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.

if you know me, no u don't

SCHOOLS

• Stanford University (REA)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Gender/Race: Asian Male
• State: Cali (SoCal)
• School Type: Highly Competitive Public High School
• Hooks: None (Non-legacy, non-first gen)

INTENDED MAJORS

• Primary: Human Biology / Cancer Biology
• Secondary: Computational Biology / Bioengineering / Bioinformatics

ACADEMICS & TEST SCORES

• Unweighted GPA: 3.98 / 4.00 (1 B in 1 semester of AP Physics 1)
• Weighted GPA: 4.63 / 5.00
• Class Rank: Top 3 to 5% (School doesn't officially rank)
• SAT: 1600 (800 RW / 800 Math)
• Coursework: 15 APs by graduation + post-AP math and chemistry (Calc 3, Linear Algebra, OChem)
• AP Scores (Submitting ten 5s): Calc BC (5), Bio (5), Chem (5), Physics 1 (5), Calc AB (5), AP Lang (5), USH (5), Psych (5), World (5), Chinese (5)

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (TOP 10)

1. Executive Director & Co-Founder | Global STEM Non-Profit: Co-founded 501(c)(3) featured in FOX and Business Insider; expanded to 18 chapters in 5+ countries. Raised $26K in grants (Google/Microsoft), trained 350+ volunteers, distributed 2.5K kits to 10K+ kids, presented at UN Science Summit.
2. Bioinformatics Research Intern | UC Davis Cancer Center: 1 of 12 state scholars. Analyzed kidney cancer samples across 6 cohorts to map NOTCH mutations and immunotherapy resistance. 1st-authored JBEB paper, presented at ICBES.
3. CEO & Lead Designer | Cancer Education Card Game: Co-created 72-card strategy game explaining cancer biology. Raised $3.6K in grants, sent 225+ decks to children's hospitals. Presented to 1K+ people at county fair; finalist for ECGBL & Serious Play Awards.
4. Bacterial Genomics Researcher | Summer Science Program (SSP): Selected as 1 of 36 globally for Purdue residential research. Evolved V. natriegens under antibiotic stress, mapped resistance mutations via Nanopore sequencing, co-wrote 45-pg genetics paper.
5. Glioblastoma Researcher | Pasadena Bio Collaborative: Full scholarship ($13.6K) for 2-wk residential program studying glial density in glioblastoma. Published 24-pg paper in Convergence, gave oral talks at INBC and Neurology 2026.
6. Youth Advisory Board Member | CA Coalition for Youth: Testified at 5 state legislative hearings on youth homelessness, attended Youth Empowerment Summit (YES). Successfully advocated for $80M state youth housing budget and establishing the CA Office of Youth Homelessness Prevention.
7. Student Organizer | ISCB Youth Bioinformatics Symposium: 1 of 5 global youth organizers for largest US youth bioinformatics conference (co-located with ISMB 2026). Co-built ML, AlphaFold2, and RStudio workshops for 1K+ attendees.
8. Captain & Youth Chair @ My Church: Coached Teen Bible Quiz team to top 15 nationally (out of 300+ teams). Taught weekly STEM/faith lessons to 30+ kids and led 3 Mexico mission trips.
9. Competitive Pianist | International & State Soloist: MTAC CM Level 10 with State Honors (top 1% in CA). 1st Prize and Grand Prize winner at Grand Prize Virtuoso, Golden Classical, and American Protégé International Competitions.
10. President / Exec | Campus Clubs: President of Peer Tutoring, Chemistry Club, Prep4Peers, and Music Outreach; VP of Bio Club; Finance Director for school science mag.

