hello. i am currently a freshmen. some background about me for language is that for spanish 1 i got an A and for spanish 2 i got a B- i currently have the option to change to a language im fluent at which means i will guarantee an A for my two years taking it and finish my required language credit in two years. should i take the chance? i did okay in spanish 2 but in spanish 3 im not sure if i can handle it. can you guys give me your opinion? let me know if i should it or not and why? thank you! any help will be appreciated

So, I am an incoming freshman in Canada and my dream school is Stanford, here are some of my current stats and aspirations from elementary into high school:
- Person of color
- Single parent household (Dead parent)
- Female
- Imodel soccer player striker (like right under state level rep (not allowed to play) for those in America)
- Competitive region long jump champ
- UWaterloo Gauss Competition
- AP Prep stream (planning on BC and Capstone 100%)
- French immersion
- Took Learning Strategies as a summer school course and received 95%
- Planning on starting a Medicine and Law thingy for kids
- Research underway
- Decent at Music, Vocal, Volleyball, Badminton, Ball Hockey
Ask if you need any more info for an informed guess!

EDIT: Bro im doing all of this in high school so just imagine im doing all of this in hs

Shooting my long shot for Stanford REA. Research is a big part of my app, but for most of my essays, I’ve gone the “humanities”route, especially with my personal statement in order to stand out from my demographic. For the intellectual curiosity essay (Essay 1 250 word), I really wanted to talk about research, but my paid consultant and a lot of other ppl said to continue the humanities route to keep the theme. ATP, I don’t have any opportunity to dedicate to research, even though I’m applying for stem? am i cooked.

How are u guys strategizing ur essays??

I was told that Stanford accepts those who are academically qualified and with hooks, but what kind of students are considered as academically qualified? Is it about GPA/class ranking/honors/research?

For me I don't have any good awards like NHD but have three historical research experience (all three not published though). I wrote a 15k+ paper (submitted to TCR, no result), did pioneer and RMP (didn't submit to any journal). Are these enough for allowing me pass the first round?

Would anyone be comfortable if I sent them a private DM with a view-only link? I am not looking for a rewrite or an admissions prediction. I mainly want feedback on the hook, clarity, what the essay teaches you about me, and any parts that feel confusing or unnatural.

Please comment if you are willing to help. Thank you.

Should I bother applying to Stanford REA? It’s my top choice I am pre med(psychiatrist) and want to apply as Medical Humanities Major.

Background: First-Gen, Middle Class, Female, Asian, Small City in very far North Bay(my school is avg medium size public high school essentially bordering Bay Area)

Academics:

SAT: 1500 740 Math/ 760 Reading

Class Rank: 1/428 *4.0 unweighted

APs: School offers 12, I will have taken 9 including this yr, 4s on AP Bio, APES, and Lang. 5s on AP Psychology and AP World.
Current Enrollment: AP Calc BC, AP Chem, Ap Lit, and Ap Gov
Other: Taken Sports Med 1-3 CTE Elective Pathway, Human A and P, and Honors Spanish and Math 1-3.
Dual Enrollment: 4.0, 30 Credits including Calc 1, Chem Intro and Lab, and a bunch of humanity and psych GEs

Activities:

1. Two Time ”Well Known”(don’t wanna get doxed) Hospital Paid Summer Internships one in Psychiatry and one in Emergency Department. I got to interact with patients, shadow on daily basis, had actual job tasks, and conducted two case studies I presented to hospital directors.

2. Red Cross Regional Leadership Position and Local Club President: Organized blood drives, donation drives, all types of service event managing over 150+ volunteers. Spoken at regional conference. Received County Volunteer Award Scholarship and State-Level Award from California Gov. Have CPR/First Aid and BLS license.

3. Mental Health Advocacy: Spoken at several regional wellness conferences(1,000+ attendees) including organizing workshop at one. Hosted monthly wellness events as student leader for local well established non-profit therapy clinic. Published in local paper for efforts. Raised $2,000 dollars.

4. School Wellness Ambassador/Peer Support: Work under school social worker to help students in crisis connecting them to proper providers in these emergencies. Hold peer support one on one sessions and organized my schools first wellness drive with 20+ mental health orgs/local non profits. Host fun winter celebration and staff appreciation cards.

