Did years of chess pay off?
Naomi just got accepted into Stanford University. She will study Computer Science.
It's an Early Action admission; regular admissions will be known only in April 2021.
As customary nowadays, we video-recorded the immediate reaction to the message:
2020-12-11 Naomi Stanford acceptance reaction video
Stanford is ranked 2nd in the world and is the most selective among all US universities:
Did all those years of impressive chess achievements pay off big time?
As a Woman International Master, Naomi is the single highest-titled American female chess player applying to colleges in the 2020-2021 admissions cycle.
Her being the World School Girls U13 Chess Champion, and North American Junior Girls U20 Champion, and many-times US Girls champion might have helped as well.
Or maybe it's the perfect ACT test score 36? Plus GPA 4.0, SAT Math II and Chemistry 800, AP exams 5-s? National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar?
Or being Head of Programming at FIRST Robotics Club; an intern at UW Computer Science Makeability Lab; knowing multiple programming languages?
We'll never know for sure. Naomi's chess might have provided that whompf factor that tilted the scales. Especially in the era of The Queen's Gambit chess glamour.
