2014-2015 Stanford University Application Thread

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Got my waitlist letter in the mail today. Ah well.
Sorry if this has been asked before, but what's waitlist movement like for Stanford? And any idea how many people they waitlist? Do they also reject post interview?
 
gastronome said:
I doubt it's many as well, however we've both probably met incredible people with many offers and criteria for choosing schools.

Any thoughts @Narmerguy? An idea about how Stanford approaches their waitlist/how extensive it is would especially be helpful for several of us on here. 😀
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astronaut135 said:
Got my waitlist letter in the mail today. Ah well.
Sorry if this has been asked before, but what's waitlist movement like for Stanford? And any idea how many people they waitlist? Do they also reject post interview?
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I know @Narmerguy already responded to this, but I thought I'd add my two cents.

I was accepted off the waitlist last year (right after the "choose one school" deadline) and I know of quite a few that were also accepted off the waitlist. However, the year before there were 0 people who were accepted off the waitlist. From 2013 to 2014 a lot of things changed. They got a new admissions director and they were obviously much more cautious not to over-enroll, especially since there were a few deferrals. They also knew they wanted more MSTP students in the entering class of 2014 (there are 16, I think), which also meant fewer spots for regular MD candidates. I have a feeling they were pretty conservative, which led to quite a few waitlist acceptances. From 2014 to 2015, a lot of things changed again. There is a new dean. I think they are also not going to bring in as many MSTP. They also may have gotten a better idea of the percent of accepted people that matriculate. Anyway, the whole point is that A LOT changes from year to year and it's really hard to know what to expect. Additionally, as @Narmerguy said, they like to have a certain "feel" for the class, so they don't have a ranked waitlist like other schools have.

Anyway, my advice to those on the waitlist is to just find something to keep your mind off Stanford for the next few weeks. After the "choose one school" deadline (is it April 30 this year?), you'll be able to get a better idea of any potential waitlist movement. If Stanford starts accepting waitlistees soon after April 30, that's probably a good sign. 🙂
 
Runican said:
I know @Narmerguy already responded to this, but I thought I'd add my two cents.

I was accepted off the waitlist last year (right after the "choose one school" deadline) and I know of quite a few that were also accepted off the waitlist. However, the year before there were 0 people who were accepted off the waitlist. From 2013 to 2014 a lot of things changed. They got a new admissions director and they were obviously much more cautious not to over-enroll, especially since there were a few deferrals. They also knew they wanted more MSTP students in the entering class of 2014 (there are 16, I think), which also meant fewer spots for regular MD candidates. I have a feeling they were pretty conservative, which led to quite a few waitlist acceptances. From 2014 to 2015, a lot of things changed again. There is a new dean. I think they are also not going to bring in as many MSTP. They also may have gotten a better idea of the percent of accepted people that matriculate. Anyway, the whole point is that A LOT changes from year to year and it's really hard to know what to expect. Additionally, as @Narmerguy said, they like to have a certain "feel" for the class, so they don't have a ranked waitlist like other schools have.

Anyway, my advice to those on the waitlist is to just find something to keep your mind off Stanford for the next few weeks. After the "choose one school" deadline (is it April 30 this year?), you'll be able to get a better idea of any potential waitlist movement. If Stanford starts accepting waitlistees soon after April 30, that's probably a good sign. 🙂
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Thank you so much! 😀
 
blubearzangel said:
Can any of the current students share what the pros/cons of each graduate housing location are? Do we even have a say in where we are placed? Which is reputed as the "best"?
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Munger is definitely the best. It's like living in a hotel. Con is price (expensive, especially studios). I lived there my first year and then moved off campus. I thought that was a good choice.
Lyman is close to the medical school and decent. Really close to new gym too. More in an undergrad housing area of campus though (negative for me).
Rains and EV studios are both decent. Mid-priced. Not super nice, but not super outdated either. Little far from the med campus.
EV highrises/midrises are a little outdated, though some have been updated recently and they're generally cheaper. Also far from the med campus.
 
Did anyone else who interviewed on 12/15 not hear back yet? I've emailed and left a voicemail for the MD admissions office, but didn't get any responses.
 
At the stanford interview they told us in some cases, some financial aid packages are first come first serve. I want to be ready in case I get accepted so do any of you know how I can prepare for the stanford supplemental financial aid app?
Thanks
 
samsunimomo said:
You need the Stanford AXESS login, which you need through the admissions office. I don't know whether you can get this number if your status is still pending. Might be worth it to ask though.
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Asked. Have to wait for formal acceptance to be given a login.
 
Has anyone received a schedule of second look events from Admissions? I understand they're less communicative than other schools' admissions offices, but it's a little unsettling honestly.
 
bluevase said:
Has anyone received a schedule of second look events from Admissions? I understand they're less communicative than other schools' admissions offices, but it's a little unsettling honestly.
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Nope. They said on the Facebook page that we'd receive it a couple of days ago, but nothing so far on my end...
 
