Pytanie: What should I do to better my chances of getting into my top school (Stanford)?

( Wstecz )

Answer #1:

I think you've got a great list going here already. I can't give you specifics on what Stanford will expect, but considering that you've got a 4.0 with AP classes AND a ton of great extracurriculars, I would think you have a pretty good shot. Focus on doing well on the standardized tests and try and set up a visit with the university. It'll be helpful to talk with an adviser there who might be able to give you more detailed, accurate info.

Answer #2:

Wow, Lauren! You are remarkably accomplished, and if you persevere with your excellent work you'll be an optimal candidate for admission to Stanford and other elite colleges of its caliber. It's fantastic that you're taking on challenging classes and doing so well in them, but also make sure that you are taking a diversity of courses to demonstrate your intellectual curiosity. Try to take a humanities elective every year, and don't be afraid to take ones that you might not see as correlating to your intended field of studies in college. An art class can help to teach you precision with your hands and attention to detail, which in turn would help with medical classes; psychology helps you to better understand motives and actions, and that could benefit you with everything from law to teaching; dancing requires spatial awareness and sharpens your spatial-temporal reasoning, which in turn would help with engineering, computer programming, and architecture. If you aren't already taking a foreign language make sure you start one this upcoming year. Ideally, you want to have at least three years of the same language, but two will suffice.

Spend your summers productively. One of the questions on the Stanford supplement to the Common Application asks you to describe how you spent your past two summers. Take a foreign language or other class at a local college, get a job, start up a community project, volunteer, or do something else you'll be proud to explain in your answer.

You have a lovely variety with your extracurriculars already, and it's wonderful that you're taking on leadership roles in a few organizations rather than merely being a member of many. Your volunteer work is also impressive. Brainstorm ideas of other projects you could initiate in your community this summer and continue to work on when you have the time throughout the school year. I started up a very simple community outreach program where we take the left-over flowers from weddings, funerals and special events and deliver them to nursing homes, homeless shelters, and the homebound elderly a couple of years ago, and it's really taken off. All I did was contact my church as well as a few others and a synagogue in my area and explain my concept and ask if I could send them business cards I made up to give to people having weddings and memorial services. Many of the larger churches actually have a staff member dedicated to coordinating events, and I would just find their email address online and send a message. We usually will try to deliver the flowers to nursing homes where members of that church / temple reside. I also contacted the Junior League and National Charity League and asked if I could have the flowers from their galas and presentations, and I got other high schools to deliver their flowers from homecoming and prom. It all started with me and my dad driving around in his SUV with blue tarp covering the back to protect from spills delivering the flowers, and then it blossomed into a true community initiative where friends of friends of friends have begun to participate. I also started up a program where seniors in high school were paired with senior citizens, and it was really successful and quite easy to arrange. You could establish similar outreach programs in your hometown quite easily, and not only would they be very fulfilling to you and meaningful to so many, but they would be notable achievements to list on your application.

Take the SAT and ACT early enough so that if you aren't satisfied with the results you have time to retake them.

Oh gosh, I'm about to fall asleep while writing this. I apologize for any typos or incoherencies! I will email you if more suggestions spring to mind. You really have a lot to be proud of, and I am sure that you will land a spot at a wonderful college and build up a great future for yourself.

Best wishes!

~ Peace : )





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