Discover Stanford

0:01 - [Kevin] Hello, and welcome to this pre-recorded version of "Discover Stanford", the Virtual Visit Information Session for Stanford University. We're pleased to provide this option for those who may be unable to attend or access the live versions of our programs. We will cover a lot of information in this session, so you're invited to take notes. We do ask, however, that you don't record it. Any recording of "Discover Stanford" information sessions is strictly prohibited as these sessions contain copyrighted material. Please note that this session will focus on life at Stanford in a typical year. If you're interested in how Stanford is responding to COVID-19, please visit healthalerts.stanford.edu.

0:47 Thank you for joining us. - Hi, I'm Chase. I use he/him pronouns, and I'm a junior at Stanford from Seattle, Washington, studying International Relations. Outside of class, I help lead StanfordVotes to get students out to vote. I've also played saxophone in the Jazz Orchestra and have been on my dorm's intramural sports teams. - Hi, I'm Jess, I use she/her pronouns and I'm a senior at Stanford from London. Outside of class and working at the visitor center, I'm a part of many female-oriented student groups such as Cap and Gown Women's Leadership and Stanford Women in Finance, as well as other student entrepreneurship organizations and being a member of a sorority. - Hi my name is Amber Lewis and I use she/her pronouns. I'm an admission officer, a former Stanford student

1:33 and I'm a proud Georgia Peach so you might hear an occasional y'all slip out here and there. I manage our office's International Ambassador program which is a program for our international students who want to share what life at a U.S. university could look like with their former classmates. And here in the office, I am proud to work with such a hardworking and honest group of colleagues. - And my name is Philip Lotze. I use he/him pronouns, and I am also an admission officer here at Stanford. In my eight years in the admission office I've read both domestic and international applications, and prior to my work here, I was a high school counselor for many years, also both domestically and internationally. I'm really excited to share more about Stanford with you. But before Amber and I walk you through admission and financial aid, we're going to go off screen for a bit

2:21 while Jess and Chase share more about life at Stanford. - Today, Chase and I will introduce you to Stanford and some features that make it distinctive. Then Amber and Philip will walk you through our application process, what we require, and then summarize our financial aid program. We start with a recognition that Stanford sits on the ancestral and unceded land of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Ohlone people. Consistent with our values of community and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge, honor and make visible the university's relationship to Native peoples. - To give you a better sense of our geographic location, Stanford is in Northern California, in the heart of Silicon Valley,

3:07 with San Francisco to the north and San Jose to the south, the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. There are three aspects of campus life we believe are key contributors to the Stanford experience: academic freedom, diversity, and our campus culture. These three influences play together at Stanford like nowhere else. - The Stanford motto is "The wind of freedom blows." This idea shapes everything we do here. Students get to create their own academic experience, and you're encouraged to take ownership over your time at Stanford and what you do with it. Our academic structure allows for much of this freedom. Stanford is on the quarter system, which means there are four academic terms each year. We typically enroll in classes for 3 out of 4 of those terms,

3:54 generally in the fall, winter, and spring. Each quarter is 10 weeks long, instead of the 15-week semester that most other U.S. colleges have. Taking classes for three terms per year instead of two, allows us to take 50% more classes by the time that we graduate than we would on a semester-based system. Therefore, the quarter system gives you plenty of time and room in your schedule to decide on a major, or change it. Students are admitted to Stanford as a whole, rather than to a particular major or program. You are a student of the entire university, and have all its resources available to you. You aren't expected to declare a major until the end of your sophomore year. And by the time you graduate, you can do so with two majors,

4:39 a major and a minor, with honors, or with a co-terminal degree. A co-terminal degree which is also called a co-term allows you to work toward a master's degree whilst you're still completing your bachelors. Most students who choose to do a co-term, do so in a total of five years. I originally came into Stanford undecided, something that I was very excited about because I wanted to embrace Stanford's liberal arts education curriculum. I knew that I wanted to do an interdisciplinary major that combined technical knowledge with the humanities/social sciences, so I was initially drawn to the symbolic systems program which is a mixture of computer science, philosophy, psychology and linguistics. Ultimately, I realized that I wanted

