@CA1543 Is Coursera online lectures free? Tx.
@websensation – Coursera is free - I may have been mistaken about the platform it was on - was several years ago. you can see here — https://see.stanford.edu/Course/CS106A
Free courses on EdX and Coursera are great!
@CA1543 thank you for posting the link! My son was admitted REA to Stanford and interested in majoring in CS, so we enjoyed watching that lecture together. He has also been accepted to Berkeley EECS and invited to interview for Regents, and we’re still waiting on Carnegie Mellon and others. I wish Stanford had offered us more FA, our decision would have already been made (!), but as it stands we need to consider all options and the costs/benefits of each. Question: Is there the opportunity as a CS major to intern part-time while in school? This might help to defray the additional cost as compared to his other options, if it is possible.
@ERA991: “A large percentage of the student body will tell your son that he ‘has to take CS 106a because he’s at Stanford and it’s a must-take.’ Personally I feel that’s a lie, and saw many people who had zero interest in taking it suffer through it and actually become quite unhappy following the midterm/during the last few projects. Of course, I saw others discover a new love for CS that they never knew they had.”
Count my daughter in as one who discovered that as much as she (thinks/has thought) she abhors CS, found both the professor and the class dynamic. I was so pleased, because the attitude she had when she went in was almost a sure sign of failure in her future, but…nope!
My S is also among those who came into Stanford with little to no CS experience - or interest - and yet CS 106A was a great experience. There’s also the more mathematical side of CS courses, like CS 103 which really interests some.
On BIO 150 - yes, huge enrollment and interest. My S with zero bio background did work very hard BUT loved it, and also it applies to many areas - not just bio.
@carlsbadbruin Congratulations to your son on his acceptances at Stanford and Cal. The workload for CS at Stanford is very heavy, it will be very difficult to do an internship while taking 15 credits of class work.
I recently found out Stanford requires sending both the ACT and the SAT if you have taken both. I sent my SAT I and IIs, but I took the ACT for state testing purposes last year and did not send that. I plan on calling them tomorrow, but will this negatively affect my application? I fully intend to send my ACT tomorrow, but I don’t want it to look like I tried to hide or conceal something (which I absolutely didn’t). For what it’s worth, my ACT was slightly lower than my SAT at 34, but I don’t know if that matters.
Hi @Era991! I’m an incoming high school sophomore and I’m trying to make decisions regarding my next year’s elective. I want to know what would make me look better since I have a passion for both ASB and Acting. My drama teacher really wants me to continue in his Advanced Acting class because he says it will set me apart from other students, considering I’m in color guard, in the IB program with pretty grades, in multiple clubs, and in class cabinet. I also got accepted into the Stanford Summer Institute program for Legal Studies. I also know ASB would look very good since it’s very difficult to get into. I would like to get your opinion. Thank you.
I have no idea what ASB is for starters. And as mentioned many many times before, I don’t read apps and don’t see the inner workings of admissions. It probably won’t make a big difference either way though, unless ASB turns out to be something really truly impressive and unique that few admissions readers will see more than a few times per cycle.
I thought I might be the only person who didn’t know what ASB stands for. My guess is Associated Student Body or student government. My guess is being class president might help a little. Any other position could be considered a routine high school activity.
It is understandable high school students believe some of their activities really stand out. When you look at things from a distance as a neutral observer those activities might not look all that exceptional. In any event good luck to everyone and thanks to Era991 for his contributions on the Stanford forum.
ASB is a student government class where we organize the school dances and things of that nature. But thank you for your thoughts! @Era991 & @googledrone
I would personally be applying as a transfer student. I did very average in HS, but also took AP classes. My concern is- will my low high school GPA of 2.9-3.2 automatically put me out of being qualified?
I am at a California CC, Senator for the school two years and then Director of Political Development the third. I am in an Honors Society, have 2 certifications (Counter-Terrorism and Ethnic Studies), an AA-T for Political Science, and a constant 4.0 GPA landing me on the Dean’s list each semester. I also took 15-18 semester units each semester. 2 Internships, one under a California Representative and the other in a refugee center.