If people don't have one yet, send me a PM and I can send to you! It should have been shared by this point.
 
TBear13 said:
Folks attending second look, please share your impressions and any interesting nuggets! We waitlisters will live vicariously through you. 🙂
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Curious how many waitlisters are on SDN, could look into a subthread specifically for that if there's enough interest hmm
 
After not hearing yay or nay from Stanford, and being accepted to one of my top choice schools, I've decided to withdraw my application. Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted and good luck to everyone else still waiting!
 
Has anyone else still not heard anything???
Edit: post-interview
 
Reformed_Herbivore said:
Safe to say they won't be admitting any more. Why even bother waitlisting people at this point then?
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I recall that during my interview day they said they have ~180 acceptances. Perhaps the last 20 are taken from the WL. Does anyone have an idea of how many are on the WL/does everyone who interviews pretty much get waitlisted?
 
I also remember 180. No idea about how many are wait listed vs rejected post interview though.
breadcrumbz said:
I recall that during my interview day they said they have ~180 acceptances. Perhaps the last 20 are taken from the WL. Does anyone have an idea of how many are on the WL/does everyone who interviews pretty much get waitlisted?
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Did anyone learn anything that was surprising in a negative way? Would be great to get both sides of the coin.
 
Welp, got 2 waitlist letters in the mail today. Haha, apparently Stanford wanted to really make sure the message was clear.:laugh:
 
I'm currently waiting for my financial aid to be released, but I've heard that Stanford is not keen about negotiating on financial aid. Is this true?
 
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samsunimomo said:
I'm currently waiting for my financial aid to be released, but I've heard that Stanford is not keen about negotiating on financial aid. Is this true?
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Yeah, from my experience at least, there is little flexibility. From my one-on-one with the Fin Aid folks, they said that (and someone, please correct me if I'm wrong) Stanford's philosophy is to give some aid to as many people as possible instead of, as is done at many other schools, concentrating on and primarily giving money proportional to need. For example, Stanford segments people according to parental income and, for each bracket (which seems to be broader than I thought), they provide a set amount of scholarship/grant; this is in contrast to giving aid directly proportional to need/income. Moreover, Stanford SOM has less money than other schools, as it's money isn't from the University itself, so they cannot match other place's aid or give as much money. They understand that it isn't the best scenario, and they will always point out the great TAing and MedScholars opportunities (which really are great), but I guess it is what it is.

tldr: Yes.
 
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bangadees7 said:
Yeah, from my experience at least, there is little flexibility. From my one-on-one with the Fin Aid folks, they said that (and someone, please correct me if I'm wrong) Stanford's philosophy is to give some aid to as many people as possible instead of, as is done at many other schools, concentrating on and primarily giving money proportional to need. For example, Stanford segments people according to parental income and, for each bracket (which seems to be broader than I thought), they provide a set amount of scholarship/grant; this is in contrast to giving aid directly proportional to need/income. Moreover, Stanford SOM has less money than other schools, as it's money isn't from the University itself, so they cannot match other place's aid or give as much money. They understand that it isn't the best scenario, and they will always point out the great TAing and MedScholars opportunities (which really are great), but I guess it is what it is.

tldr: Yes.
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I know that people are under an impression that Stanford has a lot of money. However, like many other med schools who have "insanely amount of money", the majority of the fundings are fixed in terms of usage and the assignment can not be easily changed. I read that the dean of Stanford Med spoke exactly this on one of the yearly report somewhere. Some school, though having less money in general, might opt to put more in terms of financial aid.
 
bangadees7 said:
Yeah, from my experience at least, there is little flexibility. From my one-on-one with the Fin Aid folks, they said that (and someone, please correct me if I'm wrong) Stanford's philosophy is to give some aid to as many people as possible instead of, as is done at many other schools, concentrating on and primarily giving money proportional to need. For example, Stanford segments people according to parental income and, for each bracket (which seems to be broader than I thought), they provide a set amount of scholarship/grant; this is in contrast to giving aid directly proportional to need/income. Moreover, Stanford SOM has less money than other schools, as it's money isn't from the University itself, so they cannot match other place's aid or give as much money. They understand that it isn't the best scenario, and they will always point out the great TAing and MedScholars opportunities (which really are great), but I guess it is what it is.

tldr: Yes.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure exactly how this works, but there is no merit aid at Stanford. It isn't WashU where they give our merit scholarships like candy...

All financial aid is based on need. I wasn't aware they segmented students by income brackets based on each class (?)...but I guess this is possible. Those with the greatest need qualify for the Stanford Grant (it's basically about 75% tuition coverage), which is a pretty good deal. Combine that with MedScholars/TAing and you can get most of your first two years at Stanford basically free. There's also a Middle Income Assistance (MIA) where they'll match a portion of parental contributions (basically encouraging your parents to help out a little instead of making you take out loans) for those at a certain "middle" income level.