5:24 to sharpen my knowledge of Silicon Valley and business acumen whilst gaining engineering skills. So I settled on a major in Management Science and Engineering which does just that. Thanks to the flexibility of the quarter system, I have gotten a chance to take courses on software engineering, statistics and business management within my major, as well as classes on wellbeing, Chinese, biology, poetry and more outside of my major! - As Jess mentioned, the quarter system allows you to take more classes, so you have the chance to try out new things and really get to know your professors. For me, learning at Stanford has been all about making close connections between people and ideas. I've gotten to know world-class faculty through small classes, such as introductory seminars,

6:09 or intro-sems. These are classes you can take as a freshman or sophomore with 16 classmates or fewer, and professors from departments across the university. My freshman fall, I took an intro-sem on inequality and really got a feel for what economic research is like. While Stanford has exceptionally strong academic programs across the board, there's a huge emphasis on interdisciplinary work. There are more than two dozen majors that span departments, like political science and psychology, or computer science and linguistics. I'm an international relations major, which combines the perspectives of political science, history and economics. Of course, you don't have to be in one of these programs to be interdisciplinary yourself. For example, you can major in the visual and performing arts, but you can also take a painting class

6:55 just to learn, join a performance group, or visit one of our museums or concert spaces. I've gotten to play in the jazz orchestra and have taken a jazz class with a saxophone legend even though I'm not a music major. Similarly, you can major in a STEM field, but you can also take a design course for fun or work on the solar car team. For me, I was able to try out a range of classes freshman year from neuroscience, cryptography, international relations, economics. I ended up choosing International Relations as my major because I found those courses the most interesting and the major itself is flexible enough to accommodate my other interests. One of my favorite classes was called HackLab. The former chief security officer of Facebook taught us about cybersecurity through teaching us how to hack. At the same time, a legal expert taught us

7:41 about important cyber laws. It was super fun and relevant. - Similar to Chase, one of my favorite classes at Stanford was a sophomore college course which I did for three weeks the summer before my sophomore year. It was called Natural History, Marine Biology and Research and was an intimate class with only 15 students. We spent the first week at the Stanford House in Monterey at the Hopkins Station learning about Steinbeck and marine biology. And then we spent the second week at a Zen Buddhist retreat center in the mountains and then the third week we spent hiking Big Sur. Some of my favorite Stanford friendships and faculty relationships actually stems from this program and it's just one of many experiential learning opportunities at Stanford. - As Jess mentioned, the quarter system allows you

8:28 to take more classes. So you have the chance to try out new things and really get to know your professors. You're encouraged to get outside the classroom to learn in other contexts, and Stanford makes this easy. There are several Stanford operated study abroad programs, both in the U.S. and internationally, where you can study away for a quarter, no matter your major, and your financial aid will travel with you. You can go to one of Stanford's 11 international centers, or to one of Stanford's four locations in the U.S. in Hawaii, New York, Washington, and just south of campus in Monterey like Jess got to do. Additionally, through the Stanford Diversity Exchange with historically black colleges and universities, you can also attend Howard University, Morehouse College or Spelman College for a semester or the entire academic year.

9:15 Stanford also has funding dedicated to help any student, including freshmen, engage in research. Whether you work on a faculty member's project or ask them to advise you on one you design yourself, you can conduct research in any discipline on campus or around the world. When I entered Stanford, I wasn't really sure what political science research looked like. My freshman year, a professor gave a guest lecture on U.S.-Syria policy in one of my classes. I ended up going to his office hours to hear more about his experience being in the White House making those very decisions at that time. Then, I spent last summer doing research for him, exploring the issue further. It gave me a awesome chance to learn a lot from him, apply what I'd learned in classes, and talk to variety of professors across campus. - Along with the openness, flexibility and choice,