HONORS & AWARDS

• STEM Olympiads: British Biology Olympiad Gold (top 5%) | 2x AIME Qualifier (top 5%) | USMDO Silver (top 7.5%)
• Speech & Writing: Immerse Edu. Laureate, Global 1st ($6K Cambridge scholarship) | Scholastic Art & Writing (3 Gold, 2 Silver Keys) | 1st Place BBB Torch ($1.5K) | 1st Place K2S Alumni ($1K) | 1st Place CA Freethought Speech ($1K)
• Piano Awards: MTAC CM Level 10 with State Honors (top 1% CA musicians) | 1st Prize, Grand Prize Virtuoso International | 1st Prize, Golden Classical International | 2nd Prize, American Protege Piano & Strings International
• Merit Scholarships: 2026 Carson Scholar ($1,000) | Rensselaer Medalist ($40k/yr) | WPI Innovation Award ($25k/yr) | Bausch + Lomb Awardee ($5k/yr),  DAR Youth Leadership Medalist (1 per HS)

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, and all advanced classes don't give a GPA boost like some schools in my state. I am Montessori 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 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.

Please let me know if I should do RD, REA, or ED to some other school. I think Stanford is a good fit but I don't know if I realistically have a chance. Thanks in advance :)

Demographics

• Gender/Race: Male / South Asian
• Residence: Northeast (fairly competitive area)
• Hooks: None (No legacy/athlete)

Intended Major

• Computer Science / Artificial Intelligence / Computational Biology

Academics

• GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.76 W (top 3% prob atleast, not officially released tho)
• SAT: 1570 (800M, 770R)
• PSAT: 1520 (perfect)
• Course Load: Most rigorous available at school

Awards

1. Big Entrepreneurship Comp (think Diamond or Conrad) Challenge Finalist (2026)
2. Top 100 Emerging Innovators
3. USACO Gold
4. ACSL Finals Gold Medal
5. International Society for Computational Biology - ISMB Conference accepted sole author poster abstract
6. State-Level + Regional Science Fair Awards (numerous 1st place + special awards)
7. Debate State Champion: 1st Place debate in all of state
8. Co-author (2nd) on abstracts in numerous other conferences (with Stanford postdoc, for example Society for Neuroscience Conference)
9. Publication under review at Nature Communications Biology (postdoc says most likely will get accepted by Nov 1 as we are just got 2nd round of feedback back, but no guarantees ofc)

Extracurriculars

1. Research & ML Engineer @ Stanford Lab: Worked here for almost 2.5 years now, abstracts accepted in confs + Nature Comms Bio pub in review rn (as above).
2. Internship at big neuroscience institute
3. Developed AI-driven medical project; finalist at big entrepreneurship comp (Diamond or Conrad Challenge), competed at various sci fair awards listed above
4. USACO Club Leader: Captain of competitive programming club; organized first-ever competition with 100+ participants and $1,000+ in corporate sponsorship (Jane Street, Desmos, etc..).
5. Software Engineering Intern @ Big Startup
6. AI Intern @ Big Conservation Nonprofit + proposed pilot project that was accepted and used
7. Varsity Debate Captain: Debate captain, 1st place at states, many bids to finals comp and ran practices and such
8. Designed and developed an assistive math learning app for neurodivergent students (honorable mention at a comp)
9. Science Olympiad Lead
10. National Guild Playing Audition Member

Essays/LORs

• Essays: I'm not horrible at writing essays but also not amazing either, so these probably won't be too crazy.
• LOR 1: Stanford Head of Department im working at (he is head of a major Stanford department, but the postdoc will actually prob be the one to write the rec because he knows me better, the head will just sign off)
• LOR 2/3 (teachers): Research mentor at school + English teacher

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’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?

Note: Stanford is my dream school, but I don't know if I should REA or RD to improve my application.

Demographics: Male, Mexican-American, Northern Virginia, Large Public High School (700+ class size), Class of 2027, Income: ~300k.