I think they tend to dole out available financial aid pretty fairly though....with the students who really need it getting pretty solid packages that cover a lot of the cost....while the students who don't really need great financial aid get pretty good perks too.

I didn't qualify for any need-based "grants" at Stanford (or any other medical school), but my financial aid package at Stanford included both Perkins Loans (subsidized during school) and Stanford University Loans (subsidized during school AND residency/fellowship training). The Stanford Loans are particularly awesome, because you don't even have to worry about them accruing interest or paying them back until you're out of residency/fellowship and actually have $$$. So you only have to worry about Federal Loans (Perkins, Stafford) while a resident/fellow and can delay even thinking about a decent chunk of your loans while you're still in-training.
 
So apparently Stanford is shrinking back to 82? people this year. Consider there is already 160 accepted, it doesn't seem to have much room left for waitlist movements...
 
FriendlyFH said:
So apparently Stanford is shrinking back to 82? people this year. Consider there is already 160 accepted, it doesn't seem to have much room left for waitlist movements...
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Where did you hear this? I thought that the director said 90 people this year.
 
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samsunimomo said:
Where did you hear this? I thought that the director said 90 people this year.
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Heard it from a friend who went to second look. But I could be wrong, we were all pretty tired.
 
samsunimomo said:
There must be admits who are juggling Stanford's aid with full COA scholarships. What I want to figure out is how students and admits have justified the opportunities at Stanford with its steep price tag in comparison to a large scholarship.
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Quite a few people face this decision. I would say to try to be as practical but comprehensive as possible in thinking about this. What are your goals, what kind of lifestyle do you envision for yourself, and what specific things at Stanford or other schools allow you to reach those?
 
mdeast said:
I'm not sure exactly how this works, but there is no merit aid at Stanford. It isn't WashU where they give our merit scholarships like candy...

All financial aid is based on need. I wasn't aware they segmented students by income brackets based on each class (?)...but I guess this is possible. Those with the greatest need qualify for the Stanford Grant (it's basically about 75% tuition coverage), which is a pretty good deal. Combine that with MedScholars/TAing and you can get most of your first two years at Stanford basically free. There's also a Middle Income Assistance (MIA) where they'll match a portion of parental contributions (basically encouraging your parents to help out a little instead of making you take out loans) for those at a certain "middle" income level.
Click to expand...

Any idea what middle class level is for Stanford? I would guess absolutely <100K familial income, right?
 
gastronome said:
Any idea what middle class level is for Stanford? I would guess absolutely <100K familial income, right?
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As per my conversations with financial aid last year, parental income of <$100,000 will get you the maximum grant aid ($12,000 per quarter this year). I'm not sure what the upper limit for parental income is for the maximum grant or lower limit for "middle income" is though.

I would also add that Stanford recently added a maximum of ~15 (I forget the exact number) need-based full-tuition grants to their pool of aid last year.
 
FriendlyFH said:
So apparently Stanford is shrinking back to 82? people this year. Consider there is already 160 accepted, it doesn't seem to have much room left for waitlist movements...
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Maybe that's MD only? I have no idea what they're aiming for in terms of class size but 82 seems awfully small (and unrealistic given the number of people at admit weekend). Plus that would be consistent with @samsunimomo 's 90 figure (82 MD-only, 8 MD/PhD). Speculation only though 🙂
 
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jeghaber said:
Maybe that's MD only? I have no idea what they're aiming for in terms of class size but 82 seems awfully small (and unrealistic given the number of people at admit weekend). Plus that would be consistent with @samsunimomo 's 90 figure (82 MD-only, 8 MD/PhD). Speculation only though 🙂
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Didn't stanford always had class size of 80? Two years of over enrollment made it to 90+, which contributed to the change of leadership in the admission office? (I heard) There always have been talk to shrink it back down?
 
jeghaber said:
As per my conversations with financial aid last year, parental income of <$100,000 will get you the maximum grant aid ($12,000 per quarter this year). I'm not sure what the upper limit for parental income is for the maximum grant or lower limit for "middle income" is though.

I would also add that Stanford recently added a maximum of ~15 (I forget the exact number) need-based full-tuition grants to their pool of aid last year.
Click to expand...

Interesting! That's great: They seem to eschew the 'Census' middle class income levels and define their own with the cost of a medical education in mind.
 
They told us they were aiming for 90 this year (including MSTP) on the interview day. I doubt they would change their minds now. Was second look just MD for that date? Maybe that's why they gave an 80 number.
 
Reformed_Herbivore said:
They told us they were aiming for 90 this year (including MSTP) on the interview day. I doubt they would change their minds now. Was second look just MD for that date? Maybe that's why they gave an 80 number.
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Entering 2010 was 86 students. Stanford has a long-term plan to expand to 120 students/class based on the well-publicized national physician shortage (the LKSC was designed/constructed to eventually handle that many), so they'll be slowly increasing over the next decade. The 100+ class was an anomaly.
 
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