DIRECTOR'S UPDATE
Stanford's notorious Admit Weekend is upon is in a matter of hours. We
are expecting more than 1200 admitted students and their families in Palo Alto this weekend. Peggy Chung (MA '06), Assistant Director of Admission,
has done a wonderful job in coordinating this year's program (her first year on staff!) and has a rock star group of Admit Weekend Coordinators to
assist with production.
Earlier this month, we received word that two of our officers will be leaving The Farm this
summer. Erinn Evans '04, Assistant Director of Admission, will begin graduate studies at the Stanford School of Education and Densil Porteous, Associate Director of Admission, has accepted the position of Director of
College Counseling at the Drew School in neighboring San Francisco. Erinn was instrumental in managing our fine and performing arts review process and
revitalizing Stanford's Teacher Tribute Program, while Densil served as our creative director coordinating all of our publications and new website
design. They will be sorely missed.
Please take the time to review the news below and we hope to see you on campus or in the San Francisco Bay
Area this summer!
Shawn
Shawn L. Abbott
Director of Admission
HAPPENING HERE
There is a palpable excitement in the air as the Stanford University campus prepares to host Admit Weekend 2008. The event is expected to welcome to The Farm
over 1200 students along with their parents and will run from April 24-26. Admitted students have the opportunity to stay in the
dorms with a current student host, attend one of over 30 academic expos featuring lectures by faculty members, and experience a multitude
of activities available on campus. For example, on Friday evening, students can choose to attend an a cappella concert in
Frost Amphitheatre, Shabbat dinner, a celebration of cinema with the Stanford Film Society, a Parisian-inspired café night, or a dance party
hosted by the Black Recruitment and Orientation Committee (BROC). In addition to events throughout the day with their students,
parents will have the opportunity to mingle with one another at the parent lounge, a special Parent Breakfast with the Stanford admission
officers, and at Destination Palo Alto, a shuttle to downtown for dining, shopping and entertainment. This annual celebration
of the admitted class is not to be missed!
GO CARDINAL
March Madness was in full swing on The Farm this year. Both the
men’s and women’s basketball teams competed in their respective national tournaments with outstanding results. The
men’s team, led by twins Brook ‘10 and Robin ’10 Lopez, won their first two games, defeating Cornell and Marquette en route to a
Sweet Sixteen appearance. Unfortunately, their Elite Eight hopes were stymied by Texas in a 82-62 loss. The
Stanford women, led by the phenomenal performance of Candice Wiggins ’08, who averaged 27.4 points per game during the tournament, ran the
table to make their first championship game appearance in 11 years. However, their hopes of a national championship came up just
short, losing to Tennessee in the final game, 64-48. Wiggins doesn’t have too much to be sad about, she was named as the
State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year, and on Thursday, April 10, she was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the 3rd overall pick in
the WNBA draft. Lest you think the month of March is only about basketball, the Cardinal synchronized swimming team was crowned
national champions for the fourth consecutive time.
UP CLOSE
The Office of
Undergraduate Admission knows that both Stanford faculty and high school guidance counselors are an integral part of successfully selecting a
class. In order to better serve both these groups, Solomon K. Enos, Assistant Director of Admission, took on the role of faculty
and counselor relations coordinator this fall. Having worked in the office since the summer of 2006, Solomon saw an opportunity to
strengthen connections between the groups, and has coordinated several efforts this year. Under his direction, each admission
officer now serves as a liaison to one or more academic departments on campus, keeping faculty engaged in and informed about the admission
process. He also coordinates all counselor programs on campus, including hosting the Bay Area Independent Secondary Schools
Counselors program this winter, WACAC’s Northern California Counselor Tour in 2007 and 2008, as well as NACAC’s Directing a Dynamic
College Counseling Program in July 2008. He continues to develop and implement new initiatives to increase effective relationships
with our colleagues on the “other side of the desk.” Solomon encourages counselors to contact him with ideas or
concerns at either counselorinfo@stanford.edu or solomon.enos@stanford.edu.