Intended Major: Linguistics, Sociology, Global Studies

GPA: 3.966 UW / 4.624 W (school does not rank, but I am roughly 2/729)

SAT: 1510 Superscore: 790 M, 720 EBRW; will take retake in August

AP Scores

• AP Computer Science Principles: 4
• AP Macroeconomics: 5
• AP US History: 5
• AP Microeconomics: 4
• AP Computer Science A: 4
• AP Chemistry: 5
• AP U.S. Government: 5
• AP Precalculus: 5
• AP Spanish Lang: 4
• AP Physics 1: 4
• AP Comparative Government: 3

Coursework

Freshman: HN English 9 (A), HN World History I (A), Honors Geometry (A), AP CSP (A), HN Bio (A), Spanish 3 (A)

Summer: DE World 2 History (A-)

Sophomore: HN English 10 (A), APUSH (A), AP Mac/Mic Econ (A), HN Algebra 2 (A), AP CSA (A), HN Chem (A), HN Spanish 4 (A)

Junior: DE English 11 (A-), AP US & Comp Gov (A), AP Precalc (A), AV (post-ap) CS Data Structures (A), AP Chemistry (A-), AP Physics 1 (A), AP Spanish Lang (A)

Senior (not started yet): AP English Lit, AP Psych, AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP Spanish Lit, DE Exploring the Language of Medicine

Community College GPA: 3.8

Community College Coursework: HIS 112 (A), HIS 102 (B), MUS 121 (A), ENG 111 (A), ENG 112 (A)

Extracurriculars: (**NOTE: I didn't put the role/org/desc for the more straightforward ecs)

1. Spanish Governor's School: Role: Student Resident (1/60 in VA; 1/16 boys). Organization: Governor's World Language Academy (GWLA)—3-week total Spanish immersion & classes; full scholarship. Description: Studied sociolinguistics, Arabic, & LatinAm lit; co-authored 7 academy blogs (2k+ views); won inter-academy world cup; gave 3 presentations in Spanish.
2. Sociolinguistics Research: Role: Research Assistant. Organization: Stanford University Sociolinguistics w/PhD Student [REDACTED], advised by Professor [REDACTED]. Description: Add reduction markers, clean data, sync audio files w/transcripts to first 49 interviews with Eastern Maine dialect.
3. High School Diplomats Program: Role: Student Delegate (20/400+ in US (<5%); 1/10 boys). Organization: HS Diplomats (HSD)—full scholarship US-JPN exchange: HSD US 10 days @ UVA + HSD JPN 17 days in Japan. Description: Presented US edu/gov to 39 peers; learned calligraphy & Hiragana; gave 2 speeches on intl. peace; shared HSD w/60+ students, led to 1 future delegate
4. Spanish Culture Club/Honor Society (President): Led cultural events for 40+ members; prepared homemade dishes; overhauled tutoring system, doubling tutor availability from 8->16
5. Quiz Bowl (Captain): Tripled tournament team (4->12); secured $750 sponsorship; hosted 2 online practices/wk; created 300+ term study guides; mentored 10+ members
6. ASSIP Program Research Intern: Role: George Mason Research Intern (400/3300 in US (12%). Organization: Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Pgrm (ASSIP)—w/[REDACTED] @ RAND & Dr. [REDACTED] @ GMU. Description: Conducted RL research for autonomous UAVs on robust flight w/noise after 200k step training; co-authored published abstract & poster for presentation.
7. Chess Club (President): Organized 8 school tournaments/yr (15+ players); grew matches 6× online; taught 10+/wk; revived club 5->15; linked members to local elementary schools
8. Varsity Tennis (Captain): Led conditioning for 20; coached 10 new teammates; collected $800 in rackets for players abroad; 1st regional qualifier in 5 yrs; strung 20+ rackets
9. Religious (Sunday School Leader): Led 10+ 1st–6th graders/wk in a new 3rd-service Sunday School class, creating space for more families in the first 2 services.
10. Volunteering (Food Runner): Collected 100+ lbs of food monthly from 10+ households; delivered to a local high school, combating local food insecurity

Honors/Awards:

1. IAC Regional Scholastic Science Bee Intl. Qualifier, ~ Top 50% @ Nats, 1st @ Regionals (11)
2. Quiz Bowl Nats Qualifier, 3rd @ Region, 2nd @ Districts (10, 11)
3. Virginia State Seal of Biliteracy—Spanish (11)
4. National Merit Commended Scholar (11)Qualifier
5. AP Scholar w/Distinction (10, 11)

Current Goal: Just continuing research, doing SAT reading, and writing essays.