In HS I was President of 3 clubs, President of the school, Ambassador, and member of city council committees. Taught English overseas for 3 weeks during one of the summers. And I have had one seasonal job since Freshman year of high school and another part-time job all of college. I also volunteered for a magazine aimed at Social Justice for two years. I’ll be choosing my recommendations to be one of the Dean’s and one professor in my department.
I don’t mean to go on and on about all these things and I will probably just pick out highlights, depending on what’s recommended. There’s more I can add on in terms of awards and scholarships, etc. Plus a lot that went on during High School personally. But my main concern is that even though I have done a lot, my high school GPA is like a stain on my record. I’m afraid It will bring my chances down significantly. Any thoughts/ recommendations?
Right. Because it seems this is unclear, I will clarify this: When I stated in my OP that I will have no part in “chancing,” I use that term broadly to include anything masquerading as advice regarding whether or not some hypothetical aspect of an application will have some positive or negative effect on the probability that they will be accepted by Stanford, or advice on what to do to get into Stanford. I will be referring any future PMs or tags to this post and the OP, or ignore them.
The only admissions process I will speak about is the alumni interview, because that is the only one I am involved in. But even then, some of what I know regarding the interview is confidential.
Of course, other posters are free to chime in if they want on this thread regarding chancing business should they arise in the future. Just remember that the only people who know anything concrete about Stanford undergrad admissions, are the readers and (sub)committee members in Montag Hall. And none of them have time to to post on this forum, AFAIK.
If you want my opinion: The honest truth about chancing (at the undergraduate level, where admissions is very mysterious) is that it is not a valuable use of your time or this forum, because no one here has any concrete, evidence-based advice to offer–not even an alumni interviewer like me–only pseudo-educated guesswork. I challenge anyone whose schedule is replete with free time to run an analysis on this forum and find any “chancer’s” opinions whose predictive value is high enough above chance to have any practical utility. Moreover, any admissions process run by humans instead of formulas is inherently subject to a significant amount of chance, making even the best predictions of limited worth; as any student of psychology will know, how favorably an officer views an application can be influenced by something as small as whether they happen to be holding a warm mug of freshly-brewed tea or a cold glass of iced tea. Anyone who doesn’t believe this will soon understand once they go through the process and can look back on it a few years from now. Better yet, get involved in an institutional admissions process, and see the truth of my words.
Simple solution: If you’re interested in Stanford, the just apply. It matters not what anyone on this forum tells you. Throw your name in the hat and see what happens. Either you get accepted, or you don’t. Whether or not you were accepted is not dependent on what the “chancers” on this forum told you, and so neither should be your decision to apply. There is no downside to trying, apart from a few hours of your time filling out the supplement, and paying the $90 application fee. To put that in perspective, that’s the cost of 22.5 McDonald’s Big Macs, before tax. Fee waivers are available if you are unable to pay that for financial reasons. If you don’t want Stanford enough to give up 22.5 Big Macs, then that’s a sign that you shouldn’t apply.
I’d love to know more about some of the specialized living/learning arrangements like the Freshman-Sophomore College, ITALICS, etc. My D17 has been accepted and we’re intrigued by FroSoCo. But it appears you have to apply by the beginning of April so we need to decide fairly soon. I had been thinking we’d just learn more during Admit weekend.
@picklesarenice Two of the most polarizing special residential programs are SLE and FroSoCo. In general, I think you’ll find that 99% of people who chose to not pick SLE or FroSoCo will strongly advise that you not pick them either, whereas 90%+ of people who were in SLE or FroSoCo will highly recommend them to you. So at least you know that, going in, you’ll almost certainly enjoy your experience regardless of your decision here.
I personally did neither program, so keep in mind that I have my own biases. I tried to tone them down here to be more objective, but you’ll want to hear from other people to get as fair a comparison as possible.