10:02 you'll find in academics at Stanford that Chase mentioned, you'll find similar diversity in other areas of student life. Since its founding, Stanford has been coeducational and, as stated in its founding grant, "open to all people." We support students regardless of socioeconomic status through our generous financial aid program, which the admission officers will discuss later. There are students here from more than 70 countries and all 50 U.S. states. 19% of our most recent first year class are the first in their family to attend college, and 12% are international students like myself. Being an international student meant that I had the opportunity to attend International Student Orientation or ISO before my freshman year. Thanks to ISO, I met people from all over the world

10:50 and many of them remain my closest friends to this day! In my frosh dorm, my roommate was from California so I got to learn from her experience as a local and she learnt from my experience as an international. Furthermore, my sophomore year roommate was a transfer student and captain of the women's soccer team and my roommate junior year was from Mongolia. They were all from very different backgrounds and learning from them and the broader diverse student population has been one of the best parts of my Stanford experience. At Stanford, we define diversity broadly. It encompasses racial and ethnic diversity, socioeconomic status, where you grew up, and more. What makes Stanford unique is the opportunity to live and to learn with peers who have a wide variety of academic interests,

11:37 career aspirations, political leanings, religious faiths, and life experiences different from your own. You'll want to engage in our community because your fellow students will have as much to teach you as the faculty, and because they want to learn from you, too. - There are so many organizations that build community at Stanford, but I wanna tell you about a few that make Stanford unique. Stanford has seven community centers, which provide a physical space and programming for you to affirm and explore your identity, while also learning about the experiences of others. Each of the seven centers has its own mission, and is individually dedicated to Asian American, Black, LatinX, Queer, Muslim, and Native American students, and all women on campus. Students can rely on these centers for academic enrichment, individualized support from university staff and peers,

12:24 and connections with the broader community at Stanford. The First-Generation and/or Low-Income Office, also known as the FLI Office, offers similar services to students of those backgrounds. There are a broad array of additional offices dedicated to military-affiliated communities, various religious faiths, and to providing accessible education services. These community centers and offices have a long and rich history of supporting and educating everyone at Stanford. I've had the opportunity to work with a number of the community centers. Freshman year, I took part in a class led by the Latin X community center in which we taught English to some of the workers across campus. I've also worked with some of the other community centers to hold events about voting and discuss voter suppression. - Similar to Chase, I also interacted with community centers throughout my time at Stanford,

13:10 and the one that I interacted the most with was the Black Community Services Center. This ranged from pre-professional networking with black alumni to support groups with other black women in STEM to cultural shows and more! It was always great knowing that there were places for me to go to explore my own identity as well as to learn about others. - Stanford's community spirit also comes in part from cheering on the Stanford Cardinal, and there are so many ways to participate in athletics on campus. Currently, Stanford has 25 Division I teams and more than 30 club teams who compete against other colleges, as well as a variety of intramural teams who compete recreationally on campus. I played on a couple of my freshman dorm intramural teams, including ultimate Frisbee, and it was a fun way to hang out with my dormmates

13:56 for an hour a week. Stanford is regularly named the most successful intercollegiate athletic department in the nation. But even though I'm not a Division I or club athlete, I have gotten to take full advantage of the more than one million square feet of gyms, pools, fields and rock climbing walls, and have cheered on my peers with free admission to all regular season competitions. This photo is actually from the women's soccer championship last fall. It was during finals week, but my dorm gathered around and watched the last half in my friend's room. It went into penalty kicks, and the intensity in my friend's room as we watched this was unreal. It was also incredible because someone from one of my classes was on the team, so I got to congratulate her on the win when I saw her on campus later. - Speaking of coming together as a community, Stanford is highly residential.

14:43 Virtually, every student lives on campus, with housing guaranteed to us for all 4 years. There are a lot of choices including all-freshman dorms, 4-class dorms, ethnic, academic, and cultural themed houses, integrated learning environments, and apartment-style living. We have resources connected with our residences, like peer health and technology educators, residential faculty, writing assistance, and even cooking classes. - I loved my freshman dorm. It was my main community coming into Stanford. Early on, we did this tradition called Scavenger Hunt where we went in to San Francisco and completed tasks with a small team from the dorm we hadn't known well before. We changed the display sheets at a department store, pretended one of us was famous and got people to take pictures of them,

15:30 and we walked across the Golden Gate bridge. It was a fun way to meet new people in my dorm and explore a new city. - I also loved my frosh dorm but my favorite place was actually my junior dorm, a cultural themed house called French House, which is also my favorite place on campus to eat. It was an awesome community of people who all love French culture and we hosted so many quarterly events from Cafe Night to Crepe night where other students would enter a lottery to get a table to come and to eat a lot of crepes in our house and have tons of fun! We were a self-op so we even had our own year-round chef who catered to various cuisines from all over the world as well as to all dietary restrictions. Having houses like these where you are living so closely together fosters a collaborative culture among the student body.

