S3E15: Tips for the Stanford Supplement (2024)
Today's question of the week: "How should I approach the Stanford Supplement?”
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Today's question of the week: “How should I approach the Stanford supplement?"
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Introduction: In this episode of the "Admittedly" podcast, host Thomas Caleel takes on the Stanford supplement, providing advice on how to approach its famous questions. Thomas highlights how to stand out by showing intellectual curiosity, personal engagement, and a strong connection to the Stanford community.
Summary of Key Points:
1. Reflecting on an Experience that Excites You About Learning: Stanford seeks students who are genuinely excited about learning. Thomas advises applicants to reflect on a meaningful experience that sparked their intellectual curiosity. It’s less about what you want to major in and more about what drives your passion for learning.
2. The Roommate Question: Thomas suggests that instead of listing random facts about yourself, use this essay to show how you’ll engage with the Stanford community. Whether it's joining a club or pursuing a quirky passion, make sure your response demonstrates how you'll interact with your peers and contribute to campus life.
3. Distinctive Contribution to Stanford: This essay asks how you will make an impact on the Stanford community. Thomas encourages students to think deeply about what makes them unique and how that uniqueness translates into contributions to Stanford. Focus on your passions, causes, or ideas you want to bring to life at Stanford, showing how you’ll be an engaged, impactful member of the community.
Conclusion: The Stanford supplement challenges applicants to reflect on their intellectual curiosity and potential contributions to campus life. By following Thomas Caleel’s guidance, students can write essays that authentically show how they will thrive and contribute to Stanford’s vibrant community.
Have your own question you want answered? Leave us a comment on social media @admittedlypodcast for a chance to be featured.
About Thomas Caleel:
Thomas is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his MBA at the Wharton School of Business in 2003, he moved to Silicon Valley. For three years, he was Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at Wharton. He worked closely with admissions professionals, students, alumni, and professors to curate the best possible MBA class. Thomas has been an entrepreneur his entire life in the fields of finance, agriculture, wellness, and sporting goods. As the founder of Global Education Opportunities LLC, he works as a high-level admissions advisor to help families and students achieve their education goals. Thomas started the podcast Admittedly because he is passionate about demystifying the application process for all parents and applicants.
Related Links
Apply to be a guest: www.thomascaleel.com/apply-for-podcast
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Instagram: @admittedlypodcast
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Let's talk about the Stanford supplement. The first question asks you to reflect on an experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. So let's step back for a minute and think about the Stanford community. It is genuinely excited about learning. These are intellectually curious people, and so what they want you to do is not necessarily talk about what you want to learn, right in terms of a major but what is it that drives your interest in that want you to dig here a little bit. Was there an experience? Was there a mentor? What is it that really sparked your interest or curiosity about this, and think about it right again, we're reflecting. We're not just telling we're thinking about this experience, why it's meaningful to us and why it drives us to want to intellectually engage with that subject at Stanford.
The next question is a famous roommate question, and there's a lot of different ways that you can approach this, all right? The one way I would not approach it is just listing out a bunch of things about yourself, right? Because by and large, we can get that as an admissions officer when we read your application. I usually advise students to use this as an opportunity to show how well they know the university, right? I've always wanted to be a stand up comic. Let's go down to this pub where they have open mic nights on Thursdays, and you can give me some moral support while I crash and burn. Have fun with this. Yes, you can throw in some personality quirks. You can talk about the kind of music that you like to do, but really, they want to think about you in three dimensions. They want to see that you know how you're going to get out of your dorm room and get involved in the Stanford community. And how do you personalize that to yourself?
The next one is, how are you going to make a distinctive contribution to the Stanford community? So much like the Yale question, you want to step back and think about, okay, what is it that kind of makes me unique? What do I bring that maybe nobody else has? And this should not be a funny, quirky thing, unless you can relate that forward to something meaningful, how you're going to contribute to Stanford? Because what universities don't want are just intelligent people who go about their own business and kind of walk with their heads down for four years and graduate. They want people who are engaged with their education, who are engaged with the world around them, what matters to you? What do you want to do or fight for, or advocate for or want to change while you're at Stanford? That's the kind of passion and energy they want to see in this essay, because it makes you interesting. It makes you jump out of this application and says to them, I'm a person who will do things here, who will make an impact here and will make things better for the Stanford community.
