Contact with professor in August, kept in touch. From a T30 school, 7 publications (split equally between EER and EE; 3 first-author), international research experience in a relevant lab, extensive community involvement (founded mentorship program, led course curriculum updates for a foundational course in EE with large team, etc.), strong (ranked top 5%) LORs from 3 department chairs (two departments at my uni, one from international lab), SOP perfectly aligned with research and culture.

Quantum info theory. 1 first author paper.

Six months of research experience, working with sources in 10 languages. No publications yet, currently developing MA thesis into an article.

Got email to look at portal

Major: Industrial & Production Engineering

The day before the decision announcement the checklist in my portal disappeared, and the financial aid appeared.

Very very sad! Stanford is really a hard place to get accepted.