Most advice about getting into top schools focuses on grades, joining clubs, and stacking leadership titles.
What almost no one tells you is that schools like Stanford care far more about something else: initiative. They look for students who chart their own path, build something meaningful, and tell a clear, authentic story through their extracurriculars.
In this talk, I’ll share how I did exactly that, not by checking boxes, but by creating opportunities instead of waiting for them. I’ll break down what actually mattered in my application and how you can apply the same mindset to your own path.
This is the part of your application that matters more than anything else.
