Posted by Recent PALY Alum, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 15, 2012 at 5:35 am

Congrats to all those who were accepted to any of the early decision/application colleges!

To those who did not get a fat packet in the mail yet, you will get them in due time and enjoy the place where you end up. Sometimes, the place where you think you want to go (and apply early) is not the best place for you.

Posted by BarronParkMom, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Dec 17, 2012 at 11:05 am

I was told that Stanford did not accept a single "non-connected" kid in the early round from Gunn!! Is that true? Was everyone who was accepted from Gunn have legacy status, or have parents who are Stanford profs, or donors ? If true, what a shame. My daughter, a junior now, says Stanford is not a meritocracy based school anymore and would consider other options next year.

Posted by palo alto mom, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Dec 17, 2012 at 11:21 am

BarronParkMom - I'm surprised that people think that Stanford (or any of the top schools) are meritocracy based. Legacy's, athletes, professor's kids, families with $$, etc. have an easier time getting into almost any school.

Posted by musical, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Dec 17, 2012 at 4:27 pm

I don't know which method of admissions is the most elitist.

Posted by Paly Grad, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Dec 17, 2012 at 5:30 pm

@BarronParkMom: I don't know about this year, but I know when I graduated a couple years ago every person that got in to Stanford early and almost every person who got in regular was affiliated with the university.

Posted by GunnMom, a resident of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood, on Dec 17, 2012 at 11:49 pm

@BarronParkMom - there are over 4000 colleges in the United States alone, many more overseas.

There is a place for every student that desires an education after high school, irrespective of income, test scores, ethnic group, interests, etc.

Stanford is just one out of 4000, why stress?

Posted by neighbor, a resident of another community, on Dec 18, 2012 at 12:59 pm

Barron Park Mom and others with similar views: Each year Stanford publishes a demographic profile of their student population -- undergrad by class year, and graduate. Multiyear data are also easily available.

Stanford has a significant proportion of California kids, but locals are hardly the majority. As a private university, the have no legal obligation to locals as does UC or CSU. Stanford intentionally admits students from every one of the United States, as well as from a huge range of foreign countries.

The admit process certainly focusses on academic achievement, but also on the talents and interests of the applicants -- as well as their potential contributions to society. Economic diversity is also a focus, which is why you will see that a huge proportion of Stanford students (80%) received much-needed financial aid.

Gifted local students should apply to a range of top tier colleges. Many also try to achieve geographic diversity, so there would be some advantage for qualified Palo Alto kids to apply to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Duke and dozens of top schools.... as well as to our own UC.

Posted by Gunn Alumni, a member of the Gunn High School community, on Dec 29, 2012 at 8:37 am

I can definitely confirm that there was a perception among Gunn seniors (when I was at Gunn) that those the vast majority of those accepted to Stanford were affiliated with the university. The most common case begin the children of professors, but also legacy cases, parents who donated, etc. A small few were, however, not affiliated as far as I could tell.

Posted by former stanford adcomm, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Dec 29, 2012 at 11:06 am

If you want to go to Stanford and aren't a world-class athlete/NGO founder/entertainer (or the child of one), your best bet is to be the progeny of a moneyed family. You will leapfrog everyone. Guaranteed.

Being the child of a Stanford prof or other Stanford affiliate will get you past the first round. So that's a plus, but not a sure thing.

If your parents are Stanford alums and you live in the Bay Area and your family doesn't donate a lot of money (a lot: regular checks for $100k, or the capacity to write them), then your chances are hardly any better than anyone else's. Move to North Dakota or Idaho so you can be a "diversity add."