Stanford Stand out?

Bridgewood
Thu, 05 Jun 2014 05:01:05 +0000

No, running a marathon will not get you into Stanford. It depends how you write about it and how well you do it. If you look over the Stanford essay questions, I am not totally sure how running a marathon will really link to any of the essays, other than perhaps a brief mention in the roommate essay. But if you can somehow connect it to Intellectual Vitality or another essay, then go for it. However, this topic has the potential to wander very closely to the taboo “jock essay” or overtly general life-lesson essay. Eg. Run a marathon -> new life experience -> big struggle -> overcome the challenge -> learn something new about leadership or dedication or teamwork, etc etc etc. Don’t go there.