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Any advice for the best possible chance for getting into Stanford? What kind of people do they look for? And what kind of person should not attend this school? Also, any advice on ECs are welcome.I am from Nigeria.
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Historically Stanford has always been 1 of the 5 hardest universities to get accepted in. This year they were about 5th hardest behind Harvard 3.43%, Columbia 3.66%, Princeton 3.98%, and MIT 4.0% admit rates.
All top US colleges look for exceptional candidates that have unique qualifications beyond their near-perfect grades and test scores. You need to show evidence of some intellectual curiosity or vitality. This could mean taking extra college courses, doing independent research, writing a research paper, internships with college professors in your area of focus, or self-learning like teaching yourself Japanese or Greek.
Most successful admits have 4 years of English, 4 years of Math, 3 or more years of Language, 3 or more years of History, and 3 or more years of Sciences. SAT scores middle range will be around 1450-1550 and for the ACT about 32-35. As an Int'l student, you'd also probably need a 100-105 score for your TOEFL or 7-7.5 for your IELTS English language test.
I can't give you any advice on ECs except to say that the more impressive they are the better. If you are an expert musician, or won many national-level awards and honors, that is always helpful. If you are a superior athlete in any of their collegiate sports, that would also be very helpful as Stanford is one of the most winningest sports teams in the country and has sent the most Olympic athletes to the games compared to any other university in the US.
There is plenty of how-to get into Stanford videos you can watch in your free time on youtube as well.
https://blog.collegevine.com/what-does-it-really-take-to-get-into-stanford/
Hey @Abdulsalam!
Looks like you've already received a very thorough response to your question from a peer, but I wanted to chime in to reiterate that Stanford historically has been difficult to attain admissions given its prestige. Beyond stellar academics, Stanford will look for high achieving students both inside and outside of the classroom, so, as your peer mentioned, I'd encourage you to explore your interests and focus on excelling in these activities.
I've shared some additional livestreams on Stanford admissions below, I hope it helps!
https://www.collegevine.com/livestreams/school/stanford-university
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