QUICK TIP
In an effort to be more environmentally conscious, we are moving away from sending guidance
offices paper copy reports of all decisions rendered on students from their respective schools. Students from more than 7,000 schools around the
world applied to Stanford this past year. Instead, we will offer these reports electronically via request. Decision reports will be sent
through a password-protected email by Solomon Enos, our Assistant Director of Admission who coordinates counselor relations. Requests can be
made by simply writing to counselorinfo@stanford.edu
AROUND YOUR TOWN
Stanford will be coming to a venue near you. For the month of May,
Stanford will be teaming up again with Duke, Harvard, Georgetown and the University of Pennsylvania for the Exploring College Options
programs. The five schools will hit the road to conduct joint information sessions for prospective families throughout the
country. Students can register for a session here. While students and families are invited to come to the evening programs, the admissions representatives
invite guidance counselors to join them for breakfast programs. These breakfasts will include a brief presentation from each
school, a Q&A with the admissions representatives, and a great opportunity to network and address any specific concerns counselors would like
addressed by an admissions officer. Counselors can register for the breakfast sessions here.
NEWS FLASH
Students who were not offered admission were sent their admission decisions exclusively by
email this year. While they could request a paper copy of their decision letter (by clicking on a web link embedded in their initial email
decision letter), we dispensed with the process of sending a follow up copy of this disappointing news. Students who did not open our email were
automatically sent a paper copy of their decision letter five days later. Approximately 600 students (of the more than 20,000 not offered
admission) requested a paper copy, suggesting that the vast majority of students would prefer not to get bad news twice.
ON CAMPUS
The Stanford Daily reported on April 3, 2008, that Professor David Kennedy will be
retiring in July. Kennedy ’63, has been teaching history at Stanford for 40 years. His energies will
shift to his position as co-director of the Bill Lane Center for the Study of the North American West. Though he will be retiring
from full time teaching, he will become an Emeritus Professor in the History Department, and continue to teach occasionally and advise graduate
students. While he is one of the most popular professors known to undergraduate students, many high school students are familiar
with him as well. Kennedy is the author of The American Pageant: A History of the Republic, a book used by many high
school AP US History classes.
PUBLIC EYE
The Stanford Graduate
School of Business is one of sixteen programs that will be joining forces with Goldman Sachs for the next five years in its 10,000 Women program,
an effort to provide business education to 10,000 underserved women in developing economic markets. The investment bank will commit
$100 million to fund this program, as well as free up employees to serve as teachers and mentors to these women. As reported by the
Chronicle of Higher Education, “In addition to providing scholarships, mentoring, and networking opportunities, 10,000 Women will work with
development groups to identify and reduce barriers that have kept women from becoming successful entrepreneurs.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Here’s a quick glance at the Class of 2012...
25,298 total applications for freshman admission
8.1% of admitted class is international students, representing 68
different home countries
1st generation students make up 18% of the admitted
class
50+ different tribes and communities represented among our Native
admitted students
2400 incredible admitted students
FACULTY
Harold Mooney has been awarded the 2008 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for his
work in helping to transform ecology into a global discipline. The prize is awarded annually to individuals with world-class environmental
accomplishments to their credit.
Mooney, the Paul S. Achilles Professor of Environmental Biology, will share the prize, which
consists of a $200,000 cash award and gold medals, with James Galloway, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia. The Tyler
Prize is the latest in a string of recent major awards for Mooney. In February, he was named a co-recipient of the Award for Scientific Research in
Ecology and Conservation Biology by the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) Foundation in Spain. In November, he received the 2007 Ramón
Margalef Prize for Ecology and Environmental Sciences from the Autonomous Government of Catalonia in Spain. Mooney was recognized as a pioneer in the
study of plant physiological ecology and for his international leadership in assessing the impact of climate change and the degradation of ecosystems
worldwide.
