Stanford University

Essay Strategy

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Stanford Admissions Strategy

Admissions Criteria:

The following factors are considered very important by Stanford when evaluating
prospective students: the admissions essays, extracurriculars, class rank, course rigor,
recommendations, standardized test scores, talent, GPA, and character. In addition to
these, the following factors are considered: interview, first-generation status, legacy
status, race/ethnicity, geographic origin, volunteering, and work experience.

From this, we can see that academic preparation and college readiness are key, along
with how well prospective students fit into the campus culture Stanford is trying to
build. They are looking for people who will contribute positively to the world, both at
STanford and once they leave it.

Stanford has the country’s top athletics program, and while they recently cut 11 varsity
sports due to the effects of Covid-19, they do still focus heavily on athlete recruitment,
especially those with grades that are in their range.

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.

Stanford Strategy:

Stanford is among the most competitive schools in the country, and this enables it to
be incredibly selective when admitting students. This also means they don’t consider
demonstrated interest; their yield is very high, and due to how selective they are they
(rightly) assume every admitted student wants to attend.

Academics are the first component. While these cannot be your sole focus, your test
scores and grades are the first thing which can disqualify you from actual admissions
consideration. If you are below the 50th percentile for test scores, spend some time
studying before retesting. While this shouldn’t eat all of your time for marginal gains,
this is the first bar to clear.

Make sure you have a clear stand-out passion, and that it is clearly demonstrated for
Stanford. There should be a key identifiable trait among your achievements and
extracurriculars to set you apart from the rest of the applicants.

While Stanford does not consider Demonstrated Interest, they do allow for an optional
alumni interview. You should sign up for one of these if possible, as it gives another
impression of you as a person to the admissions officers. As a student’s character is a
key part of the considerations, the interview is a good way to demonstrate your
character and passion.
Stanford Essays Analysis

Introduction

Stanford university is consistently ranked as one of the top schools in the country, and
as one of the most difficult to get into. They ask prospective students to answer a large
number of essay questions. Some of these are quite short, others are more substantial.
They are one of the schools who have become infamous for asking “weird” questions,
ones which most other schools don’t.

Stanford prides itself on intellectual curiosity, and having dedicated and high achieving
students. They often look for students with a lot of potential, as opposed to students
who are already polished wholes. They use the essays as part of the basis for
determining potential, alongside the other parts of the application. How a student
writes, and how they choose to answer each question, gives admissions officers
insights into who they are, and who they could become.

We will first give examples of and discuss the three longer essays Stanford requires.
These are on intellectual curiosity, passion, and the notorious roommate essay. We will
then give examples of and discuss the five short answer questions. Overall, Stanford
asks for up to 1,000 written words of responses.

Intellectual Vitality Essay

The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom.
Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning.* 250 words

From dead animals floating down my street to the threat of petrochemical spills,
Hurricane Harvey turned my neighborhood into a sci-fi blockbuster. Add “effective
immediately” evacuation mandates, and things turn truly apocalyptic. While being trapped in
my house for three weeks wasn’t ideal, I couldn’t contain my fascination with the way abstract
governmental decisions cause sweeping concrete consequences. With the soundtrack of
rainwater swooshing violently against my house, instead of drowning my faith in government
intervention (or the lack thereof), I eagerly waded into the muddy waters of public policy.
I learned about a 1970s flagship program called “Housing Houston,” which mobilized
so-called “explosive property development” on low-lying lands. This get-rich-quick scheme
prioritized economic growth over personal safety, not only opening the floodgates for
dangerous conditions, but later costing the city $125 billion in Harvey-related damages. I was
shocked at how these policies continued to wreak havoc decades later. What’s more, the
national flood policy has yet to be improved, inviting history to repeat itself.
How can we learn from disasters like Harvey to develop sustainable crisis response
methods in which personal safety concerns trump economic pursuits? I am eager to find
answers to these pressing questions as a Public Policy major through interdisciplinary courses
like Monitoring the Crisis, Microeconomics for Policy, and The Politics of Policy Making. While I
don’t anticipate being able to tame Mother Nature herself, I am confident that we can make
decisions to avoid the brunt of her wrath.

Intellectual Vitality Analysis

Intellectual vitality is often discussed as something colleges want to see, especially the
top institutions. What the term means is that they want students who want to learn for
the sake of learning, and the joy of discovery. While the prompt reads similarly to that
of a “Why Major” essay, it looks for something deeper than mere enthusiasm for a
single subject.

