Video summary

How I Got In #12 || Stats, ECs, Awards, Etc. (Stanford)

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main Ideas / Lessons Conveyed

  • The speaker shares a personal Stanford admissions breakdown, focusing on:

    • Demographics (background and school context)
    • Academics (GPA, class rank, AP coursework and scores)
    • Extracurricular involvement (leadership, creative writing/media, service, faith-based community)
    • Awards (a smaller set, but meaningful and specific)

  • Implied takeaway: A competitive application is built through strong academics and tightly connected extracurriculars that reflect identity, leadership, and sustained commitment.

  • The speaker also emphasizes that circumstances matter (e.g., the availability of course options at her religious school affected how well she could optimize her GPA).

Methodology / “How To” Approach (Implicit)

  • Use the Common App “About Me” and academics to frame your context:

    • Identify background and school environment (e.g., Vietnamese American student; small private school with ~400 students; availability of AP courses).
    • Note constraints that affected course options (e.g., religion requirement without honors/AP religion classes).

  • Present academic credentials clearly:

    • Report weighted/unweighted GPA.
    • Include class rank percentile.
    • List AP courses taken (with scores when provided) and indicate when taken.
    • Clarify whether APs were self-studied or taken through the school and appear on the transcript.

  • Show longitudinal extracurricular leadership with concrete outputs:

    • For clubs you founded/led: describe purpose, scale (members/participants), and leadership structure.
    • For journalism/newspaper roles: include measurable contributions (e.g., interviews, articles, posts/promotions).
    • For publications/media: mention creation of websites/blogs, campaigns, or podcasts.
    • For community/service: explain role and scope (numbers served, leadership size, program type).

  • Keep awards concise but specific:

    • Mention a small set of awards demonstrating excellence and recognition (essay contest, scholarship, department award).

  • End with a cautionary note:

    • Admissions paths are unique; the breakdown is not universal.

Detailed Academics (Statistics + AP Coursework)

Demographics / Background (Common App “About Me”)

  • Vietnamese American
  • Graduated from a competitive private school in San Diego with ~400 students per class
  • Religious school requirement: at least one Catholic/religion course each year
    • Impact: fewer higher-level (honors/AP) religion options, which the speaker says affected GPA optimization

Academic Statistics

  • Weighted GPA: 4.6 (over four years)
  • Unweighted GPA: 4.0
  • Class rank: top 10%
  • AP coursework:
    • 9 AP classes
    • No self-studying (all APs were registered for and appear on transcript)

AP Courses by Year (with scores when provided)

Sophomore year

  • AP World History — 5

Junior year

  • AP US History — 4
  • AP English Language and Composition — 4
  • AP Calculus AB — 5
  • AP Biology — 4

Senior year

  • AP English Literature and Composition — 5
  • AP Statistics — 4
  • AP Macroeconomics — (score not provided)
  • AP Calculus BC — (score not provided)

High School Course List by Year (Non-AP)

Freshman year

  • Catholic Faith 9
  • English 1 Honors
  • Spanish 1
  • Geometry Honors
  • Biology Honors
  • Foundations in Visual Art (design)
  • PE (received PE credit)

Sophomore year

  • Catholic Faith 10
  • English 2 Honors
  • Journalism 1
  • Spanish 2
  • Algebra 2 and Trigonometry Honors
  • Chemistry Honors
  • AP World History

Junior year

  • Campus Ministry 11 (Catholic requirement)
  • Journalism 2 Honors
  • AP English Language and Composition
  • Spanish 3 Honors
  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Biology
  • AP US History

Senior year

  • Pure Ministry (Catholic requirement)
  • Journalism 3 Honors
  • AP English Literature and Composition
  • College Political Science
  • AP Macroeconomics
  • AP Statistics
  • AP Calculus BC

Detailed Extracurricular Activities

  1. Don Aside — Co-founder and Co-president (founded junior year)

    • Political journalism club focused on student voices on global issues
    • Built from scratch; reached 68 members by end of high school
    • Led by a 3-person leadership team
    • Purpose: create a safe space for discussion of political events while aligning with the school’s religious context and avoiding suppression fears

  2. School Newspaper — Co-editor / Chief (across 3 years)

    • Started sophomore year as a beat editor for politics
    • Junior and senior years: Editor-in-chief
    • Reported outputs:
      • 52 interviews led
      • 39 articles written
      • 455+ social promotions overseen
    • Speaker notes supplementals/common app essay were heavily connected to this experience

  3. National English Honor Society — Vice President

    • Managed a literary-focused initiative affecting the whole school
    • Target population described as 1,650+ students, faculty, and administrators
    • Worked with leadership to create fundraising and school events to strengthen academic culture

  4. Pen Pals Literature — Founder and President

    • ~80-member literature club
    • Built an original blog/website to promote reading and writing
    • Motivation: school lacked a library and the environment felt technology-heavy; aimed to foster literature culture

  5. Podcast: “Shut Up They’re Talking” — Co-founder and Co-host

    • Covered culture and society
    • Used as exposure to media and discussion using marketing/media strategies

  6. Valentino Scholar — Valentino program involvement (via representatives/creative writing campaigns)

    • Created two pieces used in brand promotion worldwide
    • Speaker states more details were referenced as coming later in the video (not included in transcript excerpt)

  7. Small business role (San Diego) — Cashier + Social Media Co-manager

    • Managed daily operations
    • Promoted social media outreach
    • Helped form/format the menu and organize the website
    • Described as handling key digital marketing aspects

  8. Baked with Love — Vice President

    • Raised $500+ (couple hundred, speaker specifies over $500 for one fundraiser)
    • Supported Feeding America through schoolwide social entrepreneurship
    • Business/market-focused: students create goods, price to fit market demand

  9. TEDx community — Speaker and mentor

    • Junior year: inaugural event speaker
      • Talk title: “Where Are You From?”
      • Delivered to 2,200+ attendees
      • Later published on TEDx’s YouTube channel
    • Senior year: mentored/assisted featured speakers

  10. Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Ministry (San Diego) — Division Leader

    • Led a 15-member division within a nationwide faith-based nonprofit
    • Speaker emphasizes cultural connection and shared ethnic origins as a core motivation (less emphasis on service aspect)

Awards (As Stated)

  • First place essay contest (San Diego; hosted by University of San Diego)

    • Won first place for character writing
    • Written piece published in the contest/host archive

  • Valentino Young Scholars / Young Writer Scholarship

    • Hosted in collaboration with “Writer’s Roadmap”
    • Mentored by Tommy Ady (speaker states she is a New York Times bestselling author; transcript mentions Children of Blood and Bone and notes possible adaptation)
    • Speaker attended her videos/workshops

  • Additional English recognition

    • Spring English department award (junior year, inferred)
    • One student per grade recognized for significant contributions to academic English at the high school

Speakers / Sources Featured (From the Transcript)

  • Ana Fan — Main speaker; Stanford first-year student sharing admissions breakdown
  • Tommy Ady — Author/mentor mentioned in the Valentino scholarship context
  • AI tool advertisement (unnamed company/product) — SAT/ACT-focused AI practice tool
    • Promo code: “Treehouse10” (source is the ad narrator)

Original video