16:18 - My peers at Stanford and their desire to make an impact on the world has inspired me to get involved in serving the Bay Area community. One resource for this is the Haas Center for Public Service. Haas is the hub of Cardinal Service, which is a university-wide effort to make service an essential feature of a Stanford education. Haas has provided me with many options for making a positive public impact during my time at Stanford. You can dedicate yourself to full-time service for an entire quarter, and take a for-credit class with faculty from across the university that combines academic credit with service experience. Haas also has career advising to help you pursue jobs in the public sector or integrate service into any career you choose. I work closely with Haas in my efforts to reduce barriers to voting for students. The Haas staff are incredibly helpful

17:04 in navigating resources both on and off campus. We also have a career center called BEAM, which stands for Bridging Education, Ambition, and Meaningful Work, whose goal is to help students connect what they love learning at Stanford to a career. - When you come to Stanford, you join a community that will prepare you for the future and embrace you after graduation. There are more than 220,000 Stanford alumni worldwide, and they support current students through mentoring, internships, and hiring them to work in organizations all around the world. Since my freshman year, I have been a part of Cap and Gown Women's Leadership which is the longest continuous student organization on campus. Ive gotten to meet some incredibly accomplished and kind female alumnae, including the alumnae president

17:51 who has been an incredible mentor to me both personally and professionally. Our alumni have used their creative confidence to impact the world through Instagram, Nike, Netflix, Gap, LinkedIn, Trader Joe's, Special Olympics, StubHub, and Kiva, just to name a few. One look at my pantry will prove that Trader Joe's impacts my world every day. No matter what you do with your Stanford degree, you'll be equipped to make a positive impact not only in your career, but also as a citizen and a community member. I believe that what makes Stanford so unique is that as students, we all take what we do whether it's research, entrepreneurship, academia very seriously, whilst not taking ourselves too seriously in the process.

18:39 It's the ability to walk around campus every day and see a plethora of familiar faces that you've lived with, worked with or met at an event. It's knowing that you'll have people with whom to celebrate wacky traditions during the good times, but who will also uplift you during hard times and ultimately, it's knowing that you not only belong to an academic institution, but to a lifelong family. - My favorite part of Stanford has been engaging with these people who have challenged me to think differently and explore ideas I hadn't known existed. Whether it's my friend from the native Hawaiian community sharing with me the rich history and culture of Hawaii, or my political science friend who I get to have deep conversations with, debating political philosophy, or my astronomy friend who has taught me all about what goes into building the satellite he's working on.

19:27 These are people I can count on to learn from and turn to for fun and support. These people, in tandem with the vast resources that Stanford has to offer have helped me grow both personally and professionally. Hopefully now you have a sense of how you can engage your mind, your community, and your future at Stanford. At this point, we'll turn it over to Philip and Amber to present on Admission and Financial Aid. - Jess and Chase, thank you so much for that great sneak peak into what student life can be like here in the Stanford family. I hope that after hearing from Jess and Chase, you feel like you now know Stanford a little bit better. Now again, my name is Amber. - And I'm Philip. - And we are both admission officers in the Office of Undergraduate Admission. Now in talking about the admission process,

20:12 we hope not only to walk you through what we require, but also why we require it. Our goal is to help you understand how to use the application's components to tell your story and help us get to know you as an individual. So whether you're still exploring your options or already know that you want to apply to Stanford, we think you'll learn something new today about the college application process and feel more prepared to give it your best effort in the days ahead. And I think there's no better place to start than by speaking to how we approach the admission process. At Stanford, we devote significant time and energy, not just to selecting applicants, but building a class. We look for academic excellence in our applicants, and it is the most important standard