LORs

• APUSH and AP US & Comp Gov Teacher (10th, 11th): Close relationship and always talk after school and in class; was the only sophomore/junior in her class—9/10
• HN Spanish 4 Teacher (10th): Not as close a LOR # 1, but still always stayed after class to ask questions about Spanish and she wrote me a rec letter already for Spanish Gov School—8/10
• Stanford PhD Grad Student (12th): Started working together recently; hoping to get a letter that speaks to my linguistic curiosity—9/10

Essay: Talks about how I became reconnected with my Mexican culture & heritage after becoming basically fluent in Spanish after Spanish Gov School and got to learn stories from people I never had the opportunity to speak to in Spanish, like my mom's family friend.

College List - Obviously I expect to be chanced for Stanford over the others, but feel free to talk about the others (Also I'm not sure about the bolded schools below, whether I should apply or not).

• Stanford
• Princeton
• Yale
• Harvard
• Columbia
• UPenn
• Brown
• Dartmouth
• Cornell
• Duke
• Johns Hopkins
• Rice
• Vanderbilt
• Georgia Tech (CS? OOS)
• UNC Chapel Hill (OOS)
• UVA
• William and Mary
• Richmond
• Mary Washington
• George Mason

Any feedback is appreciated, especially on what the biggest strengths and weaknesses of my application & what my realistic chances are if I apply REA or RD.

Demographics:

• White
• Middle-class family
• Alaska
• No hooks

Rigor: 11APs, Senior Year Dual Enrollment (Calc II+III, Linear Algebra, Intro to Thermodynamics)

GPA -  UW: 4.0, W: 4.35 (DE is not weighted so GPA tanks, going from like class rank 1/273 to maybe 5)

SAT/ACT - 35 (36 Reading, 36 Math, 33 English, 34 Science)

Extracurricular Activities:

• United States Senate Page
• Founded an aviation safety company creating weather sensors for rural Alaska, partnered with 2 bush aviation companies+my local university. 4k in revenue and 3 sensors deployed.
• Private Pilot (45 hours, FAA certified private pilot)
• Mechanic at local automotive repair shop, worked there for three years
• Varsity Hockey Assistant captain
• Junior class president (elected)
• NHS secretary (elected)

Awards:

• Renassalaer Medal
• AP Scholar with Distinction
• Seal of Biliteracy

Essays - Will be pretty decent, at least an 8/10

Rec Letters - teachers don't know me super well because they only had me for a semester in recent years (page program)

Keon if you see this I swear I will doxx you if I see a UAA comment

Demographics:

• Asian
• Middle-class family
• South
• No hooks

Rigor: IB Diploma Candidate (all IB classes) 4 HL 2 SL, 5 AP classes, Dual enrollment at highly ranked public university

GPA -  UW: 3.96, W: 4.4 (I know I am in top 10% but no class rank)

SAT/ACT - 1560 (770 RW, 790 M)

Extracurricular Activities:

• Research Internship #1 - Worked with statistics research group at Stanford on project about machine learning; published as second author on paper; presenting at statistics conference at Harvard university as only high school presenter.
• Research Internship #2 - Worked at a Biochemistry Lab summer of sophomore year at at T30 university over the summer, and published a literature review as first author.
• Independent Research - Combining experience from research internships #1 and #2 to write original research to submit to Regeneron STS.
• Boys State Delegate - Participated in Boys State in my state; ultimately elected to a very high level position. Not selected for Boys Nation.
• Mu Alpha Theta - Founder and President for chapter at my school. Grew to 200+ members first year. We offer free tutoring for the disadvantaged children in my community, and organize math events to elementary schoolers.
• Science Olympiad - Team captain, I organize outreach events to the community and started new teams at every elementary and middle school in my school district
• Chemistry Club - President, we offer peer tutoring for first-year chemistry students, and help peers prepare for the USNCO
• USNCO - Did not advance to national round again
• Student Government Association - Class representative, hopefully I win student body president this year
• Band - Clarinet player, successfully auditioned to the All-State band three times, first and only person to be selected to play in my school's wind ensemble (the highest level of band class) as a freshman.
• Swim - Team captain; Varsity for every year in high school, qualified for state every year in high school, selected as an honorable mention for the All-State team.
• Volunteering at Local Science Museum - Volunteered over 250 hours
• Podcast host (non-academic) - Just a fun hobby I like; trying to differentiate myself.

