<p>Funny you should mention Stanford.My D, who was accepted into Harvard ,got rejected by S.Nephew who got into Yale ,got rejected by S.Another nephew accepted into Brown, rejected by S. Stanford does not do personal interviews ,which is a negative if you interview well.My D’s interview for Harvard went 90 minutes,and might have gone longer but her brother had a train to catch!My own theory about top schools is that beyond fabulous grades,and test scores,some luck is involved .You need to make a strong connection with the reader of your essay,so they will cheer you on .It’s impossible to predict this,so some luck is key to connecting at any top school /Good luck!</p>