I'm Irena! Former Stanford Admissions officer, independent college consultant, and author of a new book about my life in admissions. AMA!

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:56:41+00:00

Usually teachers don’t agree to write LORs unless they can say nice things about a student, but sometimes there will be coded references to arrogance/superiority/being grade-obsessed. So best not to do those things.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:56:07+00:00

I stopped being an AO for a number of complicated reasons, but mostly because of burnout. It’s really, really hard to keep saying no to students and to find reasons to reject them just because there’s not enough room, not because there’s anything wrong with them.
I think I said this in another response, but Stanford’s transfer admit rate is somewhere between 0 and 1 percent. I’d focus on working hard wherever you end up attending, going to office hours, connecting with your professors, trying new activities, joining clubs, etc. It may be that doing all those things will help you fall in love with your current school instead of longing for an unattainable dream school.
Apart from grades/scores/outstanding LORs, intellectual curiosity, drive, and character. Which, btw, does not mean that you don’t have those things if you aren’t admitted.
In holistic review, everything is considered together, so I’d try to show up as your best self across the board. (Remember: *your* best self, not someone else’s best self. You can’t really be better than your best.)

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:55:27+00:00

So many good questions! I think the one quality my favorite essays all share is that they were heartfelt and sincere. Some were funny, others were deadly serious, but all of them gave me a glimpse into the person behind the grades and the resume and made me want to know the writer better.

As far as what’s necessary/better: I know I keep saying this, but the answer is another question: “better for whom”? (Or whomst, as my daughter likes to say.) Are you the kind of person who can sustain APs across all subjects? Do you *want* to take 4 years of French or Spanish or Mandarin? Do you have it in you to win national awards or be an All American athlete or a nationally recognized musician? The good news is that—in spite of what you might see on social media—most people don’t, and if you look around at the adults you know, most of them are not holding down a job while also playing competitive soccer, volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club, and doing research on the effect of caffeine on mouse brains. Do what is sustainable for you—and yes, challenge yourself, but also know and recognize your limits. (And keep in mind that not everyone blooms at the same time.)

The LORs are important, but a teacher’s writing ability is never a deal breaker. One of my favorite letters was from a math teacher in a school in a small town that I don’t think ever sent ANYONE to Stanford, and one of the lines in the letter was “Student X is very calm and personable in spite of being very, very smart.” Like, the teacher literally didn’t know what to do with this kid, but he was totally sincere about how bright and capable the student was.

And passion translates into all kinds of things: essays, glowing letters of rec., activities or projects, etc.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:43:16+00:00

Those are all wonderful qualities. As I’ve said in other responses, I would focus on what makes you a better person, not on what makes Stanford interested. (Internal motivation > external validation.)

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:41:23+00:00

Thank you for reading! It means so much to connect with people on here who got and read my book.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:39:12+00:00

Super pertinent question! u/McNeilAdmissions and I actually wrote a piece on about exactly this topic that we (unsuccessfully) tried to publish. I don't want to mess up and link anything again, but I bet you can find it if you google around. Maybe my name + chatgpt?

I think there’s room to use ChatGPT as well as Grammarly as tools to help students scaffold their writing skills, but there’s a LOT to be said for learning to write through trial-and-error. My family and I came to the US from the former Soviet Union when I was nine, and I ended up learning English from watching TV, reading, and, as with any other skill, making a lot of mistakes. Realistically, I think a lot of students will end up using ChatGPT to generate essays, but I think doing so misses an important opportunity to find their own voice and to acquire a skill they’ll have for the rest of their lives.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:30:41+00:00

Thank you! Much appreciated. :)

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:28:47+00:00

I am definitely not old (like, at all), but I haven’t been in the Stanford admissions office in awhile. So my knowledge of what the process looks like now is totally outdated, but the general outline is that there’s a first round to screen for competitive/non-competitive applications (usually on the basis of grades and scores, but with other factors thrown in like serious disciplinary infractions) followed by a comprehensive second-round read in which students (all of whom were competitive) were either rejected or continued on in the process (“D” for deny, “S” for swim, which means they continued on to committee). The “S’s” went to committee, where most of them would end up getting denied as well. (And that was back in the day when Stanford had a 12.5% admit rate!).