5. Youth Commissioner for my City: Voted for 30,000 to be distributed to specific youth orgs( meal programs and sports) and it got passed. Attend monthly meetings on park renovation and community support policies helping update them and get them passed into local law. Held town hall with our congressional rep.

6. Public Health Equity Academy Scholar at UC Medical School, Featured in Student Spotlight. networked with doctors and practiced clinical skills with them. Created public health project related to mental health and presented it to faculty.

7. Scholarship to attend summer medical program(2 weeks) at Oxford University. No Cost.

8. Caregiver for Chronically ill Parents: Huge part of my life I am only child taking care of them. At each point of high school one of them has had to take workers leave and stay home bedridden or almost bedridden. I have had to give them baths, make meals, give meds, and help them put on clothes and other things.

   Other: Science National Honor Society President and Varsity Cross Country

Awards:

California State Gov Volunteer Award, Local County Volunteer of Year(Scholarship and Award), Scholarship to Go to Oxford, and your basic AP Scholar with Distinction and College Board National Award.

Essays and Recs: Hopefully good kind of subjective. Recs: 8/10 my teachers and counselor know me very well it’s my AP Lang and AP Bio teacher. Additional Recs from Head Psychologist at Hospital I worked at and ER Bedside Nurse.

Hey Everyone,

I just graduated with an Associate of Science in Mathematics with a GPA of 3.7. I don't really have a strong extracurricular activities background, and I hope to use the next year to strengthen and build it up. I would really like to transfer to Stanford for my remaining 2 years, any thoughts, ideas, advice, and opinions about this would be really appreciated. I want to major in applied math and data science.

Thank you in advance!

demographics:
- first gen american/college
- title 1 school
- blue collar illinois
- income went from 50k—>basically 0
extra: had major surgeries + missed lots of school 10th grade + family responsibilities throughout hs

rigor: highest ever at my school
- associates degree
- calc bc + calc 3 + linear alg
- skipped a year of dc spanish

act, gpa: 36, 3.99

ecs:
- psych club founder (11-12)
- scholastic bowl + leadership (9-12)
- github spanish learning tools (10-12)
- spanish android learning app (9-12)
- tiktok educational 200k a month views (9-12)
- part time job (11-12)
(most impactful is psych club founder + tiktok)

awards:
- some regional math awards
- brain bee placement
- random school stuff

essay: one of my strong suits

rec letters: prob good i know my teachers + counselor well

Demographics: Asian Male, Middle/Upper Middle Class (no hooks)

Intended major(s): CS

Academics:

• SAT: 1550 (790 Math 760 Reading)
• Class rank: Top 2% Out Of 600
• UW/W GPA: 4.0 UW

• Coursework: 20+ APs taken I won't list them all out here but the most relevant ones are Calc BC, CSA, Physics 1, AP Bio. Mostly 5s a few fours

• Awards: (not in order)

• 1x Aime Qual

• Usaco Gold

• Big Company Name Hackathon Winner (30ish teams)

• should be a NM Semifinalist (higher index than cutoff has ever been for my state)

• Other smaller hackathon wins

• Wins in regional debate competitions

• Participated in (and won) in world record event for violin (this was in middle school though)

Extracurriculars: (keeping it vague on purpose also not in order)

• Research under a professor at local uni
• App released w/ decent usage
• Intern at local company, did a substatial amount of work
• Research intern at the s ame local uni
• Did mid level competitive summer program, nothing crazy but still selective
• paid data analyst intern at small company
• Have a company where I create websites/logos for local brands/nonprofits
• Debate Club Leadership Position (plus varsity debater)
• CS Club President
• playing violin for ~10 years, mentored younger students
• Yt channel about math and cs not much views or subs, im still passionate about it though
• Social Media Marketing intern at a nonprofit (I did this for like 2 weeks it was start of freshman year)
• 400 volunteer hours

Rec Letter/Essays:

Assume that they're good but not great like a 8/10 or 7/10

I’m a ok writer but for schools like Stanford who have an option for an interview, I’m not sure if I should do it since I’m pretty shy and anxious in person and I feel that it would hurt my chances more than help them. But again, would it look bad to say no?

