Applying to Stanford

For a long time, I was obsessed with Stanford.

SLJUMB - AKA Stanford Marching Band
#WANT

I wished that I could go, but of course, that is if I could only up and go. The acceptance rate to Stanford were equally famous. As of 2016, Stanford university released statistics that they only accepted 4.7 % of their applicants this year, which meant the majority of applicants were denied a place to study in Stanford.

In spite of the odds, I was one of the two in my college who dared to apply early, me to Stanford and Anzo to Princeton. Anzo's logic is infallible. "Princeton has the highest admission rate amongst all the Ivies."

Applying early means both of us has to work extra hard to finish the application before the Nov 1 deadline. Everyday we would both shuttle back and forth between the class and the staff room, to meet with the eccentric Thinking Skills teacher Mr. Leonard and our mentors. Things were not going well at the same time - we had just one more month to prepare for the A2 examinations and the Cambridge interview. Most of my friends were already into cramming mode if they did not apply to Cambridge. While they were busy revising their past-year papers, me and Anzo were busy revising our application essay. We remained steely in our conviction.

Why have I sold my soul to Stanford? Its hard to tell. Partly because I feel that I am not that versatile and sociable enough to enter the likes of the Harvard; and on the other hand, I do not feel that I'm "techy" enough for MIT. So in search of middle ground I found Stanford, With the allure of seeing startups with my own eyes there and the beckoning warm Californian weather, I could not help but to fall in love with Stanford.

For a time, I even had this Stanford tree on my desk

However, the Stanford application remains one of the most hellish ever. With 3 short essays, 8 short questions and 1 description of extracurricular activity - you can bet that it will sap your energy and spirit. Most people would already be scared by the amount of application work which would fulfill the questions' original goal as deterrents. Most people are aware of the 3 Stanford essays but not the 8 short questions as it was never publicized. Then again, most of the Ivies also required you to answer some sort of short questions. The three essays are widely analyzed all over the internet and I find admission hero's analysis to be most useful.

I even visited the blog of Stanford class of 2016 to sense the elation of the admitted students, attended a talk by Stanford's admission officer where I was given the tree and talked to Stanford students at the USApps Workshop 2015. Yes, I was going Stanford-crazy at that time. Although I knew that the chances of getting into Stanford were pretty slim, I believed that things will work my way if I try hard enough - like the happy endings I've always seen in books.

But life is no fairytale.

I remembered that day, I was waiting for the result which will be released at around 4p.m. GMT+8. After refreshing the page for countless times in the company of anxious parents, I was greeted with the rejection letter. I was heartbroken but the blow was not that hard because I sort of expected this outcome. Although early application boosted the admission chances by a bit (to 7%), it is still a very long shot. 

I could still remember my mentor Mr. Lee's reply vividly. He simply told me, "being rejected by Stanford does not make you a bad student" and that cheered me up. I'm really grateful for him. After a few days when I told him about my application, he told over dinner about the history of Stanford which he had scoured over the internet. It was a big surprise for me as I never thought that he would put in so much effort into writing my recommendation. Afterwards, I would write a long Facebook post to thank the teachers.

Although I was rejected, the huge support from my mentor and friends made this a meaningful journey till the end. But I'm still not giving up, see you Stanford in grad school!