Is it REALLY worth applying to Stanford?

The CV chancing calculator will give you a very good idea of the odds for you so I recommend that you create a chancing profile and upload all your current stats and activities and test scores and demographics. If you are a BIPOC applicant the CV calc. also factors that in as well. Keep in mind that the average admissions rate for Ivys is 6.7% across the board and for Stanford about 5% (4.3% for the class of 2023). If you are CV admit range is less than 10%, well you have a good idea that this is a Reach or Far Reach for you and only you can make the decision to put the time and effort into the application and pay the fee.

What I believe is a grave mistake people make about choosing to decide to apply to elite colleges is that they misunderstand what the admissions rate is. It's not a lottery. If it were a lottery, then each of close to 50,000 applicants has an equal chance to get in. But it's definitely not a lottery, but a very elaborate admissions process that has been curated for decades. There are like 100 criteria and a scorecard, where you get rated 1 to 5 scale across 6 dimensions. Once you are familiar with this application process you will better understand that when Stanford picks their 2000 or so admits they all have an overall rating between 1 and 2-, no one gets in by chance. Hardly anyone with an overall rating of 3 gets in unless they are a recruited athlete, an important legacy, or a development candidate or the last 2 combined (legacy with donation). Although employees of Stanford get preferential treatment, their kids have to be 1s and 2s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvlWZMMGYH8

I remember my dad telling me he applied to Stanford as a whim but in hindsight, he was not Stanford material and better suited to go to a T25-T50 National University.

If you can afford to apply, do it. You never know what will happen, and you likely will regret it if you don't apply. The thing about testing cutoffs is that yes it helps to meet them, but there are always exceptions to those cutoffs. If you really like Stanford and aren't just applying for the name and prestige, I would encourage you to apply.

Depending on if your stats meet the initial cutoff. 3.9 UW GPA, 1500 SAT/34 ACT, at least 1 national level EC. If you do then you have a shot at getting in provided your essays are good. If you haven't hit even just one of these then it doesn't make sense unless you have an international level EC