Awards:

• Renassalaer Medal - Selected because I am #1 math student in my school.
• Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award - Selected because I am #1 science student in my school.
• Presidential Volunteer Service Award Gold - Hours mainly from the museum and my clubs
• Science Olympiad State Medalist- Won 4th in state for the bungee drop event
• AP Scholar w/ Honor - Our school offers an extremely limited amount of AP courses because we are an IB school, and I took most of the offered AP's
• Thats all 😞

Essays - I am not strong writer, and parents refuse to get counselor, so prolly 2/10

Rec Letters - I am going to get both club sponsors, who know me very well, and also PI from research internship #1, who is stanford professor.

Edit: Someone said I shouldn’t post essay stuff when apps are open so I have to delete it ☹️☹️☹️

It’s like the funniest thing ever tho

Demographics: female, asian, non-competitive public school

Intended Major(s): Aerospace engineering/Mechanical engineering

ACT: 36 (superscore), 35 (one sitting)

35E, 36M, 36R, 36S, 11W

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.95 UW

School does not do weighted GPA or class rank

Coursework: AP Scores

4 5's, 4 4's, 2 3's

Awards:

Can't be too specific but National finalist for random NASA competition, got interviewed by local news networks

NCWIT state awards x2

American Association of University Women, Science award

SWEnext community award

Extracurriculars: 

1. Paid Development program/Internship at Boeing - Learning machining skills like drilling, riveting, hi-loks, electrical, wiring. Get to meet with a bunch of  engineers/businessppl/machining techs. Work in the main factory and get an endorsement to get hired at boeing without interview
2. Paid Engineering Intern at local aviation company - I got this by relentlessly cold emailing employees which was wack but I guess it worked 😛🙏 I modeled some fuel tank parts in solidworks and did a lot of excel and making graphs for aircraft testing conditions.
3. NASA SEES Intern (virtual) - Did some programming rando stuff. Related to environmental science and data science. Poster was accepted to American Geophysical Union conference.
4. Flight training - got a full scholarship from my local flying club for 50 hours of ground school and 15 hours of flight time, also spent a lot of time making lessons for the 125 younger members of the flying club. Taught aviation history and assisted with discovery flights. Hope to get PPL before I graduate high school 🤞
5. President of school SWEnext (Women in engineering club)/ NASA Techrise - Held multiple booths at STEAM Fairs for elementary, increased SWEnext club membership by 300%, Invited guest speakers (astronaut), wrote proposals and got selected for NASA TechRise twice and recieved $3000 + in funding. Spent a bunch of time soldering, wiring, 3d printing and building an experiment with my team. Flew experiment on high-altitude balloon last year and will fly on virgin galactic suborbital flight this year.
6. Intern/Research?? at local University lab - hesitant to put this as research because it is more like robotics and programming but kinda niche topic related to lunar rovers. I am programming mechanical movement for a lunar rover prototype robot and also doing some low-energy radio communication stuff. Got this by cold-emailing prof.
7. Robotics (FTC) - spent A LOT of time on this in freshman and soph year but haven't showed up in a while tbh 😬😬 Hardware lead for 18 person team and taught machining and CAD to the rookies, designed some parts that won regional design awards, innovate award etc.
8. Paid job teaching robotics to little jits at private school - Paid SUPER well but was very unfun so I don't think I will do it again next year. Created the first robotics program at their school and they won an award at their first competition
9. Volunteer at local zoo - worked in butterfly habitat, taught visitors about animal enrichment for big cats, created nature/ecology activity for children visitors, and made birthday program for baby gorilla, got to feed the grizzly bears one time which was cool. Did this for two summers
10. Only student member on the Environmental Advisory committee for my town, created and distributed hundreds of local seeds packs and surveyed youth about a specific climate topic and created a research presentation and showed it to my city environmental leaders. Was interviewed by some env educators.

