Harvard does not offer an Honours degree at undergraduate level whereas Stanford does. Is Harvard really worth it? Could you please tell what Harvard offers that others universities may not? Are those schools typically seen better than Harvard or is Harvard is the number one? Thank you so much. Unfortunately, Stanford was my number one choice however I am going to have to put it on hold. I know the choice is mine but I need to make a decision on whether to go, so would you advise me applying to Harvard REA?
Last fall, along with thousands of other eager applicants, MacNiven was getting ready to apply under the University's early admission program.
On a night in late October, after what he calls "one of those long days of application-working," he sat down at the piano to unwind. While at the keyboard, he hatched a plan: he'd mount a political-style campaign for the position of Stanford student. He turned in his application in time for the November 1 deadline. Eight days later, he hit the hustings with a press conference in front of Bowman Alumni House. That day, and for the rest of the week, Tyler and his volunteer staff of friends and family headed to campus after school, donned sandwich boards and passed out "Tyler MacNiven for Stanford Student" leaflets.
He painted his Caddie cardinal red and put a small tree on its roof. His supporters staked out stoplights at major campus entrances and passed out fliers. At the weekend, when the Cardinal took on Washington State on a balmy Saturday afternoon at Stanford Stadium, a small plane flew overhead pulling a MacNiven-for-Student banner.
It had to hurt. But perhaps he shouldn't have been too surprised. If you ask anyone who knows, they'll tell you that when the shtick hits the fan, it makes little difference in an admission decision.
Indeed, while stunts are common -- though few are as elaborate as MacNiven's -- they have no effect, or so admission officials insist. In fact, it can backfire. One admission staffer groans when asked to discuss application stunts. But in a love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin sort of way, that aversion applies only to the applicant's gambits, not to the applicant himself.
Just as application readers can separate their own political views from an essay they might disagree with, they can separate a would-be freshman's folder from an irritating gimmick. This claim has been around for a long time.
I think part if not most of it has to do with a Stanford-Berkeley rivalry; comments are often more tongue-in-cheek than serious. They're extremely few and far between. Very few schools fare at all well against Stanford. Miami, Michigan, Berkeley They're obviously all good schools. 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.
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