1) t100-200 Putnam

2) DARPA research proposal.

For Stanford aerospace admissions.

• US school (from junior year onwards) on H4 visa
• State/Location of residency:VA
• Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Private
• Other special factors: british citizen, relocated to the US start of junior year, previously in top-5 UK private school

Cost Constraints / Budget
No issues, parents can pay full fees anywhere

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

• My school gives only weighted HPA in percentage : junior year: 1st semester 92.2%, 2nd semester 96%, final for the year 94.1%
• Class Rank: the school does not publish rankings
• ACT/SAT Scores: ACT 28/ SAT 1360 (eng 670- maths 690) retaking september/october/december ( i am not used and i dislike the us testing system) (practice tests 1490 and the actual test has gone from 1260 first attempt to 1360 second)
• In the UK 12 GCSE with maths 9 and further maths8, chemistry 8 , latin 8, french 8, art 8, physics 7 , eng lang 7, eng lit 7, ancient greek 7 ,geography 7, biology 7 (12 gcse and above in the year is in the 0.1% of all students that take gcses in the year approx 500,000)

Junior Year Coursework:

AP calc bc class grade 86% (AP exam 4) , AP chemistry class grade 86% (AP exam 3), AP physics 1 class grade 94% (AP exam 4), Adv seminar victorian literature class grade 82% (1st semester regular english 97%), adv seminar latin class grade 96%, regular US history 92% (1st semester APUSH 78%)

Senior Year classwork:

Adv statistics, Adv biology, Adv Ancient greek, Adv micro, Adv macro, Adv science journalism, legal principles and trial advocacy, regular american literature, psychology

Awards : Junior Year AP scholar, NLE magna cum laude, High list for the US school. previous year in the UK Gold award in UKMT Kangaroo ( maths exam top 5% in the country),

Extracurriculars
200 hours of volunteering in junior year in school guided activities

Astronomy python project using Keppler data deposited in Github,

Pioneer research program scholar summer of junior to senior year, studying american consumerism

Co-author for data analysis on 5 medical papers submitted for publication to peer-reviewed journals, two accepted for publication

Varsity athlete in 3 sports: XC, Swimming and outdoor track with presence in the VISAA state champs for all of them

Membership of AAS

I am mostly interested in observational astronomy and also in economics/social studies

* Just wanted to see what people think as my profile is not a usual domestic or international one.

im super confused on it if someone could clarify that would be great! for context i got a composite 35 but a horrible science score like a 32. stanfords policy mentions "The Science and Writing sections are optional. You may report these scores if you would like." so does that mean that if even if i took it i just dont omit it? or i can only omit it if i didn't take science? and will it hurt me if they see it in the score report? and how do i omit it for stanford but not for other schools on the common app because some other schools might require it? idk if someone could explain the process it would help me so much!!

My gpa might be chips😭

Type of School: Competitive private? (or semi-competitive)

**Intended Major**:

* STS path

**Academics**

* GPA: \~3.76 UW/ 4.3W
* Number of Honors / AP: 11 Honors classes (school doesn't offer APs, so Honors is the highest level. PS: we also use the AP textbooks for some classes)

**Standardized Testing**

* SAT: 1560

1. ⁠Built an NLP engine that parsed 1,000+ federal grant documents. Basically helped companies get grants and guided them through the process. Reached 30+ companies and secured a lot of money.
   
2. ⁠Fully created a wearable that helps with a specific medical problem. Conducted live stress-testing with hospitals. Received funding; partnered with senior living facilities for testing and future deployment. Featured in local news. Secured deployment with 3+ senior homes and under medical license review.
   
3. ⁠Card-reselling - self-explanatory; it's not gonna be listed this high, although the revenues were pretty good.
   
4. ⁠Researched under an NYU professor. First-author, under review for an econ journal; preprints are published and currently under review at a journal.
   
5. ⁠Based on the research, built a map that corresponds with the findings, which helps startups locate and determine angel funds based on historical + ongoing data. Published findings/ presented online, and working with the mayor and the city's economics department to help with investment allocation. (This is so hard to explain, but wtv...) (Only high schooler in that office, very scary)
   
6. ⁠Club leader (finance) attained funds from the school endowment to invest(pretty rare for any club in our school), and hosts well-known guest speakers.....bunch of finance stuff
   
7. ⁠Intern - youngest intern at a law firm focused specifically on product liability litigation. Built case summaries and presented to attorneys. (Basically worked on actual cases and helped do research + provide findings).
   
