Decision: Accepted
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 1600 (800 M/800 EBRW)
ACT (breakdown): 35 (35 E/36 M/33 R/36 S/30 ELA/9 Writing)
SAT II:
US History, Math 2, Physics (800)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4/248
AP (place score in parenthesis):
World History, CS A, APUSH, Physics 1, Physics 2, Eng Lang, Calc BC, Calc AB Subscore (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load:
Dual-Credit Biotech Internship, Linear Algebra/Multivariable Calculus, AP Chinese, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Physics C: E&M/Mech, Independent Study Computer Science, Art I, Health
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
National Merit Semifinalist/National Hispanic Scholar
State recognition in expository writing
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
National Hispanic Institute - NHI (Head Coach, John F Lopez Fellow, 2018 CA Speaker of the House)
School Ambassador (Ambassador)
Earth and Space Science Club, School Chapter of NHI (President/Director)
Job/Work Experience:
Internship at Y Combinator bioinformatic startup
Started biotech company (dnalocker.org)
NASA SEES Internship
Volunteer/Community service:
NHS
NHI
Summer Activities:
Travel (Galapagos, Camino de Santiago)
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies Summer Institutes and Stanford Lagunita online.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App Essay - 10, detailed how my experience at NASA changed the way I perceived myself as I became empowered to mentor others at school and NHI.
Stanford Supplements: 8, worried about lacking specificity for question about what I’d like to experience at Stanford
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10, from biotech teacher who knows professor at Stanford, really good friendship and I helped him out a lot setting up his equipment and computers.
Teacher Rec #2: 6, English teacher, enjoyed class but I didn’t think there was too much opportunity for engagement
Counselor Rec: 10, good relationship as she ran the school ambassador program, talked about my background (from Montana)
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Excellent, interviewer also participated in NHI, had intriguing discussions about favorite books, my reasoning for starting company and volunteering at NHI
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Listed Biomedical Computation
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Comprehensive magnet, #16 in nation (US News and World Report)
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Masculine
Income Bracket: ~$150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, legacy (dad, uncle did masters degrees), born at (and conceived in vitro by) Stanford, raised in Montana
Reflection
Strengths:
Strong sense of community and the importance of unity and diversity. Extreme focus on my passions in decentralized computing and biotech.
Weaknesses:
Thought I could have been more specific when explaining why Stanford specifically, but I think I made up for it in the interview.
Why you think you were accepted:
Probably a combination of academic rigor, extracurriculars (Stanford is on the NHI College Register), and legacy preference. According to Stanford, it was my “passion, determination, accomplishments, and heart.”
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Auto-admit at UT Austin, haven’t heard back from anywhere else yet.
Also applied to UCLA and UC Berkeley, plan to finish MIT application (since I already submitted Part 1)
See my Quora post about my application: https://www.quora.com/What-was-on-your-application-that-got-you-into-Stanford-MIT-or-an-Ivy-League-school/answer/Alex-Loia