If you are on the receiving end of a waitlist offer by Stanford, you aren’t alone. We know that isn’t exactly reassuring, but with a first-year acceptance rate of only 4% nothing about Stanford is reassuring. But that doesn’t mean that you should give up all hope of moving into a dorm at Stanford in a few months. Before we get into what comes next, let’s look at the numbers.

So, you want to transfer to Stanford? We get why. Stanford is an elite private research university in California’s Silicon Valley. It is world-famous for its STEM majors, sports, and cutting-edge research.  

Stanford is now one of the hardest universities to gain access to in the world, second only, in the United States, to Harvard in acceptance rate. So, don’t beat yourself up if you were rejected Restrictive Early Action. We know it’s hard not to, but really — Stanford is a reach for everyone. The overall acceptance rate is now less than 4%. This is wild. Imagine being in a gym with 99 other people waiting on the sidelines, and only four of you all will get to play in the game. When visualized, these odds are insane. That doesn’t mean a rejection from Stanford doesn’t hurt, though, especially if it’s a school that you’ve been dreaming of for a while. When you’re ambitious enough to apply to Stanford, you’re also typically confident enough to believe you will…or, at least, will maybe…get in. But you didn’t, so now what?

Stanford University was founded with a societal purpose. From the beginning, the school was designed for the common good. Today, it is regarded as one of the best universities in the world. Rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area, Stanford is surrounded by innovation, thought leadership, and technological advancement. Not only is it in the mix of all that — it is a foundational part of it.