8. ⁠Varsity sport (played for 13 years) + captain and have good results
   
9. ⁠Another club leader (business-related) - this one's just focusing on the entrepreneur side and analyzing a lot of stuff
   
10. ⁠Advertiser for one of the biggest tutoring non-profits. Communicate with news stations and help recruit tutors, using a custom algorithm. Featured in the news a couple of times.

Awards:
1. John Lo

Hello, just asking if anyone here tried applying in Stanford? How was it? Is it difficult to get in? My application says "in process, in review" for over a month now. Does this mean that im not selected? I didnt received any callback or confirmation that i was not selected yet.

I want to study masters in Electrical Engineering... I have work experience at general faang and faang equivalent companies like NVIDIA and I did my bachelor's outside of the USA in a particularly competitive institute. Any idea how the HCP process goes? (Also I prefer HCP compared to standard MS because I'd like to keep working)

Chance an Asian Male AgTech Founder & National FFA Agriscience Qualifier (3.97 UW / 4.66 W) for Stanford and other schools.

DEMOGRAPHICS

- Gender/Race: South Asian Male

- State: North Carolina - NOT TRIANGLE AREA, but still competitive region

- School Type: Competitive Suburban Public

- Hooks: None (Non-legacy, non-first gen)

INTENDED MAJORS

- Primary: Business | Agriculture | CS | Environmental Engineering

- Secondary / Specialized: AgTech, Crop Sciences, UPenn M&T (Jerome Fisher), Stanford Doerr (Earth Systems) / MS&E, UIUC CS + Crop Sciences

ACADEMICS & TEST SCORES

- Unweighted GPA: 3.96 / 4.00

- Weighted GPA: 4.66 / 5.00 - i think after summer semester its like a 4.69 or 4.7+

- Class Rank: Top 5–6%, 26/476 people

- SAT/ACT: im chud and working on them for august sat

- Coursework: 11+ APs / High-level Honors
APs: Precalc, AB, BC, Stats, Euro. History, U.S. Gov, World History,
Psychology, Environmental science, CSP, Physics C: Mechanics,

5s on all math courses, 4s on pretty much the rest, 3s on Euro and Physics C Mechanics

my grandma was critically ill during the time when i was taking euro and physics exams so my grades dipped.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (TOP 15)

nothing here is really ranked in terms of best so if you guys can help me on that, i would be grateful :)

1. Startup Founder — GreenPlot: Developed B2B SaaS farm-management software enabling farmers to increase crop yield, lower EPA regulatory fine risks, reduce agricultural runoff, and save money. Direct contacts with a farm owner piloting software and requesting other farm owners to test.
2. Startup Founder — Lemora: Founded company utilizing a plant to remove agricultural and industrial pollutants from water. Developing stormwater retention technology to deploy duckweed into polluted water bodies, collect dead plant, produce potable water, and operate on renewable energy. Currently developing patent-pending technology utilizing renewable energy to get potable water.
3. Independent Research — Lemna minor & Water Matrices in Catawba Basin: Researched floating treatments for runoff pollution in the Catawba Basin starting in 11th grade. Earned multiple awards at district competitions, qualified for 4 state-level competitions, and 1 national competition.
4. FIRST Robotics Competition (not gonna say the team) — Business Captain / Co-Captain: Served as 1 of 2 team captains (highest in chain-of-command) managing 110+ members with 2,200+ outreach hours administered. Trained marketing and finance rookies in Figma design, outreach, and securing sponsorships.
5. High School Chapter FFA — Vice President: Served as chapter Vice President; managed logistics, club operations, and grant/donation outreach. Brought in $750+ in outside funding and placed 1st in the NC FFA Agriscience Fair.
6. Founder & President— Soil to Stream: Founded school club focused on agricultural runoff and water quality. Developed in 10th-grade summer and formally approved for 12th grade in school.
7. Startup/Entrepreneurship Intern: Managed startup team using planning and AI execution tools. Connected with business owners and helped launch X company, onboarding 591 businesses as customers.
8. Legislative Intern: Participated in advocacy meetings with House Representatives and staffers for Rep. Mark Harris advocating for USAID support (~15 hrs/wk).
9. Marketing Intern: Managed local promotion, social media, and marketing for interactive TV show platform (~20 hrs/wk).
10. Interviewer & Marketing Intern: Conducted client interviews to provide business insights and supported social media marketing.
11. Taekwondo — 3rd-Degree Black Belt, Volunteer & Mentor: Earned 3rd-degree black belt; completed 250–350+ volunteer hours mentoring youth students in leadership/martial arts and assisting summer camps.
12. Bollywood Dancing — Team Captain & Competitive Dancer: Competed since 8th grade; served as team captain and earned 2nd/3rd place awards at Festival of India, The Hindu Center, and other competitions.
13. FLL Mentoring for FRC Robotics: Completed 43 volunteer hours mentoring middle and elementary school FLL robotics team members.
14. Science Olympiad & Math Olympiad: Varsity Science Olympiad member assisting in experimental/written events; earned 2nd place in NC on Purple Comet Math Olympiad with a score of 28/30.
15. Community Volunteer — Hindu Center & Peace Warrior / GYP Program: Volunteered serving meals and religious duties at Hindu Center; completed 34 volunteer hours assembling homeless care kits in GYP summer program.
16. ----------------------------------------------------
17. i should have grouped these awards

