<p>With decisions coming out soon, I figure some of you will want to know in the near future what life is like at Stanford. So this thread is for you to ask whatever's on your mind, and the current students who lurk around here will answer as best we can. For academic questions, use the other thread.</p>
<p>Do undergraduate and graduate students ever interact?</p>
<p>tx2000: sometimes. Usually they don’t but the do sometimes especially when they’re in the same student group on campus (that’s basically the only time outside lab that I interact with grad students)</p>
<p>What is Palo Alto like and how often to undergrads get into San Francisco?</p>
<p>Not as often as we should. If you don’t have a car (like me), once or twice a year to SF would be a good estimate. If you do have a car, it’s much easier to go up for an evening here and there, and a couple of times a quarter would be realistic if you’re into that.</p>
<p>Palo Alto isn’t that interesting. Lots of good restaurants on University Ave., although some can get expensive. Aside from that, there’s not a whole lot there that’s student-oriented. Other popular destinations include Six Flags south of campus, Sky High in San Jose (a place with copious amounts of trampolining), and the occasional Napa trip.</p>
<p>i’ve heard verizon service is horrendous on campus (and any other cell service besides att).</p>
<p>is it worth switching to att? i’ve always wanted an iphone anyways, haha. if we did switch, my family would just take me off their family plan and i would just pay for my own att plan. </p>
<p>but that’s only if i can find a job. is it uncommon for students to work off campus (like at restaurants like cpk, cheesecake factory, pf changs, blah blah as servers)?</p>
<p>What is the most popular activity on weekends?</p>
<p>Ay, I have T-Mobile…does that mean crappy coverage? Hmm, I’ve always wanted an iPhone as well…</p>
<p>How do dorms at Stanford look? Are they just a room with two beds or is there a common area or living room within the dorm? Are they spacious? Do they comprise of only two people?</p>
<p>^^To add to this question…which is the best dorm for first years?? I know opinions will vary, but basically, how did you choose?</p>
<p>How are the parties and other social events. Do parties happen for most most of the week or only on the weekend? Is greek life an important thing to get involved in if you are interested in an active social life? How is Stanford’s alcohol policy (especially in regard to freshman). Thanks!</p>
<p>And, again regarding dorms, can first years stay in the cross-cultured theme houses, like the Muwekma-Tah-Ruk (Native American) theme house? I’m sorry, a lot of these will probably come in my packet, but I’ve not got that yet, so… :D!</p>
<p>In general, cell phone service aside from AT&T can be spotty on campus – that being said, I have friends who kept their Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile service, so I’d say definitely check it out during admit weekend and make sure you’re getting OK coverage. Some people don’t mind having to stand in certain spots to get reception, but for some people it’s a big deal, so do what’s right for you.</p>
<p>The most popular activity on weekends is probably frat parties/house parties. However, there’s tons of other stuff that goes on during the weekends – football games, basketball games, intramural sports, dorm activities (trips to SF, ski trips, etc), and general just sort of hanging out in your hall/dorm and chilling with people.</p>
<p>The dorms at Stanford range in quality, but in general, a freshman year dorm room will be a one room double. If you’d like to get an idea of what sort of room it is, you can look at the website draw.stanford.edu and look at the rooms in Wilbur, Stern, or FloMo (those dorm complexes are where the majority of frosh will be). Especially with the new draw system (the way of deciding your future housing), your housing situation should get better as you progress through your Stanford career (for example, I lived in a one room double my freshman year and have since lived in a two room double and a single).</p>
<p>Under the new system, all the dorms for first years will be very similar in quality/size. You don’t choose what dorm you specifically want – instead, they ask you what type of housing situation you would like (i.e., co-ed floor all-frosh, single sex floor all-frosh, co-ed floor four class, single sex floor four class, ethnic theme house, etc) and then they place you into a specific dorm after that. The most popular option is all-frosh co-ed, with all-frosh dorms generally considered to be the most social. Some people who have lived in four class dorms will attest to the merits of that dorm style, but I think in general, people really enjoy the dorm situation that they are in freshman year, regardless of what it is.</p>
