting scheduled (for those who happen to live near an alum willing to conduct interviews).
Guys, how bad are typos in CA Essays? I just noticed a couple (see recent thread) and I feel soo bad!
Can I do an on campus interview if I live near Stanford?
@DryMango I thought Stanford didn’t give out interviews to California residents, but I could be wrong!
@DryMango no you cannot- Stanford doesn’t offer them. Also, I believe they don’t offer interviews to Cali residents.
Good to know. Thanks guys! @yonceonhismouth @writernwriters
Anyone have an interview yet? Wonder what they are like.
Might be a dumb question, but when will the decisions be released? Was it April 1st last year? Thnx 
@shiftydraw Of course it’s better to have higher scores, but my point is it’s better to spend one’s time building up other areas. I am absolutely certain of this, and former admissions officers told me the same thing. This is why I said this is the biggest mistake applicants make. I am very confident on this point. Specifically, for merit scholarships purpose, it’s better to be NM Finalist than get high scores on SAT or ACT because there are many good Honors Colleges which will offer full rides or near full rides automatically if you become NM Finalist.
@writernwriters Last year, my friend received her admissions decision on March 25th.
@websensation no not really there’s no right answer. it’s debatable and depends on the student. say someone has a 33 ACT. using an extra 50 hours to study for ACT and going from a 33 to a 35 rather than building up extracurriculars is easily a better use of time. for the top colleges, the difference between a 33 and 35 is substantial enough to make it worth it easily. too many times ive seen people say a 33 is good enough. yes, its good enough, but 100% an even higher score will help. and i disagree for the most part for NM finalist. I am a NM finalist and most top schools do not offer anything for this. to say that it is more important than a higher ACT score is not right. and plus studying for the psat most likely will translate to ACT/SAT, they’re similar skills.
@yonceonhismouth Oh, cool, thank you!!
@shaiftydraw We can agree to disagree but let me make two points. One, when I said NM Finalist gives you automatic scholarships, I said and meant “Honors Colleges”. There are many public colleges which offer automatic merit-based scholarships if you are a NM Finalist. Second, I reiterate that having 33 vs. 35 on ACT scores in itself is negligible. I would go far as to say that the extra 15 hours you spend on your college essays will help you more to get accepted to high-ranked colleges.
@websensation lol I do not believe that is true at all. there is definitely a difference between a 33 vs 35. top colleges still and always will have academic as the first priority. yes, they want good essays and strong extracurriculars, of course, but these will never trump academics. for the top top colleges, unless you have a strong hook as an URM or low income, a high as possible test score matters. If I had a 33, I would be much less confident in receiving admissions to Ivys and top colleges than with my 35. on the topic of using 15 hours for essays, I can agree with that one. however, much of studying for ACT can be done before essays and the college application process begins. and this isn’t to say that studying for the ACT has to mean less time for essays. And yes, I understand that many public schools will give you automatic full rides, I myself am considering UAB’s EMSAP Medical Program, where I would get a full ride for undergraduate. this is definitely very attractive to attend undergradate for very little costs. however, i think that a good amount of nm finalists would rather attend the top academic colleges.
There is literally, no difference between a 33 and a 35. They’re both 99th percentile, and colleges take two seconds to recognize that the applicant has a score within their range. Colleges analyze your transcript, your recommendations, and your essays. Standardized test scores are one hurdle that leads to multiple. You have a completely wrong idea of how college admissions works. Why doesn’t Stanford fill its class with 2400s and 36s? Why is its average ACT range from a 32 to a 35? BECAUSE NOT ALL STUDENTS HAVE A 35.
@hhjjlala if an officer is faced with two candidates, equal in all aspects except test scores, a candidate with a 35 will beat a candidate with a 33 ANY day. Much fewer students get a 35, which officers will see as a testament to the student’s intelligence.
That statement is so wrong in so many ways. No two applicants will ever be identical. EVER. EVER. Writing might vary; Recommendation letters might vary; Character might vary; Political beliefs might vary; Passions might vary.
Yeah, JUST HYPOTHETICALLY, let’s say Stanford gets an applicant with a 35 and another with a 33. They both play soccer; they both are Student Council president; they both are passionate about education public policy; they both interned at a Congressman’s office.
Assume Stanford wants a student highly involved in government, and would contribute to the Politics Institute’s research. Do you really Stanford is going to say: “HEY! This kid has a 35. His ACT score is two points higher than this kid’s! Let’s admit the kid with the 35!” Do you really think Stanford is going to admit the kid with the 35 JUST BECAUSE he has a 35?
No. They turn to the essays and the recommendation letters. They look for integrity, honesty, kindness, and other character traits. Test scores don’t matter beyond a certain point, and that point is 33 ACT / 2200 SAT / 700+ subject test scores. Why do you think kids with 36s get rejected while kids with 32s get accepted? Why not fill Stanford’s entire class with students who scored a 36?
@hhjjlala look at the argument you’re making. it couldn’t be more untrue. how could a 33 be the same as a 35? that’s a two point difference. a 33 is high enough for you to become seriously considered in regards to standarized test scores. with a strong gpa, this means that an ivy will know that you are academically strong enough. does this mean that a 35 doesn’t look better? absolutely not. noone says they won’t look at essays and letters. this isn’t anyone’s argument. when it comes down to it, there’s a ton of applicants, all with a broad range of different essays, letters, test scores, GPA. and when it comes down to it, a 35 is better than a 33 and potentially could be the deciding factor. why do i think 36s get rejecected and 32s accepted? because of all the things that you talk about. i never said a 36 gurantees admission. but you arguing that there’s no difference is ridiculous. there’s a reason that everyone is surprised at both 36s getting rejected and 32s getting accepted. an accepted 32 is likely to have a strong hook as a URM or low income, etc.
All thing being equal, higher scores are better than lower scores although Stanford does appear to march to their own drum in how much weight they put on high test scores.
AOs are only human and they suffer from the same biases as everyone else. If they are looking to recommend someone for acceptance, a high SAT or ACT score only helps to bolster their case in their mind - it’s known as confirmation bias.
If you meet a HS student and someone mentions they got a perfect 36 or 2400 score, you assume that person is extremely smart. You don’t make the same blanket assumption about someone with a 33 ACT or 2150 on the SAT. You may conclude that they are extremely smart after speaking with them but not before. Again, it’s human nature.
Finally, there were only about 2200 ACT scores of 36 last year. They don’t all apply to the same schools, so out of 44,000 apps Stanford is relatively not seeing very many 36’s. There were about 10,900 scores of 35, so a total of about 13,000 scores 35 and above. In contrast, there were over 56,000 ACT scores 33 and above. That’s a huge difference and we’re not even talking about equivalent SAT scores which most top colleges superscore!
So yes, a 36 is much rarer and worth more in admissions than a 33. A 35 as well. But the Ivies reject about 75% of all perfect scorers so it’s certainly not a golden ticket. Other factors are hugely important as we all know. But still a 25% acceptance rate is more than 5X the average acceptance rate at Stanford so all things being equal, you’re better off with a perfect score than an average score.
Finally, yes I know that correlation is not causation and perfect scorers may be more likely to have better ECs or access to resources etc. But as I said, human nature is also a big part of the decision making process.
@hhjjlala it sounds like you’re just b u t t hurt because you got a 33?