20:58 for admission to Stanford. We expect you to challenge yourself throughout high school and to do your very best. Your preparation and your potential to succeed will be reviewed in the context of your school. Your tangible success in rigorous and broad programming will give us confidence that you can thrive intellectually at Stanford. What we want to do is bring diverse perspectives to Stanford to make the learning environment richer for all students. No matter who you are, We know that each of you has a background, experience, passion or an idea to bring to campus. If you are interested in Stanford, we encourage you to apply. Before we dive into each requirement, let's talk about how we will review your application. Stanford practices holistic admission,

21:45 which means that each piece of your application is important and will be reviewed alongside every other part. It also means there are no GPA requirements, minimum required test scores, or other cut-offs. We also consider each applicant's unique context, or the factors and experiences that influence what you've had available to you. No two applicants are exactly the same and when we review your application, we will be looking to find out who you are, what opportunities you've had, and how you've taken advantage of those opportunities. So, for us, when it comes to building a class, Our holistic, contextual review process includes both quantitative and qualitative components, and both help us learn about you

22:30 and your potential fit for Stanford. Now Philip, we get a lot of questions about what students need in order to be admitted, and a lot of those questions revolve around the qualitative pieces like test scores and grades. Would you say that's an accurate assessment? - I would agree, Amber, and maybe to answer those questions as clearly as possible, we should talk about about those parts of the application. First we'll talk about the quantitative parts of your application, including transcripts, your school report, and testing. A lot of people think this is where you make or break your chances of getting into a school. And for some colleges and universities, that might be true. But in our holistic review, these pieces are mostly an important starting point. Let's talk about what makes them important.

23:17 First we'll cover transcripts. While there's no single factor guaranteeing admission to Stanford, your academic record really is the cornerstone of your application. When we look at your transcript, we see what classes you took, and how you performed in them. Your grades are an indication of how well you have mastered the material in each course. We like to see that you have performed extremely well in your classes. We also get a lot of questions about GPAs. Your school may send us a GPA, which is meant to reflect how you've done in your classes. We will review your GPA however your school chooses to send it, weighted or unweighted, whether it's on a 4.0 scale or not. If you don't have a GPA, that's fine, too. It's worth clarifying

24:03 that there is no GPA requirement for admission. The GPA alone doesn't tell us much about your academic history, so it's important that we take a careful look at the transcript itself. Next, the classes you choose to take in high school and your overall program rigor are just as important as the grades you got in them. We expect to see you taking a robust course load throughout your high school career. For many applicants, certainly from the United States, this means you should focus on the five core liberal arts and science areas every year: English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language. Depending on what your high school offers,

24:50 we also hope you'll take classes that challenge you further each year of high school, including senior year. In many schools, this will mean taking AP, IB, or Honors courses, but if your high school doesn't offer many advanced courses, that's OK, too. Similarly, you won't be at a disadvantage if your school adopted a pass/fail grading policy in response to COVID-19. I want to address why we care so much about rigor and curriculum. We want to see that you're prepared for the rigors of a Stanford education, and also that you've taken advantage of what was offered to you. This gives us confidence that you'll fully engage with all the opportunities offered at Stanford.

25:36 Let's pause here for a second. Because we get asked a question quite a lot, what if I have a couple Bs on my transcript, or what if I'm not my school's valedictorian? As I just noted, the most important end result of our academic review is that we feel confident that you can thrive here academically. And for most of our applicants, the answer is yes, even those with a couple grades that are lower than they, or their families might like. Don't lose sleep if you're not the top student in your school, or if you haven't aced every single test since you were 14 years old. You're more than your grades and coursework, and you'll mean more to your future college community than what you do in the classroom, so let's keep that reality in mind. Okay, we'll jump back in by talking

