How can i get into stanford

Amazingly, They expect to reinstate testing requirements for the Class of Stanford is looking for the next generation of luminaries in a variety of areas. Shining in one or two areas is key. For advice about how to stand out on the extracurricular front, check out our previous blog entitled How Many Extracurricular Activities Do I Need for College?

For example, Stanford has the top athletic program in the entire country, hosting 36 varsity sports teams.

Of the students participating in intercollegiate sports, more than are on athletic scholarships. If you are less athletically-inclined, perhaps you are a star orator and future member of the Stanford Debate Society or possess talents and an ethnographer, playwright, cellist, poet, scientist, robotics engineer, app designer, or community organizer.

Stanford, like most elites, likes to achieve a level of geographic diversity that allows them to say they have a class member from just about every state. The Class of alone has representatives from 48 states and 78 countries. Therefore, if you hail from the Deep South or a less-populated state like Montana or Idaho, your location is more likely to provide a boost to your admissions chances than if you live in California or New York.

Looking at the ethnic identity of the total undergraduate student body, the breakdown was as follows:. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning.

Note: If you've read our article on Harvard admissions , note that I will be covering similar material here. You might want to skim this section, but do pay attention to the differences between the application processes at Harvard and Stanford. Also, make sure to keep reading after this section as I'll be talking about Stanford-specific aspects. The first truth is that Stanford is, first and foremost, an academic institution, so you need to have spectacular academics to get in.

If you're above these, you can assume your test scores are sufficient. The first and most naive myth is that Stanford only cares about grades. Like most myths, this one results from taking the truth too far. Many people think that since Stanford is an academic institution, it must care only about academics. After all, if you were trying out for the football team, the coaches wouldn't measure your skills in baseball, right? The truth, however, is that while Stanford of course cares deeply about academics, it also cares about qualities beyond academics.

The first reason is basic numbers: there are simply too many students with stellar academics. The average ACT score for a Stanford student is 33; thus, Stanford considers this score or higher stellar. With 3. Consequently, top colleges such as Stanford need to look beyond academic scores to distinguish between these equally high-achieving students.

The second reason is the understanding that many top colleges, including Stanford, are looking for students who can have a significant and positive impact on the world. Stanford believes that non-academic factors, in addition to top academics, help predict who will have a positive impact in the future. These non-academic factors often known under the umbrella term "extracurriculars" include participation in clubs or sports and a dedication to helping others.

As a result, we can replace the first myth with our second truth: top colleges care about far more than just academics and want to see strengths in many areas , including GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and community service.

In reality, the above truth of multi-area admissions is actually well known to people who have done even a minimal amount of college admissions research.

The myth of pure academics is more of a non-myth: it's a myth that lots of people love to bash, but not many people actually believe. In fact, over-bashing this first myth leads to the second myth below, which is even more insidious than the first.

This second myth—and by far the biggest and most harmful myth—is that Stanford cares about students being well rounded in the sense that they should be equally excellent in all areas. This myth is the most pernicious because so many people blindly believe it. From many personal surveys, I have found that even well-researched students and parents fall prey to this myth. In fact, I myself during my early years of high school believed in this horrible assumption, even though I'd already done hundreds of hours of research at that point.

Because so many educated people believe it, and because it has the potential to steer you wrong, I personally think that this myth is the most damaging of any. The "well-rounded" myth goes like this: Stanford wants you to be well rounded, so it's best to perform excellently in all areas. In other words, aim for that high seat in your school orchestra.

Be number one or number two on your school debate team. Run for student council and become the treasurer. Earn at least an A- in all your classes. The mythical implication here is that the "Stanford scorecard" grades you based on your weakest area, so you want to eliminate all weaknesses. Under this myth, you should focus all your time on your weakest area to eliminate it and become as well rounded as possible.

Then, at the end of the day, you end up with a mythical optimal application that proves you're nearly equally great at everything. Unfortunately, college admissions are much more like an unstable boat: being too well rounded will ultimately sink you.

The truth is that Stanford sees being very well rounded as too boring. Everyone who is well rounded looks the same: they're very good but not earth-shattering at everything. There's nothing to set you apart. Not to mention that dilly-dallying in a big number of areas will make you look like a dilettante. The third and final truth is that Stanford would much rather see a candidate who is OK at most things but really great in one specific area. That area is your "spike," and it can be in almost anything: conducting microbiology research, publishing short stories, starting a small business, etc.

Your spike makes you a strong candidate because it's unlikely that many other students will have the exact same spike as you. In short, it helps set you apart and makes you unique. Admitting lots of students with different spikes allows Stanford to create the diverse student body it desires. Furthermore, Stanford is looking for students who will succeed in the future.

In our modern world, specialization is the key to success. Think about it: if you break a bone, you want to see a doctor who's great at resetting bones, right? Not a doctor who's pretty good at setting bones and also pretty good at diagnosing the type of flu you have and pretty good at recommending a diet to keep you healthy.