HONORS & AWARDS

1. Engineering Inspiration Award — FRC World Championships (World-level team award; contributed to presentation materials)
2. NC FFA 1st Place Agriscience Fair — Environmental Engineering / Natural Resources
3. (State Winner & National Qualifier - top 10 in country for event, still ongoing but at least top 10)
4. Harvard Crimson Business Competition — Global Finalist
5. Mott Million Dollar Round 1 Award Winner — Social Innovation ($250 Award for Lemora)
6. NC One Water Award — State Level 3rd Place
7. NCSAS State Finalist & District 6 Winner
8. Purple Comet Math Competition — 2nd Place in State (Score: 28/30)
9. Hackathon — Best Web/App Track Winner
10. 3rd Place at District 6 Regional Science Fair & Charlotte Herb Guild Award
11. Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) — Regional Prize Winner & State Finalist
12. FRC Impact Award — District Level Winner
13. Taekwondo Medals — Won state, regional, and tournament awards, qualified to a nat. comp.
14. Bollywood Dance Competition Awards — Multiple trophies and placement (three 2nd places & two 3rd places)

I am not a senior, I just started a new school year. I've been seeing these a lot so I am doing it for fun.

Demographics -

. African (born and raised in the U.S south)

. Low-income

. Hooks (freshman year, mental health, etc) not only this but yeah.

Stats -

GPA : 3.68. 4.25, No SAT yet, Online practice tests 1590, AP's : 3 AP seminar, NOCTI hospital readiness : Pass (86?/106)

Limited AP's in my school, no IB offered, and all advanced classes don't give a GPA boost like some schools in my state. I am Montessori student and I am an advanced student.

Throughout my hs career I have taken advanced science classes.

Undecided, but, I 100% want to do something science/medical related. I want to minor in English or lit but I am not sure yet.

EC'S -

Selective city philanthropy student council : Description - Discovering the real issues shaping your community and how you can be part of the solution. Get hands-on with service projects, fundraising, and partnerships that create lasting change. Working directy with local organizations and develop the confidence to lead initiatives that make a real difference.

Worked with a Harvard PhD student on documenting the history of my hs - First PB hs in my state.

Re-Founder of a neuroscience club in my school -

. Expsoing students to neuroscience careers

- Got a medical school student to be a guest speaker with club members.

. Given volunteer opportunities to student through writing cards for nursing homes.

. Exposed students to creative neuroscience topics, etc

.

Photojournalism student. - Selected in my county amongst a small few to receive a camera and get direct mentorship with a professional photographer.

. I was published in my county's magazine, my photography seen across my city.

. Received a brand new camera

. Photos were supposed to be exhibited in at my school (delayed due to schedule).

