Issue date: December 23, 1998

Stanford says no to Tyler MacNiven, but he's upbeat, may reapply later Stanford says no to Tyler MacNiven, but he's upbeat, may reapply later (December 23, 1998)

Tyler MacNiven found out last week that he won't be going to Stanford University next fall. But he refuses to admit his "Tyler For Student Campaign" was a failure.

"My goal was to make every possible effort, leaving no options untested," said the Woodside High senior. "That's what the campaign was really about."

Besides, Tyler says, attending Stanford "has been my ultimate goal since the seventh grade, and one piece of paper isn't going to stop me."

Tyler, the son of Buck's of Woodside owners Margaret and Jamis MacNiven, said he called the admissions office after he received a letter saying he hadn't been admitted. "My main concern was that they might have been turned off by my activities," Tyler said.

"The admissions officer told me that I did get noticed and that my campaign was not detrimental. I was outgunned by students with even higher academic and civic achievements than my own."

He was told there were fewer than 500 students accepted for early admissions, from 34 states and over a dozen foreign countries.

This setback is only "the end of round one," Tyler said. "I can reapply and seek admission as a transfer student."

And his confidence hasn't been shaken. "I will be attending the University of California at Berkeley," he says flatly, despite the fact that admissions offers haven't yet been made by Cal. "I'm 18 years old and the sky's the limit," he says.