Applicants must answer several short questions (limit 50 words each) and three short essay questions.
Stanford Short Questions
1. Significant Challenge: The erosion of local journalism. Without trusted local news sources, communities lose their civic cohesion, and misinformation spreads unchecked. This weakens our ability to solve problems collaboratively, from the school board to the national stage, because we no longer share a common set of facts.
2. Last Two Summers: The summer after sophomore year, I worked as a camp counselor, learning how to manage chaos and mediate disputes between ten-year-olds. Last summer, I used those skills as a volunteer intern for a local city council member, helping to organize town halls and listen to constituent concerns.
3. Historical Moment: I would witness the 1927 Solvay Conference on Physics. To be in a room with minds like Einstein, Bohr, and Curie as they debated the very nature of reality would be electrifying. I’d want to feel the intellectual energy of a moment that fundamentally changed human knowledge.
4. Extracurricular Activity (Debate): As captain of the debate team, my most important role wasn't winning rounds, but leading post-tournament reviews. I learned that the best way to improve was not to critique my teammates' speeches, but to first understand and articulate the strongest possible version of our opponents' arguments.
5. Five Important Things:
My dog-eared copy of Dune.
A perfectly brewed cup of coffee.
The feeling after a long run.
Late-night conversations with my sister.
A blank notebook and a good pen.
The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. (100–250 words)
My intellectual curiosity was sparked by a pothole. Every day, I’d watch cars swerve to avoid it, and I started wondering why it took so long to fix. This simple question led me down a rabbit hole of city planning, municipal budgets, and materials science. I began watching documentaries on urban infrastructure and reading articles about new, self-healing asphalt compounds. I learned that a city is a complex system of interconnected, often invisible, forces. The pothole wasn't just a hole in the road; it was a symptom of budget allocations, political priorities, and geological stress. This experience taught me that learning isn't just about finding answers in a textbook. It’s about looking at the most ordinary things in the world and asking, “Why is it like this?” I am excited to bring this mindset to Stanford, where I can explore the hidden systems that shape our lives, whether in an urban studies class or a materials science lab.
I became genuinely excited about learning when I broke my grandfather’s old shortwave radio. Determined to fix it, I opened it up and discovered a world not of microchips, but of vacuum tubes, capacitors, and intricate, hand-soldered wires. There was no manual, so I spent weeks learning to read old schematics I found online, teaching myself the forgotten language of analog electronics. When I finally replaced a faulty tube and the radio crackled back to life with a broadcast from halfway across the world, I felt a profound connection to the past. I had not just repaired a machine; I had resurrected a piece of history. This experience taught me that learning is a form of time travel. It allows us to understand the thinking of those who came before us and appreciate the elegance of their solutions. I am excited to continue this journey at Stanford, where I can learn from the past to build for the future.
Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—get to know you better. (100–250 words)
Hey future roommate,
I’m so excited to meet you! I wanted to give you a heads-up about one of my quirks: I’m a stress baker. When midterms get intense, you can expect our room to smell like chocolate chip cookies or banana bread at 1 a.m. I promise to always share and to clean up my mess. I’m also a big believer in the power of a good playlist and would love to create a collaborative “study mix” or “room cleanup jam” with you. I’m pretty easygoing and can sleep through almost anything, so no worries if you’re a night owl. My only real request is that you don’t judge my questionable taste in old sci-fi movies. I can’t wait to start our Stanford adventure together!
Best,
Hello future roommate,
I can’t wait to meet you and figure out how we’re going to decorate our new space! Here are a few things you should know about me. I’m a morning person, so you might hear me sneaking out for a run around campus while it’s still dark, but I’ve mastered the art of being quiet. I’m also obsessed with maps—old ones, new ones, transit maps—and I’ll probably hang a few on my side of the room. I hope they can help us plan some cool weekend adventures. I’m always up for exploring, whether it’s finding the best coffee shop near campus or a new study spot in the library. I’m really looking forward to sharing this experience with you and making our room feel like home.
See you soon,
Please describe what aspects of your life experiences, interests and character would help you make a distinctive contribution as an undergraduate to Stanford University. (100–250 words)
My distinctive contribution to Stanford will be my passion for building bridges between technology and the humanities. For the past two years, I have been working on a personal project to create an interactive digital archive of my town’s history. I taught myself how to code a simple website, but more importantly, I spent hours at the local library, digitizing old photographs and recording oral histories with elderly residents. I learned that every line of code can be used to tell a human story. My character is defined by this desire to connect the logical with the lyrical. At Stanford, I want to bring this perspective to my classes and extracurriculars. I can see myself in a computer science class, helping my peers think about the ethical implications of their code, or in a history seminar, proposing a digital humanities project to make the past more accessible. I want to be the person who reminds my fellow engineers about the importance of story, and my fellow historians about the power of new tools.
I will contribute my experience as a “translator” to the Stanford community. Growing up in a multi-generational immigrant household, I have always lived between worlds. I translate English to Spanish for my grandparents at doctor’s appointments, but I also translate cultural norms and expectations between my more traditional parents and my American-born friends. This has shaped my character, making me a patient listener and an empathetic problem-solver. I am skilled at finding the common ground in a misunderstanding, whether it’s over a medical term or a social custom. At Stanford, I want to use this skill to foster dialogue in a diverse community. In a dorm discussion or a collaborative project, I will be the person who actively seeks to understand different perspectives, ensuring that every voice is heard and valued. My contribution will be the quiet work of building a more connected and understanding community, one conversation at a time.
