Stanford SCEA? Good stats, but not sure about ECs.

cardfan
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:37:02 +0000

First let me say that I think you have as good of a chance as anyone of getting into Stanford, MIT, and Caltech. Obviously you should apply to all three plus some safety schools.

Now I am going to play devil’s advocate as to how an admissions officer at any elite school might look at your EC’s and Awards. I use a contrarian’s approach because I think it can be of more value than the typical CC “you’ll do great” comment on chance threads.

For your EC’s:

-You say Science Research since 6th grade. That is way too vague. Anybody can make this claim just by occasionally doing some simple experiments. I know you are summarizing here, but there will have to be something specific on your application. Focus on junior year and beginning of senior year. What you did in 6th grade is of no consequence.

-Being on the cricket team, even at a very high level, is not going to help you substantially at any elite school other than to say you have varied interests. This in itself is not much. However, the fact that you toured India carries weight. Not so much because you played cricket, but just for the experience of going to another culture.

-Gardening is a hobby. So is hanging out at the mall with your friends. It doesn’t carry any weight.

-Being President of high school clubs is a dime a dozen activity on applicants’ resumes. Most high schools force all students to join at least one club. In most cases, clubs are at excuse for students to hang out and do nothing. Admissions officers know this.

-Indian Vocal Music is too vague. If it is a hobby you enjoy, it is not going to help. If you have won awards it may mean something.

For your Awards:

-You are going to submit a patent? You might as well say you are going to win a Nobel Prize. Plus anyone can submit an idea for a patent. It is a little harder to actually get the patent. Admissions Officers usually will dismiss what applicants say they might do in the future. Your accomplishments need to be tangible.

-You might win an Intel or Siemen’s award? You also might become CEO of Intel, but I wouldn’t put that on your application until after you do it.

OK, now that I have finished being difficult, I just want to say that I am giving you a possible perspective that an Admissions Officer might have after seeing thousands of applications. I may have made assumptions about your resume that are not accurate. Only take from my words, what might be helpful and ignore the rest. I know you were abbreviating the description of your EC’s and I may have come to the wrong conclusion about some of them.

One last thought is that you might not have enough AP classes your junior year to apply SCEA.

I don’t know what will appeal to the Admissions Officer that evaluates your application and no one else on CC knows either. Use your own intuition and you will do fine.

Best of luck and perhaps you will find yourself on the farm in a year.