26:22 about your school report. We will review your transcript, with everything it tells us, alongside a school report, which is submitted by a school official. This form provides a lot of contextual information about your high school. We'll be able to learn about your school's grading system, curriculum, and senior class, and maybe even how your school is adapting to COVID-19. It also helps us understand your test scores and transcript in relation to your school environment. Now let's talk briefly about standardized tests. In a typical year, we require at least one sitting of the ACT or SAT as part of your Stanford application. For the 2020-2021 application cycle,

27:09 Stanford will not require any testing, and we will review applications with or without standardized test scores, leaving the decision to include testing in your hands. There will be no penalty for not submitting scores. If there are any test scores you want to submit, you may self-report them on your application. Okay, more on each test. If you choose to take the SAT, we will super score it, or review the sections with the highest score even if they weren't achieved in the same sitting. If you choose to take the ACT, we will consider your highest composite score. We do not super score the ACT.

27:55 If you submit scores from both the SAT and ACT, we will consider your highest score. Why do we, in a typical year, require standardized tests? Well, for starters they're the most universal part of the application, because as the name indicates, they're standardized. And in a typical year most applicants will submit standardized testing. Testing gives us a sense of an applicant within the context of our larger applicant pool, which has students from all over the world and from all kinds of high schools and curricula. But we know your score doesn't tell your entire story. And remember, there's no minimum test score required for you to be admitted or to have your application reviewed. Regarding supplemental testing, things like AP, IB,

28:42 and SAT subject tests are completely optional. Because they can highlight your areas of strength, we welcome you to submit them if you choose. Amber, when you read applications, I'm sure you get a pretty good sense of whether an applicant is ready to thrive, at least academically, at Stanford by reviewing these quantitative pieces of an application. But we get additional context and perspective about applicants by reading what they say about themselves, and what others say about them. Could you tell us more about those parts of a complete application? - Yeah, I'd say I definitely agree with that, Philip. I do get a sense of students' ability to thrive by looking at their quantitative pieces, but candidates can really distinguish themselves

29:28 through the qualitative portion. That's where the person behind the application really comes through. When you apply, you'll be responding to several writing prompts and summarizing what you've been involved with throughout high school. On any application you use, whether it's the Common Application or the Coalition Application, you'll be completing a chart that allows you to share how you spend your time, and it doesn't have to be limited to organized, school-based activities. These can also be your hobbies, jobs, responsibilities toward your family, or long commutes to and from school. Something that we find helps students to frame their approach in filling out the extracurricular portion of the application is knowing that we value the depth of your commitment to your activities, and not necessarily the quantity.

30:16 It's less important that you fill out every line on the chart, and much more important that you include activities where you've shown things like long-term commitment, impact, leadership. We encourage you to share with us where you've made a difference, as well as what you enjoy spending time doing. Now, why do we value the extracurricular portion of the application? Learning about how you spend your time outside the classroom helps us get to know you which is ultimately exactly what we want to do throughout this application review process. And you can imagine how It helps us see how you act on your interests, how you interact with others, and imagine how you will contribute here at Stanford. Of course, we want to hear your voice to get to know you better.

31:03 And the essays are your chance to speak directly to the admission committee. When I'm reading applications, this is undoubtedly my favorite part. I get to learn more about you, straight from the source through the Personal Essay, which each school you apply to using that application will get, as well as our own unique Stanford essays that make up the Stanford supplement. Now, this supplement is required, and we think it is just as important as the personal essay, and will ask you questions that give you room to share your interests, quirks, and who you really are. We will also asks about the academic areas you might be interested in studying here. We just want you to answer this section honestly according to your interests, as you may remember, we don't admit students to a specific major.