The essay above is primarily a “Why Major” essay, but dives deeply into the particulars
of the subject, and more importantly, why it matters. The question asks for a reflection
on an experience, something that made you excited to learn. It is possible to reuse
other essays for this, but they should be refocused, drawing in on the process of
learning, and why you want to learn, more than the subject itself.

Stanford wants students who want to learn. While it is fine to want to learn subjects as
a means to an end, they often prefer those who want to learn for the joy of discovery.
Those who want to use their knowledge to help others are also prized. Learning for the
sake of money or a job, while valid goals, is not what Stanford is looking for in this
essay.

Be authentic with your passions, and clearly demonstrate through your narrative why
this made you excited to learn, and what you wanted to learn about. If you have a
greater purpose for the knowledge, include it, but it is acceptable to desire to learn for
the joy of discovery alone.

Roommate Essay Example

Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate
that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate – and us – get to know you
better.* 250 words

Dear future roommate <3,

I LOVE you already! I can’t wait to share EVERY intimate detail of my life with you and vice
versa. If you EVER need someone to talk to about your deepest, darkest boy problems, I’m
ready and waiting to lap up ALL the juicy details ( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ❛
͡ ). I’m even planning to take Psych 101
my first semester so you know I know what I’m talking about. I also LOVE to give advice about
things I know nothing about so feel free to ask me how to order a pizza in Korean or cure your
fungal toe infection (ಠ_ಠ). Coaches don’t play, am I RIGHT?!
Fun fact about me: I LOVE Harry Styles. I have this recurring dream where we’re sitting side by
side in the woods playing Candy Crush. I already have life-size cut-outs of ALL the One
Direction members to put in our room. Do you want Naill and Zayn on your side? I’m willing to
let you have Louis and Liam halfway through the year - I’m accommodating like that - but Harry
is mine... obviously. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In between Fine Line induced sob sessions, we’re gonna read hardcore philosophy together.
I’m thinking Las Meninas by Foucault to start considering we’re already mirror images of each
other, and we should probably dissect the implications of our shared identity ༼ʘ̚͜‫ل‬ʘ̚ʘ̚͜‫ل‬ʘ̚༽.
What should our moniker be? Harry’s Hustlers? Style’s Sirens? Whatever, we can figure it out
when we meet.
LOVE Meera (｡◕‿◕｡)

Roommate Essay Analysis

This essay is the most infamous of the questions asked by Stanford, because very few
other institutions ask questions which are anything like it. This leads many students to
being unsure how to approach the question. The trouble many students have is how
open ended the question is. How should they represent themselves? What do
admissions officers want to see?

What admissions officers want from this essay most of all is authenticity. They want to
get an earnest look at who a student is, and in so doing see how they will contribute to
campus culture and community (plus whether or not they will be a good roommate).
This means that whatever you write should represent the best version of yourself.

How do you do that? First, consider how you would actually introduce yourself to a
future roommate. Assume the only person who will read it is the person you will be
sharing a space with for the next year. What should they know about you? What are
your key traits and features? What will you contribute to the shared living space?

The goal is to write an authentic essay, and then polish it until it reaches the standards
of grammar and style expected. Do not write what you think admissions officers want
to hear, and do not address admissions officers themselves. This is for your roommate;
consider whether or not you would send them the final product.

The example above leans hard into the idea of authenticity. From it, you get a clear
sense of who the author is, what they care about, and how they see and present
themselves. The author comes across as weird, passionate, a bit intense, slightly
nerdy, and with widely varied interests. Your own essay does not have to be this weird,
but it should reach this level of authenticity. Are you weird? Own it. Are you passionate
about something strange? Display that proudly as well. The purpose of this essay is to
introduce yourself as you actually would, and so authenticity is the key above all else.

As a final note, if you plan to use emoticons as this essay does, be aware that they will
likely count towards your total allotted word count.

Roommate Essay Example #2

Hey man!

They say that being yourself is vital to any friendship, but there’s something you need to
understand about me: I am the most myself when I am not myself at all. Simply put -- I. Love.
Impressions.

When we first meet, I’ll greet you with my classic Texan-made Matthew McConaughey
impression: firm handshake, soft smile, and a sly “alright, alright, alright”. When the room gets a
bit messy, I’ll whip out my Barack Obama impression. With authoritative hand gestures, an
assertive undertone, and thoughtful pauses, I promise we’ll both be motivated to do a
ten-second tidy at the very least. Before a long day, I may use the shower as my 50’s jazz bar
to release my inner Frank Sinatra. After all, there is no better alarm than Summer Wind.
Of course, if things get tough, I’ll do my best to suppress the temptation to impersonate Dr.
Phil. Both of us will have our rough days, and I hope that we can voice our emotions and
console each other like Frodo and Sam do. I value communication over everything, and my
many impressions are simply creative ways to talk it out.

