Can’t comment about Econ since I didn’t have friends major in it, but anecdotally the first two intro classes were hard.
Agree with above poster. For bio, you get to select your major advisor when you declare. I remember most majors allowed this except CS I believe was assigned to you since they had so many students. I happened to also keep in touch my premajor advisor since I got lucky and found it to be a good match for my advising needs (an MD).
My kid says the pre-major advisor (PMA) may not ever be truly relevant to what a student is going to do in his/her major, and that that is okay, as, true to your statements, the upperclassmen are a real resource, and happy to be so.
The selection of the advisor, kid says, may find one seeking a much-sought-after professor, one who is desired not because of any specific finely-tuned skills at advising above other profs, but because the prof gives the most excellent lectures and presentations. The students of such an advisor who are able to develop a personalized, particular relationship with the advisor are those more likely to have worked with the prof/advisor in some capacity, such as in a TA role, and thus were in a position to develop a rapport and become known to the prof/advisor.
(The more general-population advisees of such a prof may find that it is not possible to value the advisee/advisor relationship as such, but perhaps value being placed as an advisee with such a ‘desired’ prof.)
Kid relates that almost any professor at the university is happy to speak with someone who wants that one-on-one time and relationship, and that prof need not be the advisor. Finding a prof in one’s intended or actual field of study before one declares, (or even after one declares in a field of interest though not within the major) but with whom one has developed a relationship because of, say, prior classes, can be invaluable and provide the type of guidance that an advisor who was chosen from a departmental short list, may not.
The relationship, guidance and advice which can develop in such a match can cultivate in the student precisely the type of confidence and clarity of trajectory the student is looking for.
Do you recommend that potential junior transfer students retake the SAT? My score as a HS junior was about 1300.
I have no experience with transfer student admissions, and cannot comment on whether SAT retakes have effect on transfer admissions decisions.
What do you suggest girls wear to an alumni interview?
From post #5 this thread:
-Attire? The interview website notes, “Please dress comfortably for your interview. You are welcome to dress in typical high school attire.” In other words, there is no dress code for the interview. Which is quite reflective, really, of Stanford’s relaxed campus culture, where the entire spectrum of formality in attire is represented in every classroom. We were all informed of this, and should not let an applicant’s attire influence our report. In the unlikely circumstance that an interviewer takes issue with the applicant’s dress in the report, the Office would probably remind them that there is no dress code, and the applicant’s final decision will not be affected by this particular comment.
The only female-specific considerations are the common-sense ones I’m sure everyone is aware of regarding low-cut tops or “high-cut” bottoms. Clothing should remain modest during seated positions as well as standing.