With a GPA of 3.96, Stanford requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants. Furthermore, you should be taking hard classes - AP or IB courses - to show that college-level academics is a breeze.
Full Answer
Requirements and Recommendations
For that reason, we do not have a set of required courses for admission to Stanford.
For admission to Stanford University, you need to have a GPA of 3.96. If you have a lower GPA in the school average, which is below 3.96, you require a higher ACT or a higher SAT score to compensate and get admission to Stanford University.
Students must take an equivalent of 20 full-year courses, or 200 units comprising the following:English. 4 years / 40 units.Mathematics. 4 years / 40 units.Natural Sciences. 3 years / 30 units, including at least 2 years of laboratory science.Social Sciences. ... Languages. ... Additional Coursework.
College Curriculum Recommendations Your college transcript should reflect that you have taken a rigorous and balanced curriculum. There are no required courses for admission to Stanford.
if you're worried about admissions, they're both difficult to get into, but Stanford is actually more selective than Harvard is (by a small margin).
Stanford admissions basics Average GPA: 3.95. Average SAT: 1510. Average ACT: 33. Acceptance rate: 3.67 percent.
Stanford and the University of California system are perfect examples of appropriately evaluating prospective students. They do not count freshman grades at all in admissions decisions, and instead recalculate applicants' grade-point averages without them.
The primary criterion for admission to Stanford is academic excellence. We look for your preparation and potential to succeed. We expect you to challenge yourself throughout high school and to do very well. The most important credential for evaluating your academic record is your high school transcript.
Stanford University is a holistic institution with no GPA or standardized course requirements. But the estimated average high-school required GPA is around 4.18. The chances are 3.75, plus, good; 3.5-3.75, average plus; 3.25-3.5 average minus; 3-3.24, possible; and below 3, low.
Interviews can show that you're serious about attending upon admittance, and they give you a chance to demonstrate your knowledge about the university and learn even more about Stanford.
Stanford University is one of the most difficult colleges to get into, with an acceptance rate of only 4%. It is consistently ranked in US News' top 10—often top five—universities.
Please do not worry if you are not contacted, as your application will be considered complete without an interview. It may be that we do not have enough volunteers in your area to interview each applicant. Applications are not pre-screened for interview eligibility.
All students are required to fulfill a first-year Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) requirement. This can be done in four different ways, all of which are intended to be welcoming and accessible to frosh.
All Stanford students must fulfill a writing requirement in their first and second years. In addition, students will also take a Writing in the Major course for their declared major before graduation.
Stanford requires that all students have at least the equivalent of one year’s proficiency in a foreign language to graduate.
The Ways of Thinking/Ways of Doing are Stanford’s unique "breadth" requirement. Stanford students must complete 11 courses across 8 broad Ways areas.
Frosh-Friendly Courses allow students to explore a field of study early in their Stanford careers, generally with minimal or no prerequisites.
Learn how to select courses for your COLLEGE, writing, foreign language, and Ways requirements.
For more advice on choosing your courses, check out the Advising Student Handbook, and particularly the following pages:
Unsure how to navigate among all your course choices? This video presentation by your Academic Advisors will help you get started!
Applicants must have a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited academic institution in the United States or Canada* or a graduate degree from the United States** by July 15 of the year of matriculation. No specific discipline or major is required.
All applicants are required to take the Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics (CASPer). CASPer is an online test that assesses non-cognitive skills and interpersonal characteristics we believe are important for successful students and graduates of our program. Applicants should go to TakeAltus.com to create an account.
Completion of the GRE, MCAT, or PA-CAT is not required in order for applications to be eligible for review.
A minimum of three (3) letters of recommendation is recommended with a maximum of five (5) letters allowed through the CASPA application. Letters of recommendation from a physician assistant, a physician, and a person who can speak to the applicant's academic potential, such as a science professor or academic advisor, are strongly preferred.
Applicants are invited to submit two (2) essays through the CASPA application. The first essay is the general CASPA personal statement (limited to 5,000 characters) that asks the applicant to describe why they want to be a physician assistant.
Stanford undergraduate students are required to complete one year of college-level study or the equivalent in a foreign language.
Students may fulfill the requirement in any one of the following ways: Completing the first-year language course sequence ( 4-5 units per course) at Stanford or the equivalent at another recognized postsecondary institution, subject to current University transfer credit policies.
Must be at least 50 contact hours (interactive class time) Must include an oral proficiency component. Must complete a first-year, college-level textbook. Must be approved by the Language Center through the transfer credit approval (or pre-approval) process.
Stanford Undergrad is your guide to undergraduate academics and opportunities run by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.
Explore the more than 69 major fields of undergraduate study at Stanford.
Approximately 7,000 undergraduate students attend Stanford. Learn more about the undergraduate program and student body.
The VPGE office works collaboratively across the University to ensure that every graduate student has the best possible education.
Today, 9,390 students are pursuing 14 distinct postbaccalaureate degrees in nearly 200 graduate programs in all seven of Stanford’s schools. Learn more about graduate studies at Stanford.
Stanford University admissions staff is looking for students who have a drive and passion for intellectual development. They want to make sure that your growth didn’t peak in high school, and that you’ll be willing to continue putting in the effort to expand your horizons.
As a result, one of the most important factors admissions officers consider is your academic performance . While perfect scores, high GPAs, and straight As are awesome achievements for which to aim, Stanford will also be looking for potential and preparation.
There’s an unfortunate misconception that many applicants have. Namely, that academic performance alone is enough to get into top-tier universities. And, perhaps even more worrisome, is the popular idea that what happens outside of the classroom doesn’t really matter.
Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Stanford here.
Average GPA: 3.96. The average GPA at Stanford is 3.96. (Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA. With a GPA of 3.96 , Stanford requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants.
The acceptance rate at Stanford is 4.3%. For every 100 applicants, only 4 are admitted. This means the school is extremely selective. Meeting their GPA requirements and SAT/ACT requirements is very important to getting past their first round of filters and proving your academic preparation.
Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews.
Stanford has the Score Choice policy of "All Scores.". This means that Stanford requires you to send all SAT scores you've ever taken to their office.
By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.
Even though Stanford likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 32 or below, you'll have a very hard time getting in, unless you have something else very impressive in your application. There are so many applicants scoring 34 and above that a 32 will look academically weak.