Warmly,
Faizan:)

P.S. -- If my Yoda impression ever I start, promptly stop me please do. I’ve been told it’s more
confusing than entertaining.

Roommate Essay Analysis #2

This is the most unique prompt Stanford has, so we’re going to analyze another
example of a response to it. This is also to give another example of possible ways to
respond, as our first example was well outside the box.

This essay works much the same as the first, by earnestly introducing the person
behind the words. Through the lens of impressions, you learn the author's interests,
passions, and how they view the world. The goal of this essay is to show who you are,
and to introduce yourself, both to your future roommate, and to the admissions officers
who will be reading this essay.

By referencing Frank Sinatra, and demonstrating familiarity with his work, we get a
sense of depth from the author. Any musical artist tells you something about a person,
but singing Sinatra in the shower is unusual, and interesting! This happens again with
the reference to Frodo and Sam. While this strays from the impressions, it shows a
familiarity with a cultural touchstone, and a depth and breadth of interests.

This essay does not dive deeply into any single aspect of the author’s character or
personality, but still manages to give an overall sense of who they are, what they enjoy,
and their character.

This should be your overall goal with the essay: to give the reader a sense of who you
are as a person. The framing device and structure can and should vary widely between
essays; each should be as unique as the person writing it. When drafting your own
roommate essay, consider what makes you unique, and how you can authentically
show who you are.

Passion Essay Example

Tell us about something that is meaningful to you and why.* 250 words

“I’m coming!” The crowd of teenage girls surrounding Ananya backstage parted as the
lull of my voice cascaded over the chatter of 50,000 people echoing through the stadium. I ran
through my signature pre-performance pep-talk, and five minutes later, Ananya was on stage
dancing beside me with a beaming smile, leftover tears flinging from her lashes with each jati.
Until a few years ago, I was the one having bi-weekly anxiety attacks. Something as
inconsequential as misplacing a pencil would catapult me into panic. Despite practicing yoga
and “taking deep breaths,” this persistent stress plagued me for years like a pinched nerve.
In 10th grade, however, my perspective on life completely changed when my hip
English teacher spent an entire class discussing nihilism. Despite the harsh nature of a useless
existence, I was captivated. A key passage from the Bhagavad Gita rang in my ears: “You have
a right to ‘Karma’ [actions] but not to any of the Fruits [results] themselves.”
My newfound understanding of the sacred text of my childhood and the calm
“detachment” it produced in me was a direct result of recognizing my own finitude. While I
don’t remind hyperventilating dancers that they’re going to die someday, I do remind them that
no one will remember the second girl from the left missing a beat. I am eager to continue to
share and explore this liberating blend of Eastern and Western thought at Stanford University.

Passion Essay Analysis

This question, like the other two Stanford asks, is incredibly open ended. The school
wants to see what you care about, and consider important enough to write about.
There is no one right answer, but as with the roommate essay, authenticity is key.
Whatever you write about should be one of your truly held passions or interests, and
not something chosen because you think it’s what admissions officers want to hear.

In the example essay, the author bounces between topics, weaving together a narrative
of philosophical approaches to anxiety. The disparate parts of the essay become a
greater whole because each topic ties into the central theme of philosophy, and how it
can impact daily life.
Whatever topic you pick should tell admissions officers something about you they
wouldn’t know otherwise. Don’t cover the same ground as your personal statement or
other essays. Maybe there’s an academic subject that keeps you up at night. Maybe
you make youtube videos in your spare time, shooting and editing until they’re perfect.
Maybe the club you started has become the focal point of your interests. Whatever you
choose to write about, the key is to display genuine passion and enthusiasm for the
subject.

Stanford likes to see curious and motivated students, both inside and outside of the
classroom. You don’t have to limit yourself to solely academic interests, but you should
try to tie in the intellectual side of whatever passion you discuss. This can be more
impactful if the intellectual side of an activity isn’t immediately visible. Tying physics to
parkour or discussing the artistic merits of juggling can help an essay stand out.

Short Answers

Stanford also asks for five short answer responses. Each of these only allows for 50
words to answer, which is not much space to fully express yourself. The purpose of
these overall is to get a better idea of who you are, as a student and a person. Stanford
wants some idea of who you are, and a deeper understanding of the other aspects of
your application.