It's OK to be lopsided—in fact, it's even desirable! The point is that you should aim to develop one area in which you're super strong. In this area, or spike, you should try your best to be nationally or state-ranked, or accomplish a goal that's rare for a high school student.

Think top football player in California, or top-1, math competition student in the United States. Think getting a pilot's license at age In all other areas, it suffices to be in the 99th or even 90th percentile. A moderately good score in your English class will do.

A few dozen hours of volunteering is fine. But in your spike, you want to be the best of the best. The most naive and prevalent myth is that getting into Stanford is all about academics. In reality, admitting applicants based only on academics leads to an uninteresting community.

Stanford cares about extracurriculars, too, and doing well in just one area of school or even all of school isn't enough. Unfortunately, an overly reactionary response to the above generates the worst myth. Myth 2 is that you should be well rounded and great but not necessarily excellent in every field.

But the truth is that being too well rounded makes you look the same as others who are just as well rounded as you; it also makes you look like someone without any direction. Ultimately, you want to be OK in every field but especially accomplished in one particular field. We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies.

We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools , from state colleges to the Ivy League. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Based on the above information, your first goal should be to ensure you have strong academics.

Even if you're above the 50th percentile, if you haven't prepped at least a few dozen hours yet, you should aim for the 75th percentile to strengthen your application.

After you're above the 50th percentile, get to work on overcoming the first myth which claims that grades are everything. Stanford cares about far more than just academics, so try to squeeze in some good extracurriculars and volunteer experience.

Once you have a sufficient set of baseline activities, it's time to overcome the second myth by understanding that Stanford is not all about being diversified and well rounded. You want one area to stand out above and beyond all the others; this spike will be one of the most important parts of your application.

Now that we've gone over the biggest myths and facts about Stanford admissions, let's take a look at another part of the highly prestigious university: its emphasis on STEM and what this means for you, whether you're into STEM or not. This means that—all else being equal— if your interests learn more toward engineering, you'll get a slight boost in your admission chances.

So if one student were a top young writer and another were a top math competitor, it's likely that the latter would have a slightly better chance of getting into Stanford. Don't just take my word for it, though—you can Google it yourself.

You'll see that Stanford is in the US News ' top-ranked engineering schools, while Harvard and Yale are nowhere near the top Part of this, however, is a self-fulfilling prophecy: because good engineering-type undergrads come here, it becomes an ideal place for similarly minded students.

As a result, math-related classes and extracurriculars are not the only things that matter when applying to Stanford. The next two sections will give you advice based on which subjects you plan to study in college.

If you're less into STEM, read the next section. But if you're already focusing on a STEM area and plan on continuing to do so, skip on ahead to the section after for my most helpful tips. Do you plan on majoring in a humanities or similar subject?

Then this section is for you! Just because Stanford leans more toward engineering, that doesn't mean that the only way to get in is to be an engineer. While the school has a fantastic engineering program, it's also incredibly strong in non-STEM fields, such as economics and literature.

Your application can be completely bereft of engineering aspirations, and you can still do well. In fact, I am quite sure that any humanities-heavy application that would do well at Harvard , Yale, or Princeton would do equally well, if not better, at Stanford. Nevertheless, don't forget the fact that Stanford likes baseline diversity. Your spike doesn't need to be related to STEM, but you should still be strong in quantitative subjects as a whole.

Because Stanford has a large number of applicants, they have enough humanities-spike applicants who can at least get the basic A or A- in the hardest math and science classes.

You should take care to put enough effort into these subjects so you don't drop down to the middle of the pack. Stanford doesn't take the excuse "I'm just not a math person" and, in fact, they're probably against the culture that makes such a phrase commonly acceptable in the first place. Once you get below a on SAT Math or a 30 on ACT Math, Stanford will know you don't have a full command of standard concepts in math, such as factorizing variables or applying the Pythagorean theorem.

No form is required. Requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Fluency in English is a prerequisite for undergraduate admission at Stanford.

However, we do not require that you take any standardized tests to demonstrate your English skills. We have no preferred proficiency exam. Note: Stanford reviews applications using either official or self-reported test scores for all applicants. Please self-report your highest scores in the Testing section of either the Coalition Application or the Common Application. All official scores will be required if you are offered admission and choose to enroll.

Applicants who are international citizens will receive information detailing the student visa application process if offered admission to Stanford. To learn more about how Stanford supports its international and immigrant communities please visit the Stanford Immigration website. Stanford's international community adds vibrancy to our campus, and they find themselves at home in the dorms and classrooms.

International students hail from around the world, speak a variety of languages and offer unique cultural perspectives. To see a sampling of some of the international student groups on campus and the many networks of support available to this community, please visit the Bechtel International Center website. The Office of Undergraduate Admission does not partner or work with paid agents or credentialing services.

It is expected that all students complete their application materials without the use of such services. Stanford complies with the Jeanne Clery Act and publishes crime statistics for the most recent three-year period. View the full report. Stanford , California Skip to content. Undergraduate Admission.