<p>this whole thread is pretty ridiculous. stanford attracts some of the best and brightest students in the world. it is absurd that there is such a thing as being overqualified for stanford. matrix dad, have you ever even been to stanford? talked to its students? you should have heard the things president hennessy had to say about the class of 2012. and if you actually knew what you were talking about you might realize that PLENTY ( i cant say the exact number but quite a few ) admitted students are cross admits of at least another of the hypm schools, and i suppose if they were over qualified at stanford they would be as well for those other four, seeing as stanford is ridiculously good and high ranked academically in almost every single area (versus harvard where the engineering program could never rival stanford’s, or mit which is too science-oriented, etc.). if other schools have tufts syndrome, its so they dont lose admits to stanford or one of its very few peer schools.<br>
unless you write another school’s name in the “why stanford” essay and/or clearly indicate somehow that you have no intention of going there (which can be judged by an applicants writing sample that you would never have access to read), im pretty sure the admissions officers know that many, many students would do anything for a chance to go there, even if accepted at any other school in the planet. i even met a kid at AW who got into oxford (yes the one in england, kind of cooler than harvard or yale if you ask me) and chose stanford, not to mention many (most of the ones i met there) who are choosing stanford over harvard, yale, princeton, and mit. so yeah, they were very overqualified. some people think its very reasonable to call stanford the best school in the us, especially since it’s so good at so many things, but im sure they only want mildly brilliant kids and are leaving the real geniuses to harvard and yale…not :p</p>