<p>What was the driving force / compelling reason behind choosing Stanford over those Ivies that have also accepted you?</p>
<p>I was also accepted to Yale. Stanford is closer to Hawaii, a leader in fields I’m interested in (cs, econ), and the weather here is a LOT nicer.</p>
<p>^ how hard was it for you back then when you were still deciding where to go to turn down yale for stanford?</p>
<p>i think it depends a lot on the type of environment you want, what type of campus culture you want, and the program you want to pursue</p>
<p>Yes, RML, there are plenty of Stanford students who turned down HYP, and likewise there are plenty of students at HYP who also were admitted to Stanford. As the prior poster suggested, individual preferences and priorities of all kinds weigh into the decisions.</p>
<p>@RML: I’d advise you to stop cross-posting these threads. Yes, there are Ivy Passers at Stanford, Berkeley and at every other top-tier school. Some turn down the Ivies for reasons like location, weather, cost or the quality of a particular department. Others just seek a different environment away from the stereotypical elitist behavior and pretentiousness that some people believe to be rampant in the Ivies. Bill Clinton, for instance, describes in his autobiography his reluctance to apply to the Ivies despite possessing the grades needed to be admitted.</p>
<p>My S turned down Yale simply because Yale is not strong in math/science. It was a difficult decision though. BTW, there is no ivies, only Stanvard.</p>
<p>D turned down Harvard because Stanford offered a superior athletic program, better weather, and she much preferred the social environment.</p>
<p>I know someone who turned down Princeton and Columbia for Stanford (the only three top-top-top schools she applied to) because she thought she would hate being at the other two institutions for four years - too cold, too unfriendly.</p>
<p>I think the weather is definitely a driving force… <em>sigh</em> Can’t beat sunny Palo Alto.</p>
<p>Another reason was also because for some people, it’s closer to home and they don’t want to move all the way across the country if they live on the West Coast. Easier travel back home, transportation, etc. etc.</p>
<p>it also depends which ivy</p>
<p>I don’t understand the question. Academically, I consider Stanford on par with the Ivys so I would suspect there are scads of people at Stanford who turned down a spot at the Ivys.</p>
<p>I turned down HYP for stanford. I thought a lot about yale, as it seemed the most similar to stanford to me. at the end of the day 1. i’m study engineering/applied sciences, which stanford is better at than those schools 2. people are really excited about being at stanford, whereas it seems people are only excited about getting into/graduating from Harvard/Princeton (especially harvard) and 3. got waaaaaaay too much of an elitist vibe from harvard/princeton</p>
<p>One of my friends transferred from Yale to Stanford. She felt the atmosphere at Yale was too stifling, there was too much competition, and she hated the snobbishness. She visited Stanford and loved it. But I also know people who just adore Yale. Everybody is different.</p>
<p>Ah, so you’ve attended both schools I presume, or is the testimonial of an actual student less credible than your own?</p>
<p>Handala92 – how can you argue with what one person thought? It’s an opinion.</p>
<p>The son of a friend chose S over Y and H. One, his parents went to eastern schools, he wanted to do something different. Plus, on his college trip, there was a blizzard back east. And at S he saw kids studying in swim wear, pool-side. That clinched it :)</p>
<p>Handala92: I’m not sure why you’re blindly assuming that my friend’s experience is bs. I don’t go around posting false experiences on CC for fun. Like I said, “But I also know people who just adore Yale. Everybody is different.” For HER, that was HER experience. I never attempted to claim that was the overall atmosphere at Yale for EVERY Yale student. Plus, my friend never attended any other HPYSM school apart from Yale and Stanford, she just told me what she knows and I thought I would pass on the experience because someone on CC asked.</p>
<p>My son turned down Columbia two years ago to go to Berkeley for no other reason than he liked the environment better.</p>
<p>Handala92 is again full of bs. I actually know the transfer student that is being referenced (we don’t have many transfer students, so its not hard to know who they are).</p>