My LORS I feel will be pretty decent, from my Eng teacher and my Physics teacher 

Schools: Guys is the big Tree even possible with a non 4.0 and a (b+ 😰 in calc 3)and no crazy isef awards

Hey everyone, I’m an international student applying to Harvard and other top US colleges this application cycle. Would appreciate some honest feedback on my profile and chances.

Demographics:
International student
Rising senior
Interested in Economics and Technology
Older sister graduated from Harvard
Not applying for financial aid

Academics:
Attending one of the most academically competitive high schools in my country (top 10% of class)
IB Diploma Programme (44/45)
HL: Mathematics, Physics, Economics
SL: Business Management, English, French Literature
SAT: 1550 (800 Math, 750 English)
IELTS: 8.0
Completed a year-long course at Stanford Online High School, finishing at the top of my class

Extracurriculars:
1. Design Studio Founder
Co-founded and currently run a design studio for early-stage technology companies, scaling it to $40K+ MRR while working with 20+ startups and multi-billion dollar companies.

2. Education NGO Founder
Founded one of the largest student mentorship nonprofits in my home country, building a network of 250+ mentors from 35+ schools, providing 10,000+ hours of free mentorship to students across 50+ cities, and coordinating $100K+ in educational donations.

3. Economics Olympiad
Placed 1st nationally in the Economics Olympiad, participated in the International Economics Olympiad, and served as team captain the following year.

4. High School Startup Incubator Founder
Founded the first startup incubator that invests into high school students, supporting young founders with 1M+ compute credits and $40K+ in cash grants.

5. AI Research
Conducted a 60+ page research project with an ex-Stanford professor on how AI is reshaping startups, venture capital, and innovation.

6. Economics Research
Conducted research with one of the leading economics professors in my country, studying topics at the intersection of behavioral economics, technology, and entrepreneurship.

7. Economics Education Platform
Built a multi-brand economics education platform in my native language, reaching 10K+ followers and 10M+ views through short-form educational content.

8. Venture Capital
Worked at one of Europe’s top venture capital firms, scouting startups, evaluating founders, and supporting investment initiatives, while helping secure $250K+ in LP commitments.

9. Startup Experience
Worked at one of my country’s fastest-growing startups, contributing to growth initiatives and generating 70M+ views through content operations.

10. EdTech Growth
Joined an education technology startup as one of the first growth employees, helping scale its social media presence from 3K to 75K+ followers and generating 15M+ views.

11. Business & Investment Club Founder
Founded my school’s first business and investment club, building a community focused on entrepreneurship, finance, and investing among students.

12. Model United Nations Deputy Secretary General
Served as Deputy Secretary General for my school’s MUN conference, one of the largest high school MUN conferences in the country, overseeing conference operations and student delegates.

Awards:
National Economics Olympiad: 1st place
International Economics Olympiad participant
As team captain: 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in IEO
Inter-school English award

Recommendations:
Letters of recommendation from my HL teachers (Mathematics, Physics, and Economics)
Additional recommendation from the founder of the venture capital fund where I worked
For Harvard, I will also submit a sibling letter from my older sister, who graduated from Harvard

Essays/LORs:
Planning to focus on my journey from a small town to the stages of my life right now.

Schools:
Harvard
Stanford
MIT
Yale
Princeton
Other T20s

I know admissions are extremely unpredictable for international students, but I would appreciate honest feedback on my strengths, weaknesses, and what I should improve before applying. Thanks!

