Help with my application please!!
Hey everyone, like all of you, Stanford is my dream school. I'm a junior and I'd like all the help I can get with my application for next year. I'm applying SCEA, by the way. My stats are basically like this:
Background:
-Asian male (relevent, right? ha)
-1st generation high school graduate and college student
-Low income family <10,000 family of ( Read more... )
As with most everyone else, the defining factor and potential saving grace of your application will be the essays. Not that your resume isn't impressive, but it's not going to make you stand out against thousands of other kids who all also are doing the same kind of activities. Sure, being a first generation college student can help, but so can being legacy. So can being an athlete (despite what they say). So can being the right ethnicity at the right time. Playing the formula game never works, though it can give you a good idea at your shots. If the death of your brother (my condolences) affected your resume or your life goals at all, that might be something really important to cover; your essays are your chance to explain blips or expand on things that really excite you that may not otherwise "pop" at the admissions people. They really do read them, I promise.
First glance eyebrow-raisers:
1) That C+ is still on your transcript and may still make them freak out. Not much you can do now, but something you can be aware of and try to overcompensate for.
2) ACT/SAT scores. Retaking is good, but I really do recommend taking both tests. I sucked at SAT math and got a perfect score on ACT math. On that note, learn to use a graphing calculator before taking the ACT; it does 99% of the problems for you whereas on the SAT it's mostly just a distraction.
3) The miscellaneous/ECs are good and show you branch out but nothing stands out a significant amount (editor-in-chief vs section editor, etc), so those will have to be things you focus on a lot in your essays to show why they are important despite not being, say, "Winner of Nobel Prize in Science at age 5".
4) SAT IIs, as far as I know, are mandatory for Stanford. I may be making this up.
Hopefully this is helpful but above all remember that there's no guaranteed formula to get in. There are geniuses here, there are some people whom I consider dumb as rocks, and there are people like you and me who sit in the middle, know what they're good at, and are pretty bright. It's not about being a number, it's about being a personality and telling the people at admissions who you are and making them realize why you should be here.
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Agreed 100%
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1) I will be happy to link you to Magali's omgwilligetin post from like 2005.
2) Not stressing makes things much easier. Stanford was a last-minute addition to my list of schools applying to, and while I put some real thought into my app, I definitely didn't have anyone read my essays or stress over my transcript. My attitude was, "Here I am, take me or leave me. But remember that I am going to kick ass, no matter what happens." Go into it knowing that you're going to make the best of any college you go to. This will make the admission-rejection process so much easier on the soul.
3) Long lists of ECs, just by virtue of being long, are pretty useless. First of all, there are a limited number of spots on the application. Second, people start to glaze over when they see that you're a super-child. As someone who's interviewed people for other Stanford stuff, I feel like a long list of extracurriculars leaves the reader wondering "why?" for most of it, especially if I just read 20 consecutive apps before yours that had the same type of stuff. Choose what's most important to you, and really elaborate on why it makes a difference in your life. I had a (comparatively) very short list of extracurriculars, because I chose a few and put a lot of time, effort, and love [cheesy, I know] into them and stuck with them for four years. If you can't think of a solid, animate reason for listing an EC, scrap it. Trying to bullshit passion for something does not work. It's way too easy to see through ("I did community service because I wanted to give back to my community"). I left stuff out on my app, and I think I even left a blank spot for one of the slots. When it comes to extracurriculars, try and breathe life to them to the point where they all make sense with the "you" that you put on the application. This is where essays come in. They need a good sense of who you are, and that has to show through your description of your extracurriculars. Integrate every part of your application into who you are and why you are.
I will say, however:
1) Don't sweat the C+, especially since it's from freshman year. I had a douchebag history teacher who gave me (or rather, caused me enough stress to "earn") two Cs junior year. SAT was 1460 (refused to take SAT classes), weighted GPA was a "mere" 4.3. I was a less-than-perfect academic, but I was still above that fuzzy line where they'll consider you qualified to come. That being said, if you can do better on standardized stuff and have the time, do it. Couldn't hurt, but don't stress.
I know this can be a highly worrisome and surreal time, especially as a first-generation, but like we said, don't sweat it too much. No matter what happens, you are going to do great things with the education you get. Sounds like you've been through a lot, and have been able to keep things going great. If that is very defining for you, definitely talk about it. Starting your essays early is good; you'll have time to let them sit for a while and come back to them. And recommendations are also very key; mine were definitely a big part of the reason I got in, just make sure the people writing them have a very concrete understanding of why you are awesome (anecdotes, rather than "is friendly and always does good work"). You've got *it* in you, you just have to effectively let them know you do (remember, no interviews for Stanford!).
And, as (the always cheery, never emo) Magali said, just be happy. You've made it this far, and any road you end up on is bound to be full of opportunities to live your life in a way that makes you feel good about yourself. yaaaaaaaaay
::dismounting from soap box::
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Though your extracurriculars/honors are pretty awesome, I don't see much of a focus. As starinatdasun said, choose what's important to you.
Here's an example:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187237
Absolutely amazing, right? Yeah, she was rejected from Stanford. Even applying early, they didn't defer her -- they outright rejected her. Though we can only theorize about why,many have come up with this: she showed little focus and didn't include her passion in her essays. Hell, she got into Dartmouth and Harvard (where I think she's going now). Moral of the story: be selective of what you put on the app and make damn good essays that discuss your passion and show your "intellectual vitality."
As others said, don't stress, don't give up, etc. =)
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So far, I have some awards in photography and newspaper and I've done a lot of work for Amnesty. My transcript is the strongest you can find at my school in terms of course choice.
My recommendations will be written by my Independent Journalism teacher/Newspaper advisor, my Amnesty International advisor/11th grade English teacher, my counselor who is the advisor of NHS, and my AP Portfolio teacher will be writing the rec. with my art supplement I'm submitting. All four of these teachers know me on a personal level, so I'm anticipating my recs. will be tremendously helpful.
I have a 29 for my ACT which is in the bracket...I'm retaking this Saturday :-/
I am not taking the SATs. That's a conscious choice I've made and I'm sticking to it. However, the SAT Subject Tests I'm still battling with as I know I would not get an adequate score.
Can someone tell me how much not submitting SAT IIs will effect my application?
Lastly, my essays will show *me*. They will be spectacular.
:) Thanks for your comments, I appreciate them a lot.
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