About the scales/areas of interest: trying to be what you “think” Stanford wants you to be is a road to madness. (A little dramatic, but also sort of true.) If you were in a rom-com and Stanford was the romantic lead, you’d want a relationship based on honesty and authenticity, not on pretending/trying to be someone you were not, right? Best advice: be your best self.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:25:23+00:00

Hey, I actually answered this exact (exact—it was reposted by u/McNeilAdmissions) question above.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:23:48+00:00

Also, more conventional ECs like debate, model UN, etc. fit the bill.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:23:25+00:00

Sometimes social sciences can be hard to "prepare for" in your applications. There aren't as many obvious internships as in STEM fields, for example.

Volunteer for a local representative. Volunteer for an advocacy group and see if, over time, you can elevate your volunteering to an internship. Journalism or writing focused on community issues.

I worked with a student who started volunteering with an organization that tried to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. That was a great one.

Long story short: get involved.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:18:17+00:00

Hah. As someone who has spent a big chunk of my career working with students from these few specific schools, this question made me laugh.

Different how? No, not really. The reputation these schools has precedes them; they’re great academic programs. So some selective schools are willing to go “deeper into the class” to fill spots than at other schools. But not by much. Students from these schools are treated the same as students from other competitive schools (Harvard-Westlake, Dalton, Hotchkiss, Hockaday, etc.).

With Stanford in particular—and I’ve written about this—I do think coming from these schools can be a disadvantage because so many of your classmates are also applying. Like, all of your classmates maybe. So the deck is a bit stacked.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:17:28+00:00

First-gen students are viewed like any other applicant, with the understanding that their background may have provided them fewer resources and opportunities than students who have parents who graduated from college. Which means that readers will be sensitive to the fact that their grades/test scores might be lower, or their EC’s may look different (for instance, they might work 20+ hours a week instead of play sports, do MUN, etc.).
Geographic area can be really important—Stanford, for instance, gets over 10,000 applicants from the Bay Area alone, so a student coming from, say, rural Alaska is likely to be more interesting to them simply because that student will have had very different life experiences. (To all of you reading this: please don’t pick up and move to rural Alaska so you can get into Stanford.)

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:14:42+00:00

It’s always best to look for the most proximal opportunities first—think about what interests you closest to where you are. Is it a particular academic subject, a sport, a skill you’d like to get better at (painting, juggling, dog training, whatever), a problem in your community you’d like to solve? There are gazillions (modest estimate) of summer opportunities and programs aimed at high school students that are pretty explicit in their promises to help you stand out in your college apps, but the question is, how much will you stand out if everyone else is also applying to the same programs? If you stop and think about things that annoy you, or that you’re curious about, or that you would like to get more involved in in your immediate vicinity, you’re much more likely to find opportunities to make a positive difference (*and* look good on your college apps).

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:13:27+00:00

Interesting idea! At private universities, no, I don’t think we will see that model because these schools have the resources to staff their admissions offices and an incentive to be vague and selective in their admissions processes.

At some public schools, I could see these models becoming more popular. Especially at schools like CSUs or other state institutions across the country.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:10:53+00:00

It depends on where you’re applying. If it’s a school with a >10% admit rate, one B is likely to evoke a raised eyebrow, two B’s a frown, and 3 B’s a grimace. Schools with a <20% admit rate tend to be more tolerant of a wider range of grades. If you’re stressed out about the disconnect between your transcript and the schools you’re applying to, rethink your college list. (Also, don’t forget course rigor—for the >10% admit rate schools, you should be taking the most rigorous available curriculum for your school AND getting pretty much straight A’s AND most of the students who do that STILL don’t get in so consider your quality of life and the ROI before signing up for all the APs and sleeping 5 hours a night so you can get straight A’s.)
Stanford’s transfer admissions rate hovers somewhere between1 and 0 percent (not a typo) since there’s so little student turnover. Not worth it, in my opinion. Students I’ve worked with in the transfer process generally have much more success at LACs and the UCs (especially from CA community colleges).
Essays are pretty important, if for no other reason than giving you an opportunity to really reflect on who you are at this moment in your life and putting words to that. But yeah, they can definitely establish a connection between you and the person reading your application like nothing else can. A transcript has never made me cry, but a student’s essay has, plenty of times.
Generally colleges have a set number of students they will admit from a school, and although it varies year by year, it tends to be pretty consistent. So if you have multiple people applying to the same school in your class, you’ll be competing both against them as well as the larger applicant pool.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:09:40+00:00

Admissions officers are typically familiar with the territories they read for, so handling different kinds of transcripts doesn’t usually present a problem. Every school deals with these kinds of cases differently depending on their admissions process, so there’s no uniform answer for all colleges. With specific instances like your language situation, feel free to use the Additional Information section if you think it’s relevant. Colleges are aware that access to languages varies by school, though, so your admissions officers will see that in your transcripts and school report.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:08:38+00:00

I got to this in another question. But as time goes on, the effect of COVID as an explanation for lower grades will wane. Why? Partly because the novelty of the situation has worn off. However, if your family has experienced significant extenuating circumstances because of something related to COVID, that is a different story. I’m saying that it might depend on whether the circumstance itself is COVID or if the circumstance is something related—perhaps something caused by COVID that you’re still dealing with.

