<p>So I know that there are a couple of current Stanford students on this board. What are some of the advices that you would like to tell these freshmen? What are some of your regrets so that they don't make the same mistake?</p>
<p>i already posted this in another thread, but:
outside scholarships can only be used to pay off workstudy and loans. if you get more money than your workstudy and loans total then stanford just takes away from your grant money. and if you aren't on finaid at all then they're useless. just fyi, cause i wish someone would've told me that...</p>
<p>Just to be clear, this is a thread for advice, while the other thread <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=278148%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=278148</a> is for specific questions. Yes?</p>
<p>My advice is to take advantage of all the educational resources around you - the professors, the TA's, the tutoring services, and your peers. If you're having trouble with your studies, or just want to reinforce your learning, don't be too proud to reach out for help. College is tough, and it's okay if you can't figure everything out alone. :)</p>
<p>^listen to what celest said I made the mistake of not reaching out for help first quarter and my GPA dropped as a result.</p>
<p>My personal advice is to remember that your at Stanford now so the competition isn't going to be easy. Don't expect to get 4.0 GPAs easily like in high school here you really have to earn that A. So don't come to Stanford thinking it's similar to high school!</p>
<p>"Don't expect to get 4.0 GPAs easily like in high school": From my personal experience, I found it easier to get a 4.0 at Stanford than in high school, esepicially because you don't have to deal with the annoying weekly tests and other busy work. In one class, all I had were 2 essays and a final exam, and it was better that way because I could focus my energy on only a couple of assignments to make sure they were good. (I took classes at Stanford during the last summer quarter; I'm going to be a freshman there in the fall)</p>
<p>^to each his own.
Personally the competition at Stanford is much higher than at my high school (which was actually the toughest school in the country). I'm trying to make sure incoming freshman aren't expecting their GPA's to be like their high school's (most incoming students have a high school average of >3.9 the number of freshman with that GPA is considerably low.</p>
<p>In my humble opinion, wait until you get onto campus before you speak. A summer class at Stanford is imcomparable to the one at Stanford. I audit BioSci 41 last summer and the material could not even measure up to my sophomore AP Biology class in high school whereas the knowledge I gained from BioSci 41 in the fall was like drinking from a fire hydrant. I was immensely overwhelmed.</p>
<p>A 4.0 is not easy. And this is my advice to all the incoming freshman. You'll have to excuse my language: "You're not the s.h.!.t anymore. Find happiness in being mediocre. It's a great lesson to learn early."</p>
<p>Going to Stanford for me means to gradually lower my standards until I am more than happy with getting the mean, let alone a standard deviation above it. Let's face it. In college, everyone works as hard as you do.</p>
<p>staticsoliloquy pretty much said what I wanted to say.</p>
<p>I think that there is plenty of room to achieve if one wants it. </p>
<p>I think contenting oneself with the mean, even at Stanford, is simply accepting it. Some students will always work harder than others. </p>
<p>It's a choice of what you want to have in your life.</p>
<p>my philosophy is that academics is only half the learning experience at stanford. I'm not saying to spend half your time on social activities and half on work (because obviously, that wouldn't work for many cases). What I'm saying is to not neglect the wealth of knowledge in your friends, and the many things to "learn" from just socializing with people. Find a good balance. You'll be happier.
This is coming from a relatively shy person too.</p>
<p>I agree with ajimmykid. Some of the most memorable times at Stanford didn't have anything to do with studying the reagents for hydroboration or how to open an acetal ring. </p>
<p>I don't know if this is true in any other department, but within the science departments (physics, biology, chemistry, and of course math) and the engineering departments, no matter how much you study, your grade does not reflect it. Sometimes, your effort plateau. Seriously. We are so used to this idea that the more we study, the higher the grade will be. After all, that belief holds true throughout high school. We didn't even have to try to get an A in high school. But I digress. </p>
<p>In college, be content that you tried your best whether that best is an "A" or a "B". And it's up to you to define your "best." Is it going to the library after every class to rewrite the lecture note? Is it going to every office hour with question? Is it doing every recommended problem your professor suggested? Is it sleeping for four hours a night? Whatever your best is, be satisfied that you tried. So you can be depressed when you look at your final grade, blaming, "Why didn't I study more" when you did your best or you can be content and say, "I did my best. And that's more than I could ask of myself." Some students do work harder than others, but time passes the same for all of us, so what are those students sacrificing by working harder? Will you make the same sacrifice?</p>
<p>Staticsoliloquy, that's a great post!</p>
<p>Concurring with ajimmykid. Only half the stuff you learn is academic, and my guess is that's true at any school.</p>
<p>Also, bring a camera.</p>
<p>yeah i am only a freshman, but it has def. been a great experience from the enviornment to the coarses. I am doing pre-med and loading up on chem, but just remember dont forget to explore what great coarses stanford offers, whether it be science or not!</p>
<p>
[quote]
outside scholarships can only be used to pay off workstudy and loans. if you get more money than your workstudy and loans total then stanford just takes away from your grant money. and if you aren't on finaid at all then they're useless. just fyi, cause i wish someone would've told me that...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Fortunately that is not entirely true. While it is true that outside scholarship can only offset your self-help portion (and not your EFC) IF you obtained federal financial aid, people who have a 100% EFC and aren't on financial aid will find outside funds MOST beneficial. In fact, this is the only way to reduce one's EFC.</p>