If you talk to Stanford students who did not live in SLE or FroSoCo, you will hear about a stigma against FroSoCo and SLE as a whole, even though most people have a few close friends from one of those programs. The problem stems from the fact that they are so close-knit to the point of being insular, so the cross-talk between SLE/FroSoCo and non-SLE/non-FroSoCo freshmen is much more limited on average than even, say, Lag and Wilbur freshmen.
FroSoCo also has the problem of being farther away from any other freshmen dorms, as well as most classrooms aside from SEQ and the medical campus. So it is especially isolated due to simple geography. The facilities were also much less nice and more outdated (especially the bathrooms) than any other dorm when I was there, although it’s possible they’ve renovated since I graduated.
SLE is more isolated due to the number of SLE-only classes they take. Unsurprisingly, when you take all of the same classes with the same people you live with, you become a very tight-knit group. They simply have less time in the day to meet classmates outside of SLE.
The obvious benefit of SLE is that it makes a lot of sense to apply if your academic interests align with the program.
ITALIC started after my freshman year, so I don’t know too much about it, but some of my underclassman friends said it wasn’t too involved or time-consuming, so it ended up being quite similar to a normal freshman dorm experience in any other Stern Hall building.
Hope that helps! 
In short, I would recommend applying to SLE or ITALIC only if you like it for the academic fit; if it’s a close-knit community you want, the freshman and four-class dorms do an excellent job of that, so there’s no need to apply to a special residential program to find community.
Heard Stanford dorm food not that good. Which dorm to which freshman can get in has the best food in your opinion. Tx
@websensation Ha. Yes it’s all relative I suppose. Whenever my parents visited, every time without fail they would marvel at how good my dorm food was compared to theirs back in the day (they both went to large UCs). Whenever my high school friends came to visit or I visited them at other institutions, we all agreed that Stanford dining halls were certainly not the worst, but also not the best.
I think the biggest issue was lack of variety, not in terms of the daily offerings, but in terms of the ~weekly rotating menu. Back in the beginning of my own Frosh year, I remember being wowed by how many different dhalls and how many choices at each choices I had at each one; but after four years of the menu rotations, every dhall’s menu became repetitive.
How good people agree each one is can change a bit from year to year, as chefs and menus change, so my info may be out of date by now. You’ll probably want to ask a current student to jump in here. Below is how it was my year, regarding the Frosh dhalls. What you like most may depend on your preference. I’ve omitted the dhalls not directly attached to a frosh dorm; although you can go to any dhall, 90% of Frosh sit down meals will be at their home dhall, partly because it’s most convenient and mainly because all of their dormmates eat there.
-Wilbur–Some of the choices each meal were Asian themed. The brunches were also excellent. Something like ~35% of Frosh live here.
-Stern–Mexican food themed. If you like burrito bowls, you’d probably find yourself here often. Good selection, sort of “standard” Frosh dining in my opinion. Another ~35% of Frosh live here.
-Flomo–Everyone always enjoyed the Indian food for Sunday dinners here. It would always get extremely crowded for that meal, so show up early if you go to these. Other meals were pretty standard, with the notable exception of ice cream as a dessert option every time.
-Lag–Not great, not bad. It used to be better back in my Frosh year when it was known for its brunches in particular; it declined for unknown reasons during my last year there. Hopefully it’s gotten better since I graduated.
-Ricker–Everyone agreed it was pretty good overall, and known for its dessert. But it’s so far away, that almost no one who doesn’t live in FroSoCo or has restrictive food allergies will often go here.
Overall, my year I would say Wilbur was my personal favorite overall. Would highly recommend checking out Manzanita dhall attached to the Manzupperclass dorm complex, as many students (at least when I was there) agreed it was the best overall. Also, would highly recommend some of the non-dhall eating options on campus, such as Coupa Cafe, Russo Cafe, and the Alumni Cafe.
Are there social hierarchies among Stanford students along the line of what this OP wrote about Duke? That OP’s post was pretty interesting, and by the way, corresponded with my impression of what Duke is like even though I never went there. Just your impression from your own experience or what you heard etc.
