<p>So how does financial aid work? I think my grants actually exceed tuition + room & board, so how does the excess money work? How am I able to use this/how is this given to me?</p>
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<p>You should know that very little calculus is required for 51. A friend of mine took 51 after 41 (skipping 42) and did fine.</p>
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<p>I took 8 AP’s my senior year (two self-studied). Definitely doable.</p>
<p>I concur with shayonsaleh about calculus in 51. Towards the end you’ll need to remember/relearn the basic differentiation rules for the multivar. calculus part of the course but otherwise 51 is heavily linear algebra based. You will definitely however want to have learned integration (42) for math 52/53 if you plan on continuing in the 50 series.
And once you get in your AP scores don’t seem to matter as much. It is doable and you should try your best, but getting 3s won’t cause them to rescind your admission 
And Stanford doesn’t give transfer credit for most of those anyway. Don’t tank though. If you’re capable of 5s why not go for it? You do want to keep up your gpa though… Don’t let those classes kill you when it counts. I personally took it (relatively) easy senior year which for me was a great idea.</p>
<p>How do students dress?</p>
<p>What are the main popular brands you see on campus?</p>
<p>People wear what they want. T-shirts and shorts are common when the weather is nice. A lot of girls lay out in bikinis spring quarter. People layer for winter. Some people dress nicely every day and some people wear pajamas to class - I’ve never understood Stanford to be the kind of campus where any particular trend or brand dominates at all.</p>
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<p>There are also other fees like orientation fees and health center fees. But, if your actual grant comes out in excess of that, Stanford will cut you a refund check.</p>
<p>2 Questions!
First, how many classes do freshman take in the first quarter, on average?
Also, what is the language proficiency test that we’re given in August about? Does it help us bypass a year of language classes?</p>
<p>Ill tell you in a second, I’m about to take the spanish test right now. god, I don’t know anything about spanish. lol this should be fun</p>
<p>Basically there is an online written/multiple choice test that you take on different dates based on your last name. This test, combined with an oral test during orientation on Sept. 15, will place you into a language class.</p>
<p>collegecurious, you can also use a sufficiently high SAT Subject Test or AP score in a foreign language to fulfill the language requirement (without taking the online/oral testing sequence). If you place out of the requirement but want to continue in that same language, you’re still supposed to take the placement tests to determine the appropriate class for continuing the language.</p>
<p>Considering I still haven’t received this year’s AP scores or taken any placement tests: Can a low score completely lock you out of a specific course sequence…say Math 51, Chemistry 31x, etc…or can you simply opt to take them despite not necessarily receiving the placement?</p>
<p>^the latter.</p>
<p>I know there is a Mac majority on campus, but does this translate to the engineering department (want to major in Biomedical Computation Engineering)?</p>
<p>I’m trying to decide what laptop to get and I’m between the MBP 13, 15, or a Thinkpad. How important are dedicated graphics and the extra screen space for engineering? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I’m going to be doing computational biology work, and it’s my understanding that people can use either Macs or PCs.</p>
<p>I would recommend 13" due to portability - I have the 13" MBP and am glad I didn’t get 15", because even with 13" I can really feel the weight after biking around all day. If you’re just planning to leave the laptop on your desk most of the time, though, the 15" could be better.</p>
<p>Ok so i got my score report from collegeboard and got a 5 on BC calc but i want to take Math 42 (essentially BC calc again) will I have to go through any hurdles to repeat that class or will I be forced to take Math 51?</p>
<p>Question.</p>
<p>Do the kitchenettes have anything in them? I can’t imagine they do, but I don’t really want to buy pans or anything, either. The dining halls aren’t open for Thanksgiving or Spring…</p>
<p>dsnylnd55, I think you can take Math 42 if you want, but you wouldn’t be able to get credit both for that class and for the AP Calc BC exam if they cover pretty much the same material. That’s the way I understand the policy to work.</p>
<p>@dsnylnd55: you will just get 5 credits for AP and 5 credits from the class</p>
<p>This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I’m from New Zealand and am struggling with US terminology.</p>
<p>What is a “transcript legend”? The common app states “Attach applicant’s official transcript, a school profile, and transcript
legend.” I know what the transcript is - we call them “testimonials” - but I’ not sure what the legend is. If it is like a “what does each code mean?” thing, then I’m not sure what the transcript is. Ours takes the form of prose, essentially like a letter, which details everything we’ve ever done while at school.</p>
<p>Hi, Kiwikid,</p>
<p>Yes, a transcript legend is a “what does each code mean” thing. : ) Most high school transcripts aren’t in narrative form in the US, but if yours is, your school can still include a legend-equivalent that explains unfamiliar terminology or methods that are specific to New Zealand. If everything in the narrative is self-explanatory, there won’t be a need for a legend. Good luck!</p>