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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Stanford (from reddit):

High school Name/location, GPA as reported on transcript, graduation rate, graduating class size

Your top 3 majors you listed on Stanford app

Any tags on your profile such as DIV, which is diversity, for black, Hispanic, native American. Other tags include first generation college student, recruited athlete, LEG for legacy student if your parents attended Stanford or are Stanford Professor, DON if you are relative of someone who has or is committing to make large (6 to 8 figure) donations to the school.

Your GPA recalculated on 4.0 scale, without freshman year classes. A tag for academic rigor. Most admitted have MD, which is "Most Demanding"

Scores from each of your 2 application reviewers. Scores are from 1 to 6 where 1 is the best, and can also have pluses or minus (i.e. 2-). You are rated on:

Test: The only objective one, just based on SAT/ACT and SAT II. Possibly also AP/IB? By far the easiest to get a 1 in.

HSR: High School Record, I think this is mainly how well-regarded your high school is and how many people it has sent to Stanford historically. Better high school = better score. It might also include things like class rank/GPA not entirely sure.

SUP: Support, How strong were your recommendations from teachers/ counselor/ interviewer? Are you legacy/relative of donor? Are you a recruited athlete? Is a Stanford coach or professor vouching for you?

EC: Extracurriculurs. Standard school clubs count for very little (even with leadership positions), unless you come from poverty/bad area. Things that are unique and/or tie into intended major or you received prestigious awards or press attention for are good.

SPIV: Self-Presentation & Intellectual Vitality. Pretty vague but probably based on your essays, interview rating, and overall application. Pretty sure this is akin to Harvard's "personal rating." Heard they give racial minorities a boost in this area.

Eval: Overall evaluation of your application. Generally I think everyone 2 and above gets admitted, and 2-/3+ are the edge cases.

Interview - The scores the interviewer submitted for you as well as a couple paragraphs they wrote summing up the interview and reviewing you.

You are rated from 1 to 6 on 3 categories: intellectual vitality, depth/commitment, and self presentation/character.

Interviewer will usually discuss your intended major/academic plans, most notable extracurriculars, family background (including where your parents are from), and goals for the future, how easy you are to talk to.

Reader 1 and Reader 2 Reviews:

Repeat of the reviewer scores from above

Also includes 2 - 4 sentences of comments from each reader.

Will mention the top 2 or 3 extracurriculars, 2 words each summarizing your best 2 - 3 essays, intended major, leadership, awards, your family's background, and what they like (or possibly don't like) about your application.

Things like being from an underrepresented state, having prestigious awards or news articles written about you, tons of leadership positions, many (double-digit) AP classes, uncommon circumstances/background etc. will appear here * Will say whether they think you're an for-sure admit, likely admit, borderline case, likely not admit, etc.

Includes abbreviations such as "PQ" = Personal Qualities, or "IV" = Intellectual Vitality.

Reader 2's review is usually shorter and mentions whether they agree or disagree with reader 1. Scores from the reviewers are usually the same or at least very similar.

A copy of your application that you submitted, along with high school profile that your high school submits (info about the school), submitted test scores, blacked-out teacher letters of rec.

Teacher recommendations were blacked out for me since I waived those FERPA rights when I requested them. I was surprised by how short they were (only a few sentences, not a full page letter like I thought).

Bonus: [Here's a visual] (https://www.reddit.com/r/stanford/comments/fv4896/declared_majors_of_stanford_undergraduates_autumn/) I made earlier showing the majors of Stanford students.

CS is by far the biggest one (more than 3x than any other major), followed by human biology (premed), and economics.

Note that Stanford will take your intended majors into account, they give preference to underrepresented majors and judge overrepresented ones more harshly, evaluate if your race & gender are under or overrepresented in the major, and evaluate how well your ECs, classes, essays, recommendations fit into your major.

What is Stanford Looking For?
Stanford ranks all applicants on a scale of 1-6 (1 highest) in three categories: academic, extracurricular, and intellectual vitality. GPA is recalculated as well. Only grades from sophomore and junior year are included, and only those from academic courses. Further +/- grades are flattened, so A- counts as an A, and B+ as a B. The average recalculated GPA is 3.94.  While students should have a more singular extracurricular passion, they should be all-around stellar academically. Consistent weak grades in one subject, especially STEM courses, will greatly damage an applicant’s chances. Stanford receives enough applicants that it can afford to be choosy; thus strong academics all-around are necessary. Legacy students have a significant advantage when applying to Stanford, gaining admittance at nearly 3 times the rate of non-legacy students. While that does still leave them with an acceptance rate of just over 10%, this is a major boost, and shows Stanford’s emphasis on preserving its culture, which many universities believe legacy admissions helps with. The essays are important, and Stanford uses both the main question and the supplemental essays to judge a student’s character, authenticity, and potential to contribute to the campus community. Stanford often admits candidates who are most compelling over those who are merely highly qualified. The story told by your essays is incredibly important here. Stanford has recently begun a new diversity initiative, aimed at increasing representation in their student body. This will provide a slight boost to first generation or underrepresented populations who are applying.
https://www.ivyscholars.com/stanford-university-guide/[/quote]

What stanford looks for. I found this helpful.[/quote]

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