Any responses are appreciated. Please be brutally honest. Also feel free to recommend schools for my list and I want to mainly ask where I should EA because Stanford is where I want to go but I know they are need - aware for international and I do not have anything like RSI which many kids in competitive international regions have that get into Stanford and I do need partial aid and so I have heard its a crapshoot and I am wondering whether you guys would recommend me REA'ing to Stanford

Demographics

• Male, Asian
• I reside in the U.S., private day school, we send 4–8% to T10s a year
• Intended major: CS + Applied Math. Open to bioinformatics instead if that reads better

Academics

• 4.0 UW / 4.43 W (APs weighted 5.0)
• ACT 36 (36 M / 36 R / 36 S / 35 E)
• School doesn't rank. I'd guess 2nd
• Multivariable calc and diff eq, Max Rigor except for Spanish but still took Spanish 4 so 4 years of Spanish but because of scheduling could not take AP Spanish

15 APs by graduation. 10 taken so far, all 5s: Calculus BC, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science A, Computer Science Principles, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, US History, English Language

Awards

• ISEF, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in category
• ISEF, 1st or 2nd place in category, different year and different project
• USAPhO qualifier
• AIME qualifier x2, Score of 7+ on the last one
• Congressional App Challenge winner

ECs

1. Research at a T5. Preprint, conference presentation, and a rec letter from the PI
2. Research at a T10. Conference presentation
3. Research at another T10. Conference presentation, a real one in my field
4. Computational lead at a biotech company. Paid/Offered five figures for the Internship
5. MIT BWSI
6. Founded a nonprofit tied to my ISEF project. Partnerships with restaurants, $15K+ raised, 1,000 volunteers, and we got a paper in front of a legislator
7. Built a game with 1M+ monthly active users and six figures in revenue
8. Founder of my school's research club. Organized a district-wide science fair and took members to a local university to teach them how research actually works
9. VP and co-founder of mock trial, first one my school has ever had. Went to state, and I built the app the team runs on
10. Torn between two here, see question below:

• CS club organizer. Built the club website, though honestly I didn't do that much with it
• VEX robotics team captain. Made state and did pretty well, never made world

Also for the ECs maybe if you guys could help me on also how to arrange these because I am honestly not sure right now, and a lot of these are vague on purpose like the impact I had and stuff

Recs

• APUSH teacher, probably mid
• CS teacher, fairly strong
• PI at the T5, should be strong

Additional info

International status locked me out of taking the USAPhO exam, so USAPhO qualifier was basically the ceiling for me. Same story for a few other national programs

Essays

These will hopefully good but obviously cannot really say as of now, but if anyone here has any advice for the personal statement or Stanford supplementals, please I would really appreciate any DMs since been having trouble getting started on some of them

Mainly just really need help in where to EA because I want to EA Stanford but I know Stanford is need - aware and I am from a very competitive international region (think like China, South Korea, etc) so I am not sure if maybe EA'ing somewhere else would be good like would you guys recommend REA'ing Stanford? or am I better of EA'ing or even ED'ing somewhere else

I just did practice test 11 and good a 1420 (770 math 650 R&W). How accurate is that score compared to the real test as of today? Also my weakpoints were seemingly information and ideas and craft and structure (my eyes get very tired rather quickly from reading so I reread each passage many times and don't have lots of time left in the end). Does anyone have any tips or website recommendation to improve? I ideally need a 1500+ with as high a score as possible in math but a 1450+ could also be enough if the math grade is high enough.

Every time I go on TikTok or Instagram, I see people saying that starting a nonprofit junior year is basically useless. I’ve also seen people say that colleges like UPenn have specifically said they don’t view nonprofits very positively.

For context, I’m a rising junior interested in engineering/CS and business. I have what I think is a genuinely good idea for a nonprofit. It combines engineering/business with one of my niche interests, while also fitting into my overall EC narrative in edtech and community.

This isn’t one of those nonprofits focused on curing cancer, raising awareness, fighting poverty, food insecurity, etc. It’s something I genuinely enjoy doing and something I think could actually benefit my community.

So is this actually true? Would starting a nonprofit junior year actually hurt my chances or make it look like a forced EC? Or is it still worth doing if I genuinely care about the project and plan to stick with it?

If so, if anyone has any ideas for other ECs that would be better than starting this nonprofit please let me know!!

I honestly have no accolades atp; I’m about to start MYP 10, I ended last year with a 4.0 (W) GPA and I got 1110/1440 on the PSAT. I didn’t do well on my AP History Exam: I got a 3. I’m highly interested in debate, volleyball, academic research & writing, volunteer work, etc.
Any critical advice is welcome and highly appreciated!!!🙏🏾