<p>Parties usually occur on the weekends, although there have been quite a few parties already this first week of spring quarter. I’d say that a good way to get involved with the social life is by being involved in greek life, but it is by no means a requirement. A large number of people are social and have a good time/go to parties/host parties of their own without being affiliated with greek life and it’s really just a matter of preference.</p>
<p>In regards to the alcohol policy, Stanford takes the stance that they want to emphasize safety rather than discipline. This is something that is actually very different from a lot of colleges: instead of the RAs (resident assistants) being responsible for ‘writing up’ students and making sure that the students don’t drink in the dorms, the RAs are simply responsible for making sure that the drinking that occurs in the dorm is safe and that everyone is OK. </p>
<p>Basically, Stanford realizes that college students will drink alcohol and they just want to make sure that there’s an environment where students can do so safely without putting themselves or other people in danger. </p>
<p>Lastly, freshmen can rank their preference to live in certain ethnic theme houses, and can indicate their preference on their housing form that will be sent to you during the summer.</p>
<p>Excuse my barrage of questions, buuuut…</p>
<p>Do you guys need cars to drive around everywhere, or can you survive with just bikes?</p>
<p>And hows the gym? Dirty/clean? Free for students? Open 24/7? At walking distance from dorms?</p>
<p>Hows the food? Does it taste like microwaved frozen dinners, or mom’s cooking? Does it have variety? Are the fruits/veggies fresh? Utilities clean?</p>
<p>Is there a meditation shrine nearby, or at least a tranquil spot to relax at?</p>
<p>Are there any hiking activities near by?</p>
<p>Thanks for reading!</p>
<p>you can survive with just bikes, but it would be nice to have a car to go to Target or Safeway or SF (except freshmen can’t have cars)</p>
<p>gyms: free, clean, walking distance, and i know there is one gym that opens till 1am…but not 24/7</p>
<p>in my opinion, the food is gross tasting. other students seem to like it better than i do though. There is variety, fruits and veggies are fresh, and the utilities as far as i know are clean.</p>
<p>if you want to find a tranquil spot, i’m sure you will. i’ve never heard of any specific meditation shrines, but there is a floor in a builiding that is completely devoted to religion and it’s really nice and peaceful there. </p>
<p>hiking? i don’t know…i would say no…but there is a 2,000 acre biological preserve attached to campus.</p>
<p>how is race interaction? do they mix, or is it more common to find a group of asians going one way, a group of blacks going another, etc. how about interracial dating? or the dating scene in general, for that matter?</p>
<p>About the gyms- Are there open tennis and basketball courts at almost all times, or is space tight? </p>
<p>And do you know any students who play at the golf course? About how much does it cost for students, and do those who play have room in their dorms to bring their clubs?</p>
<p>Also, for the average allergy person, how bad does it get? I’m used to spring being the only bad season in Illinois, but I have no idea about California.</p>
<p>^good question about the allergies… I can’t even imagine my spring allergies getting worse <em>shudder</em></p>
<p>Dating at Stanford is really what you want it to be. Some people find it hard to make real connections with people in the span of time they interact with a large group, say at a party or in large classes. Clubs and social groups seem to be the best place. In terms of diversity, there are groups you can get involved with but Stanford is not the best at facilitating frequent cross-cultural interactions, you need to find ways to do that on your own. Social lives are typically thought of in terms of frat parties by freshmen, but there are other kinds of parties and social events like student concerts (music and dance of all kinds). Usually your email inbox will be full of so many events you’ll just want to delete them all. Try going to a few that sound interesting, especially seminars by guest speakers.</p>
<p>In terms of quiet places to meditate, there is a session on Friday mornings in Memorial Church with a maze for personal reflection. Some of my favorite places to just walk and think are around Lake Lag, the arboretum, or the dish paths. For hiking purposes the dish is the best although it is only 3 miles long and not that much of a jaunt for the robust hiker. The campus rock climbing gym would be a good place to start if you want to make connections with people who may do weekend trips to better hiking locations.</p>
<p>Is it easy to get a job on campus? What types of jobs are available?</p>