31:50 Now there are several brief profile questions and a few short essays on the Stanford supplement, and as we said earlier, you're encouraged to show who you are and where your interests and passions lie. There are no right answers, and we hope you'll have fun with it! These questions help us get to know you as a friend, as a future roommate, and as a student. To learn more about what you're like in person, and especially in the classroom, we use letters of recommendation. For our application, we require letters from two teachers, and a report from a guidance counselor or a school official. A school official, like a college counselor or principal, may write a letter on your behalf. You may not know your counselor very well because of the size of your school,

32:36 or because one of you is new to the school. This is OK, and it's a part of your context. Your teacher recommendations should come from teachers who taught you in your last two years of high school and in a core subject area, so English, math, science, social studies, or foreign language. You should select teachers who know you well, who like you, and who can truly speak to your intellectual abilities in the classroom. We also understand that some of your teachers may not have had the opportunity to interact with you in a synchronous classroom environment. In this unusual year, letters from these teachers are perfectly acceptable. We strongly encourage you to ask your recommenders early in the school year, or before summer break. You can help them help you by giving them plenty of time

33:23 to gather their best thoughts and experiences about you in those letters, and also by sharing with them what you're looking forward to or hoping to get out of college. We're fortunate at Stanford to have small class sizes and lots of interaction between students and faculty, so it's important for us to have this teacher perspective so that we can learn more about how you could contribute to discussion in and outside of class, and make Stanford a better place to learn for everyone. Once you have completed all of the portions of the application that Philip and I just covered, you will have a complete application. However, depending on the geographic location of your school as well as the availability of an alumni interviewer, you may be offered an optional alumni interview.

34:11 If you are not offered an interview or choose to decline an interview, it will not have a negative impact on the likelihood of you being admitted. With this optional piece of the application, if you do participate in an interview, our alumni interviewers will provide us with their impressions of you as a candidate, and that gives us some added perspective on your application. Interviews are also an opportunity for you to ask questions of your interviewer to learn more about Stanford, especially if you haven't had the chance to visit. Now that we've walked through the parts of the application, Philip, can you talk students through the ways they will be able to apply to Stanford? - Okay, let's cover that information. As you look at this chart, please keep in mind

34:58 that this information is also available online, along with the application requirements we've mentioned. Here's what we'd like you to know about applying. All students apply online using either the Coalition Application or Common Application. We have no preference for one over the other. There are two application schedules for high school students applying to Stanford: Regular Decision, or RD, and Restrictive Early Action, or REA. Stanford offers REA as an option for students who know that Stanford is their first choice and feel that their application is at its strongest on November 1st. If you'd like more time to ensure your writing best reflects your voice

35:43 or to improve your grades, you should apply in Regular Decision. The vast majority of students will apply by January 2 for Regular Decision. This is when most students are admitted as well. After reading a lot of applications, I can tell you that it's often very helpful to see how a student is doing in a robust senior year before we make our decisions. So please think carefully about whether you're ready to apply if you're considering the Restrictive Early Action round. There is no strategic advantage to applying in REA versus RD. The best advantage you can give yourself is to apply when your application will be its strongest. Next, a quick note on policy.

36:29 Early admission is not binding, but it is restrictive, meaning that you can only apply to one U.S. private college's early program. This means that if you apply to Stanford early, you may not apply to any other private, U.S. college's early program. You may apply to those schools under their Regular Decision programs. The only exceptions to this policy are: you may apply to any public college with a non-binding early option, to any college outside the U.S., and to military academies. And finally, a note about our transfer deadline. If you're interested in transferring to Stanford after having attended another college or university, there is one application schedule, and applications are due by March 15 each year.

37:17 Like all other Stanford students, transfers must start in the fall quarter. We also continue to monitor the way COVID-19 is impacting students' ability to meet application requirements. For updates on our admission process, please read our COVID-19 announcements on the admission website. We've covered a lot of information, but the main takeaway from an admission perspective is that you won't just be a number in our process. Amber, you've read a lot of applications and I'm wondering if you could share just a bit more than what we've already covered. Any final thoughts you think would be helpful, or what are a couple ways that applicants have given their applications the best chance in our process in your experience?

38:04 - Sure thing, Philip. I think it comes down to how authentic our applicants have been throughout the application process. Applicants really shine when they've been authentic in the pursuit of their interests, with their teachers and peers, and with their writing. We actually intend for you to have fun with our supplement, and to learn about yourself while you're completing it. If you love constantly trying new things, tell us about it. There are so many ways that you'll be able to explore various interests here at Stanford! But if you've really found depth in something important to you, don't feel any pressure to metaphorically sand off your edges to be well-rounded. We want to hear all about your interests, and want you to bring that passion to Stanford to share it with others.