Challenge Example

What is the most significant challenge that society faces today?* 50 words

Our economic and political systems take pride in the unbiased, democratic principles they
were founded upon; in order to prosper in this nation, one must only put in the work. This
“unbiased” prosperity is largely absent in today’s society, and we must address the growing
wage gap head-on.

Challenge Analysis

There is no right answer here, as there are always multiple challenges facing society,
many of them existential. What should come across in this response is why you believe
the challenge you put forward is the most significant.
The readers want to see you use logical reasoning in brief, and make a coherent case
with limited space. They want to see how you make and defend a point. While they are
also interested in what issue you choose, it is of secondary importance, so long as it is
not too outlandish. If you have been building a unified thread in the rest of your
application about something you care about, for instance pollution, then addressing
that here can strengthen the overall theme of your essay.

Summer Example

How did you spend your last two summers?* 50 words

Drenched in sweat. In 2019, I was either preparing for my solo dance debut or competing at
NSLC where I realized I’d never be like McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy. In 2020, I scooped ice
cream for minimum wage and ran Raine Magazine’s social media for free.

Summer Analysis

This question is a chance to elaborate on some of the items mentioned in your

activities list, especially if you did interesting or impactful things during your summer
breaks. While there is another question specifically about extracurriculars, this is
another place to expand upon your activities and accomplishments in the summer.

Don’t worry too much if what you did seems meagre. Stanford sees the value in
working part or full time jobs, just as they see the value in doing research and
completing internships. What they want to know is what you accomplished, whatever it
may be.

If you only had a single activity, even across both summers, definitely go into more
depth. This is especially true for people who do athletics or performing arts at a high
level, which demands long hours of practice, especially in the summer. If you
participated in many activities, a briefer overview is fine, as can be seen in the example
above.

History Example

What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?* 50 words
The only surviving accounts of Socrates’ trial come from his own disciples who, in efforts to
portray their teacher favorably, neglect the prosecution’s own argument. Why was Socrates
allowed to preach his teachings for decades without objection only to be put on trial a few
years before his natural death?

History Analysis

This question is remarkably open ended, as there is a lot of history to choose from.
What matters most is, again, not the answer you give, but why you chose what you did
(are you starting to see a trend?). What you choose, and why, says something about
you, and they want to see the logic behind your choice.

While it is unlikely you have anything related elsewhere, this is an especially useful
question if you selected that you want to be a history major. Otherwise, trying to have
an answer which is interesting will help you. The best responses are authentic and
memorable both. Selecting a lesser known or chosen historical event, such as the
death of Socrates above, will better help your response be remembered. This will help
you best if your reasoning is solid, don’t pick an odd event merely for the sake of being
odd.

Extracurricular Example

Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities, a job you hold, or responsibilities you
have for your family.* 50 words

Meera, The Winded Cross Country Star - Est. 2018. Although I’ve never even made the top
50% in the participation race, running has enabled me to balance my pursuit of achievement
with an appreciation for “the race” itself. This mentality will serve as my starting block at
Stanford University.

Extracurricular Analysis

This essay gives you a chance to expand on one of your extracurriculars. Try to select
one which isn’t covered in another essay or your personal statement. The example
above doesn’t go into major victories or achievements, instead it offers insight into the
author’s mentality, and what she gained from being in cross country outside of a
decent mile time.
Your longer essays provide better places to expound upon your most important
extracurriculars. This is a place for small victories, self-contained lessons, or the little
things you learned in an unexpected place. The goal is to tell admissions officers
something they wouldn’t know about you otherwise. All they know about you comes
from your application, so choose carefully what to tell them.

Stanford Example

Name one thing you are looking forward to experiencing at Stanford.* 50 words

I can’t wait to dive feet first into public fountains with the freshman class, the age-old gunk at
the bottom getting stuck between our toes. This time-honored tradition is sure to soulbond me
to at least one fellow classmate.

Stanford Analysis
This is akin to a Why Us essay, but with only 50 words to cover the topic. Therefore, it
will need to be far more focused than a standard Why Us essay, and truly dive into one
thing you look forward to at Stanford. Note the word experiencing as well. Whatever
you select should be something active, which you are a participant in. Most events can
be framed in this way, but it is an important piece of framing to keep in mind.

In the above example, the author doesn’t focus on Stanford’s academics, their
intended major, or any of the clubs on campus. Instead, they choose a smaller and
more visceral experience, one you can almost feel as you read it. This is impactful, and
it feels deeply personal, as if the author is baring part of their soul by sharing this.