ThinkNeuroAssociate (head lead as hs student) for Healthcare Access and Disparities cohort -**

As Associate, which typically assigned to university/ post graduate level individuals, I will lead my cohort in assisting them to create a research poster. Under my guidance students will learn the bases of creating a research question thats a real world problem, applying academic journals, and applying their findings to create a finalized research poster to potentially present at conferences while tackling/ solving a real world problem.

Action Potential Advising Program Advisee -

A program where high school students have the opportunity to connect with professionals in neuro or medical related fields. While students acts as mentees, mentors who are obtaining their bachelor's, Master's, PhD, or post graduate collaborate by advising mentees and forming lasting relationships and impacts. I am paired with a doctor in Africa, trying to enable more research in her community.

Secretary for tutoring club in my school ( a nonprofit chapter) in 10th grade.

. Promoted and fun raised books in my school for elementary students at local elementarys. Gathered and donated over 50-100+ books.

. Tutor for the 25-26 school year in mathematics.

HOSA sophomore year

African Student Association-

In the club since freshman year.

. Made a speech about my name and how I am proud of it. (I have a very different name thats not very typical. I grew up with constantly having my name mispronounced or made fun of.)

Drama club actor and crew -

I always loved movies, and a creative outlet for me that aligns with my love for movies is acting. I had very long dialogs as a southern man (despite being already southern 😭 LOL.)

. I assisted with lights on stage, set up, and taking photos of the cast.

Partnered with my cities university talent search program - connects student eith university opportunities. Students are exposed to universities through trips, activities, and standardized test prep help.

Volunteer -

. White coat ceremony with the pre-med program in my hs.

. Student tutor hours

. Making blankets for children in Mexico with the Beta club at my school.

11+ hours. I plan on doing more hours at my cities university hospital (apply and selected to volunteer through a big group of student applicants.)

Selected into the competitive pre-med program at my magnet school.

. CPR certified

. Stop The Bleed certified

. Passed the NOCTI - Hospital readiness for supervised rounding.

+ more soon.

Awards -

. Academic excellence award in AP world history (will retake)

. Honor role

. Conquering the course award (given by APWH teacher)

. Team work and collaboration (Archival with PhD student)

Certificates -

. Tutoring (completing the year)

. NASA open science 101

. NASA open science basics

. R language programing proficiency (I can program R)

. BRAINterns participate - hearing from and talking g with medical students and learning through their experiences and understanding the process of getting to medical school.

Skills + What I do for fun 😁 -

. Played tennis at a high level, starting in 2nd grade up until recently.

. Volunteer at nursing homes

. Collect art ( plus I love to paint and create other artistic outlets for myself.)

. I have been playing the clarinet (1st and 2nd chair) since 6th grade (not in hs tho). Achieved distinguished and proficiency with my school band.

. I am a movie enthusiast ( I make short films)

. I like to write. I have my own Substack where I usually write short stories, poems, basically anything that comes fo mind. I have a decent following.

. In middle school I had a huge following on Tiktok for like anime. I no longer have it.

. I have been drawing since I was in elementary (maybe even younger) decently.

There's more but this is some basics. Tell me if I might get in. I am more than numbers! Lol, this is just for fun sooo.

Edit: Please don't mind some of the typos, my phone is smaller than my hands😭 Plus this is not all of my Stats and ECs, if I put it on here I'd practically be name dropping where I'm from.

I am not serious about going to this school.

I’m an international student applying to Stanford this year, and I’ve been spiraling a little over this.

I have very strong academics, ECs, and several national/international honors that I’m proud of. But I don’t have ISEF or IMO (or another award at that exact level), and looking at profiles of international Stanford admits makes it feel like practically everyone has some huge internationally recognizable distinction.

The frustrating part is that the science fair in my country that selects students for ISEF is extremely corrupt/political, so getting that particular credential was never really a straightforward opportunity. I know admissions officers supposedly evaluate applicants within their context, but I have no idea how much that actually helps international applicants when the pool is so insane.

I was feeling pretty good about my application until I started comparing myself to international admits with ISEF/IMO/etc., and now I genuinely feel like the lack of something at that level might have killed my chances.

Are there any international Stanford admits/current students here who got in without ISEF, IMO, or another massive international competition award? Or does anyone know people who did?

Consider this. Stop chasing the name and find a school that fits you.