06-25-2013, 07:57 AM
If I've read this thread right, I am going to reveal myself as the first (and only?) of those insidious "legacy" kids everyone (especially those folks across the Bay) seem to believe account for 50% of Stanford undergrads with no real qualification for attending other than Daddy and Mommy's donations... I'm actually kind of surprised there aren't a few more.
I have to admit, I pretty much assumed I was going to Stanford from an early age. My parents' diplomas hung in our house, we visited campus several times (despite living on "back East"), my older sister attended 7 years before me and then my older brother, who was just a year ahead of me as well. I grew up watching Big Game (when broadcast locally.) My parents stayed in touch with a lot of their Stanford friends and we get together with them. It seemed to me that Stanford was just a place people went.
It wasnt until I was a Junior in high school that my nativity and arrogance were swept aside and I realized holy crap, getting into Stanford is really difficult and Ill be lucky/blessed/fortunate/ecstatic if accepted. Part of me wanted to rebel against my Stanford fate and I focused my energies on Yale for a while, but by winter of my Senior year, I was all Stanford. (Actually, the school I really wanted to get into was Deeps Springs College to eventually transfer to Stanford, but that was a real long shot for those of you familiar with the school.) I remember staying up late to watch Brevin Knight almost get a quadruple double over US.C and watching some mud bowl football games. I remember being excited when Adam Keefes team won the NIT only for one of my classmates to quickly deflate me with congrats on being the #65 team in the country. I was hooked on Stanford sports long before I attended.
I went to a very competitive public high school where it seemed the top 10% of the class attended Ivy League quality schools (6 grads from the year ahead of me went on to Stanford), so it was very clear to me what I needed to do to make myself an attractive candidate to elite schools. I killed myself taking something like 8 AP classes my junior and senior year and got involved in everything I could. Looking back, its amazing to consider the random outcomes that probably made a difference in my application. For some reason, I was accepted to a very prestigious summary program in science over at least a half dozen kids in my class who were better qualified (most went on to get BS/MS/PHDs in hard sciences while I ended up in business) and I really believe that program was a brobdingnagian differentiator in my application.
One Spring day, I remember learning that other kids in my class had already heard from Stanford the day before and I decided to play hookie and check the mail. I dont remember a fat envelope; if I recall correctly, it was thin, but there was no ambiguity since Congratulations! was written on the back of it in bold red block letters. I was elated. Legacy or not, I new the value of what I was receiving by heading West.
I have to admit, I pretty much assumed I was going to Stanford from an early age. My parents' diplomas hung in our house, we visited campus several times (despite living on "back East"), my older sister attended 7 years before me and then my older brother, who was just a year ahead of me as well. I grew up watching Big Game (when broadcast locally.) My parents stayed in touch with a lot of their Stanford friends and we get together with them. It seemed to me that Stanford was just a place people went.
It wasnt until I was a Junior in high school that my nativity and arrogance were swept aside and I realized holy crap, getting into Stanford is really difficult and Ill be lucky/blessed/fortunate/ecstatic if accepted. Part of me wanted to rebel against my Stanford fate and I focused my energies on Yale for a while, but by winter of my Senior year, I was all Stanford. (Actually, the school I really wanted to get into was Deeps Springs College to eventually transfer to Stanford, but that was a real long shot for those of you familiar with the school.) I remember staying up late to watch Brevin Knight almost get a quadruple double over US.C and watching some mud bowl football games. I remember being excited when Adam Keefes team won the NIT only for one of my classmates to quickly deflate me with congrats on being the #65 team in the country. I was hooked on Stanford sports long before I attended.
I went to a very competitive public high school where it seemed the top 10% of the class attended Ivy League quality schools (6 grads from the year ahead of me went on to Stanford), so it was very clear to me what I needed to do to make myself an attractive candidate to elite schools. I killed myself taking something like 8 AP classes my junior and senior year and got involved in everything I could. Looking back, its amazing to consider the random outcomes that probably made a difference in my application. For some reason, I was accepted to a very prestigious summary program in science over at least a half dozen kids in my class who were better qualified (most went on to get BS/MS/PHDs in hard sciences while I ended up in business) and I really believe that program was a brobdingnagian differentiator in my application.
One Spring day, I remember learning that other kids in my class had already heard from Stanford the day before and I decided to play hookie and check the mail. I dont remember a fat envelope; if I recall correctly, it was thin, but there was no ambiguity since Congratulations! was written on the back of it in bold red block letters. I was elated. Legacy or not, I new the value of what I was receiving by heading West.