38:50 So, do your best academically, focus on the things that matter most to you outside of the classroom, and put your best effort into your application, and know that we appreciate your hard work. It's a privilege to get to know you throughout the application process, and envision what your Stanford experience might be like. So, I do hope those tips are helpful. Before we close, we'd like to discuss our financial aid program with you. This is something we're really proud of. And the entire design of our financial aid process is about making the Stanford experience possible. At Stanford, we are committed to providing a comprehensive financial aid program that makes it financially possible for all admitted students to say yes. Here we'll be providing you with a brief overview of financial aid.

39:37 We advise families to visit Stanford's financial aid website and check out our net price calculator for more detailed information. Our financial aid program is entirely need-based, which means that we provide aid to those who need it. If you are admitted, you will be offered a financial aid package that will meet your family's demonstrated need. We do not offer merit aid, with the exception of some athletic scholarships. We also want you to know that we are need-blind in our admission process for U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and undocumented students. This means that whether or not you apply for financial aid has no bearing on your admission decision. For international citizens, we are need-aware, and the admission process is more selective for them.

40:24 We do not include loans in our financial aid packages. More than 80% of Stanford students graduate debt-free. So, how do you apply for financial aid at Stanford, and how would our program work for you? To apply for financial aid, U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens will need to submit both the FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and the College Board's CSS Profile, or the College Scholarship Service Profile. International citizens only need to complete the CSS Profile. Links to these forms and information about application deadlines can be found on our financial aid website. To wrap us up, Philip, I think everyone would appreciate if you could give a sense

41:10 of how our financial aid program could work for them. - Yes, I'm happy to, and maybe the best way to do that is to look at some financial aid benchmarks. It's important to keep in mind, just like with our admission process, there are no cutoffs of any kind, and your aid package is determined by a review of your individual documents. So, let's look at those benchmarks. For families whose annual incomes are greater than 150,000 dollars, we award need-based aid on a sliding scale depending on each family's individual context. For families whose annual incomes are less than 150,000 dollars, with assets typical of that income level, we guarantee enough aid to cover at least the cost of tuition.

41:56 For families whose annual incomes are less than 75,000 dollars, with assets typical of that income level, there is no expected parent contribution. Just as we read your application within your school context, your financial aid package will be tailored according to your family's specific financial situation. When our financial aid counselors review your family's finances, they consider living expenses, the cost of living in your area, medical expenses, and the cost of tuition for other siblings. In other words, they review your finances in your individual context. Last thing, and this is a reminder of what Amber said a minute ago. We encourage you to check out the net price calculator,

42:42 which is on our financial aid website. That calculator is specific to Stanford's financial aid program, and can give you a better sense of what your aid package could look like at Stanford. Okay, it's been a pleasure introducing you to Stanford and our admission and financial aid processes. Remember, this has been an overview. You can find much more information on our admission and financial aid websites, and you can always learn more about what's going on at Stanford through the Office of Undergraduate Admission's social media accounts, @engagestanford. - There's some fun content on our social media platforms that features current Stanford students doing what they do best, being themselves, and doing so in such a vibrant community that both welcomes their differences

43:27 and adds depth to their perspectives. To those of you who are prospective undergraduate applicants, we hope that this session has been helpful to you as part of your college search process. We've enjoyed introducing you to what we affectionately term The Farm, and if Stanford seems to be a good fit for you, we'll look forward to reading your application in the future! Chase and I are definitely looking forward to being back on the beautiful Stanford campus. If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our immersive 360° guided tour, which you can a link to on our admission website. From the four of us and everyone at Virtual Stanford, thanks for watching and we wish you well as you take the next steps in your academic journey. - [Kevin] Thank you for joining us

44:13 for this recorded version of "Discover Stanford". If you have additional questions about admission or financial aid, please feel free to contact the undergraduate admission office or the financial aid office by email or by phone. If you have questions regarding life at Stanford, as a student please send an email at [email protected] and a current student will get back to you. This concludes our "Discover Stanford" information session. Take care and be well.