The OP in the above thread divided Duke’s social hierarch into the below groups. [I cut and pasted for your convenience.] The term “SLG” is defined by the OP as: SLG (Selective Living Group): These are advertised as alternatives to Greek life. At the core, they are basically a group of about 100 people who live together and hang out.
My impression is that Stanford students don’t quite fit into the same social groups at Duke but was wondering what you thought.
"With some flexibility, the social hierarchy is:
- Athletes
- People in the “top tier” sororities and fraternities
- People in the “mid-tier” sororities and fraternities
- People in the “top tier” SLGS
- People in the “mid-tier” SLGS
- Independent Girls
- People in the “low-tier” sororities and fraternities
- People in the “low-tier” SLGS
- Independent Guys
Girls have a slightly easier time than guys since many guys higher in the hierarchy will invite them out to events if they find them attractive enough.
Dating and socializing above or below your respective social tier is also virtually non-existent. People literally have conversations about which social group another person is in and will pre-judge them based on it. While there are friend groups that exist across different social tiers, it is by far not the norm."
@websensation In my experience, absolutely not. A “social hierarchy” as described above does not exist in any palpable form. As you would expect from any school larger than a few hundred students, there are noticeable friend groups and social circles, but the lines are drawn along shared interests, geography, and simple convenience. The culture on campus is an inclusive one, and you don’t really see anyone with a superiority complex.
People spend the most time with their respective birds of a feather–athletes with athletes, Greeks with Greeks, coders with coders, artsy types with artsy types, etc.–but there are always a good amount friendships that cross multiple lines. I think two things contributed to this cross-talk. First and most importantly, the Frosh dorm unit becomes an incredibly tight-knit community as I mentioned before, and many of the friends you will keep for life were made in those hallways; many of those friendships will find their separate ways across campus throughout the four years, but you’ll make time to see them even if you’re staffing FroSoCo and they’re in Haus Mitt or Sig Chi. Second, staffing (Frosh dorms) is a very desirable and very common thing to do, and the staff of a Frosh dorm is very diverse on purpose; given that staffs get very close and form lasting friendships, this represents another nexus of overlapping social circles.
Dating across the Greek and other social lines is common. There are few enough frats & sororities that it’s not a case of “tiers” but rather one of distinct Greek personalities, and which one you fit in with best. Row parties are very inclusive, with none of the doorkeepers and entrance fees you see at other institutions (although the best alcohol and the upstairs may be reserved for the house’s members and their personal guests).
The closest thing to a “hierarchy” that I can think of would be the Frosh dorms I described above, in the sense that there is a commonly perceived “stigma” against SLE and FroSoCo as a whole, not helped by the fact that the two groups are so insular and isolated from the rest of the Frosh class. But it’s more of a tongue-in-cheek "they’re weird over there’ mindset, and not a “we’re better than they are” one. And again, everyone will find themselves with at least one or two close friends who were in SLE or FroSoCo by graduation.
I’m confident that your son will find this to still be the case. It’s a very inclusive and laid-back culture. The snootiness that you may find elsewhere has no place on the Farm, and Frosh discover this for themselves very early on. I remember being quite pleasantly surprised to find this myself, all those years ago.
*Edit: Just to give you a baseline, here’s a snapshot of my closest friends whom I–as a non-Greek, non-athlete, pre-med, life sciences major–regularly hung out with during senior year (when I wasn’t busy taking care of my frosh residents!). About a fourth of them were from my Frosh dorm. You can see it crosses all sorts of traditional lines including Greek, athletic, dorm/row house, and academic:
-1 housed frat member
-1 non-housed frat member
-1 engineering major, athlete
-2 CS majors, very studious
-1 psych major, also very artsy, lived on the row
-1 humanities major, very good student but also very fun loving, lived on the row
-2 pre-meds, both also Greek
-2 pre-meds, neither Greek
-1 staff member of a different dorm I met during staff training, Greek, varsity athlete
-1 staff member of a different dorm I met during staff training, Greek
-1 staff member of a different dorm I met during staff training
-And, of course, all of my dorm costaff, who were a very diverse group (again, by design so that all of our Frosh could relate to at least one if not all of us)