<p>Wheretogo09, I also have the opportunity to choose between Harvard and Stanford. What you need to remember is that there is no wrong decision; you are in the best possible position now, in terms of choices. Have you visited both (admit weekends?)? If not, you might consider visiting and seeing if one completely clicks for you. It’s worth a shot.</p>
<p>Congratulations and good luck!</p>
<p>I’m kinda stuck in the same situation. Stanford is also about a 30min drive from my house. I applied there mainly because my parents made me, and I was surprised when I got in. I also got into my dream school… Columbia, and although I’d like to go to New York… I’m having a hard time making a choice now…</p>
<p>what about putting Stanford up against Brown, if you’re a multi-interested, but basically science guy from rural east coast place, btw?</p>
<p>When I was looking at colleges, I remember really liking Brown. They feature complete freedom in choosing classes and designing your own major. While I don’t know much about the sciences at Brown, I know the science departments at Stanford are among the best in the world. In my opinion, Stanford is a much better school all-around. However, if you want to escape IHUM, PWR, and GE requirements, then Brown is the place for you. I have heard that it has an atmosphere that is, on the whole, more chill and relaxed than your typical Ivy.
Have you visited both places? I know this has been reiterated on this forum more times than I care to count, but it really does help. You should know fairly quickly whether or not Brown is right for you upon visiting; it’s a unique place. More of a Wesleyan-ish/top-flight LAC feel than the other Ivies I’ve seen, in my opinion.
I don’t think you can make a wrong decision here, though. Good luck!</p>
<p>In regards to the OP, I’d like to share something I heard over and over again at Stanford Admit Weekend from kids who had been admitted to both Harvard and Stanford. Here is a brief summary of a conversation I had over and over again with kids who got into both schools:</p>
<p>ME- You got into Stanford and Harvard? Wow! That’s so cool! So which one are you going to choose?
OTHER KID- Oh, Stanford for sure. It’s not even close. This admit weekend clinched it for me. And I just did not like Harvard at all.
ME- (already aware of what his/her answer will be, since I’ve already heard it 20 times in the past few days) What was it that you didn’t like about Harvard?
OTHER KID- Well, it’s pretty obvious that they hate their undergrads.</p>
<p>This isn’t a myth. If you don’t want to take classes that are taught solely by TA’s and grad students, then head to Stanford. Wait to go to Harvard till grad school. Although, if you’re so really that wrapped up in prestige, just go to Harvard for undergrad. If the name is all you want, then Cambridge is the place for you. Judging by what the speakers at the admit weekend events said, Stanford isn’t looking for kids who just want to go there due to the name recognition factor.
Now that I’m done buttering up my soon-to-be alma mater, I will admit that Harvard has lots of wonderful things to offer, including residential colleges that blow Stanford’s freshman dorms out of the water.
One thing that I thought was interesting was that, at Stanford, I didn’t meet any kids who were deliberating between Harvard and Stanford (they had all already made up their minds!), but I met lots of kids who were agonizing between Stanford and Princeton. Interesting.</p>
<p>soxfan is so right. I just went through this same decision, I chose Stanford. You only get to have an undergrad experience one and Harvard really didnt seem to care about their undergrads especially in comparision to Stanford.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>By going to “Harvard”, it doesn’t mean that you will automaticly become a multi-millionaire, or a whatever you wanna become. It seems to me you are going to WASTE four years of you life going to a college that doesn’t fit you, if you chose to go to Harvard. If, after four years at Harvard, you come out an unchanged person, and feel your college experience just wasn’t what it was meant to be, you havent chosen the right college. Just forget the name of the school, because if you say you went to Harvard, people will be amazed, if you say you went to Stanford, people will be just as amazed. I’m sure many people that attend Stanford turned down Harvard, because, quite frankly they knew that Stanford was the better fit for them as it is for you. </p>
<p>So, basically, chose Stanford because you know it’s a better fit, and in my honest oppinion its the better school. Stanford has just as many famous alumni as Harvard, the campus is the most beautiful on I have ever seen (I could only imagine what it would be like to live four years in a beautiful campus like that), the people are much friendlier and laid back (Cali. mentality), a you will get a great education (if not better than Harvard’s).</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>supersizeme</p>
<p>P.S. Im sorry if I posted this too late, as I know decision were due last Friday, I hope you made the right choice. I wrote this more for future applicants stuck in a similar situation as you.</p>
<p>Tagging on to what supersizeme said about this being late and mainly for next years’ applicants…</p>
<p>I was stuck between Stanford and Penn, but my parents and basically the rest of my family wanted me to go to Harvard, which I already knew from the day I applied that I didn’t want to do.</p>
<p>While I can’t really articulate why I chose Stanford over Wharton or Harvard convincingly (the competitive vibe at Wharton would kill me), I can say that everyone I talked to at Harvard told me to go to Stanford. And this was more than just the 4 people I stayed with, I swear. At Harvard, I just felt this general negative vibe. People were rude or crabby for no apparent reason, except for maybe the rain. Granted this may just reflect the general attitude of many people in Boston, but I didn’t like it. Even if people were studying like crazy in there dorms at Stanford, I still felt this positivity on campus that I didn’t really feel anywhere else, Ivy or otherwise. Stanford may be in its own bubble, but it’s a pretty nice bubble.</p>
<p>I think living near your home is also–in some ways–beneficial; you can occasionally meet your parents and your friends; have your own bedroom; have your parents’ support, in case if you get sick or injured, or go through tough times. Also, it’s warmer on the West Coast than on the East Coast–although I am only mentioning that because I like a warmer, sunny climate! If I were you, I would go to Stanford. Great School. Great location. :D</p>
<p>Edit: Oops, I think I was about 3 months late…</p>
<p>Is there a student satisfaction ranking somewhere out there? Maybe then we can finally clear the “Harvard vs. Stanford” debate.</p>
<p>^ Yes. The Princeton Review does a survey each year. Stanford ranks #4 for the happiest students while Harvard does not make the top 20. Interestingly enough, Brown comes in at #1. In addition to the common Princeton v. Stanford decision, I think Brown pops up quite a bit (and will even more now that Emma Watson is going there). Turning down Brown was the hardest decision I had to make.</p>
<p>I go to Stanford so I’m obviously super biased, but I think it was definitely the best choice for me. I got into all of the HYPS schools but I really dont know if I would have fit in well at HYP. Stanford has a super diverse group of students (in the broadest sense) and people generally don’t think that they are better than the rest of the world because they go to a good school, which was not the impression I got at some other schools admit weekends… I have a few good friends from high school at Harvard specifically that aren’t have a particularly good time there. But hey they get to say they went to Harvard which is definitely worth something so… Stanford doesn’t have as many 100 generation legacies as HYP do which is nice.</p>
<p>What is funny is that I only know one person from my HS that left a top school and the school she left was Brown, lol.</p>