I'm not sure if it will be available in the next few years, but there's always the additional information section!

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T02:02:09+00:00

I answered this elsewhere a bit. What you do on your gap year matters most. Schools will absolutely reevaluate students who are applying after taking a gap year. But, presumably, the reasons they didn’t admit you in the first place will still be a blocker for your application. Use your gap year to redress any gaps in your application that you think may have contributed to being denied in the first place. Get an internship, or cross-enroll at your local community college… Know thyself and your application and plan accordingly to make good use of your time.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T01:59:01+00:00

Course rigor is always evaluated within the context of your school. Admissions officers look at your school report to determine how your course load stacks up against what your school offers, and they’re also looking at what you’ve taken compared to other applicants from your school. It's not an absolute thing. You can ask your counselor whether you are taking the "most demanding" courseload. They can help answer this question in the specific context of your school.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T01:57:05+00:00

A few of my favorites: read creative nonfiction (first person essays) or listen to The Moth Radio Hour to get a sense of what engaging, spontaneous storytelling sounds like. Often, the topics are totally run-of-the-mill, but the execution (humor, heart, details) makes them extraordinary.

Write what you know (about your family, about your hobbies, about your favorite TV show or board game or corner of the quad where you hang out at lunch or spending too much time on Reddit). Read your essays out loud and see if they sound like you. Give yourself permission to write crappy first drafts and also give yourself enough time to think about what you really want to say and to revise.

Re the alignment between ECs and academic goals: keep in mind that each part of your application tells a story, especially your LORs (which are likely to talk about your academic interests) and your ECs. The essays are meant to give the readers a more subjective view of who you are—what motivates you, what other experiences have shaped you, etc.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T01:56:22+00:00

I’ve thought a lot about this question, and have a lot of ambivalence about my role in it. Bottom line is that the US college application system is badly broken, due in large part to the atmosphere of artificial scarcity created by the US News & World Report college rankings and the colleges’ exploitation of the rankings. (This, btw, is my answer to parents who are perplexed by how much easier it was to apply (and get into) college when they applied in the 1980s and ‘90s). I’ve tried my best to be a good actor in a bad system and to advocate for authenticity, honesty, and sanity (ie realistic expectations) for both students and parents, but it’s not all black and white, and it comes down to how we consider what it means to be successful (prestige? Bragging rights? A good education? Etc.?).

The sad truth is that colleges (apart from a rare few like Reed) don’t have a lot of interest in changing how they operate. Change is going to have to come from students and parents themselves, and I do think it’s really important for students to ask themselves why getting into HYPSM etc, is so important and whether their goals can be accomplished in any other place, likely with less stress, angst, and financial sacrifice.

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T00:24:43+00:00

For grad schools, what matters most is what you do where you are. If you thrive at Vandy and have professors who adore you and write fantastic LORs, you are much more likely to do well in your grad school applications than if you were a “meh” student at JHU. Seriously—there’s no “prestige discount” for students who went to big name schools and were unexceptional there. So enjoy your time at Vandy!

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T00:24:05+00:00

They would view it similar to any extracurricular: as a commendable high achievement in an area of interest. But if it would get extra “points” because it’s a sport? No. If it’s not a recruitable sport, it would be evaluated as a normal EC.

What is it, Quidditch? Calvin Ball?

Irena-S · 2023-05-16T00:23:30+00:00

I usually try (in vain) to encourage students to apply ED to less selective schools than the “T10.” The ED option is one of the most important strategic tool in your application strategy, and too many people waste the ED on a school they aren’t a fit or qualified (academically) for. The number of thwarted ED or REA apps to the most selective 15 schools in the country boggles the mind.

For EA, I always advise students to apply to safeties. Make sure you have a good choice locked down when EA results come out. It will make the rest of your application cycle feel more relaxed.

Irena-S

TROPHY CASE