<p>For Graduation my parents and grandparents gave me some money to buy a car. In addition to the money I have earned from working this summer, I am able to buy a used BMW Z4, but am also looking at the Honda S2000, Nissan 350z, and Mazda Rx-8. I will be a freshman at Stanford next year, and am concerned of the image of having a sports car, especially a Beemer, for a student at Stanford. I dont want to come off as a spoiled rich brat. Do many students drive such cars? Is there a biase against them? Thank you for your comments.</p>
<p>In my understanding (I don't go there) not very many people there have cars - not because they can't afford it, but because it's not very convenient. That said, I don't think anyone would look down on you because of what you drive. Congrats on the Z4!</p>
<p>Freshmen are not allowed to have a car on campus. After that you can bring a car, and all your friends will love you for driving them around in whatever car you've got.</p>
<p>LOL, if you drive a BMW Z4, Honda S2000, Nissan 350Z, or Mazda RX-8, you will fit right in at Stanford. Students here are pretty wealthy, so the parking lots frequently resembles an auto show. In my small parking lot alone, I've seen the following cars parked regularly: a few 3-series, two 7-series, two Nissan 350Z, two Audi A4, two Acura TL, two Infiniti G35, BMW M3, BMW Z4, BMW X5, Mazda RX-8, Lexus ES330, Lexus RX330, Infiniti FX35, Acura MDX, Acura TSX, Mercedes-Benz CLK, Mercedes-Benz SLK, etc. On the flip side, no one will really look down on you for driving a beat-up car, either.</p>
<p>Freshmen are not allowed to buy parking permits, though, so you might want to wait a year. Alternatively, you could park it just outside campus and bike a few blocks to get to it. The campus is pretty isolated, so there's no free parking if you don't have a permit.</p>
<p>Thirdly you could also find an upperclassman to buy you a permit. </p>
<p>No-one will hate you for having a nice car, as long as you give them rides (that's the job of friends who have cars, after all) but beware that drivers at stanford SUCK.</p>
<p>I haven't noticed that Stanford drivers suck. In my opinion, the bikers suck even more. They run stop signs out of nowhere and expect you to yield to them, even at night. Two bikers often ride side by side in the bike lane, which of course means that you have nowhere to go if there's oncoming traffic. I've encountered bikers using up the entire middle of the car lane even when there was a huge bike lane right next to it!</p>
<p>Get a sleek, expensive bike. That'll show them!</p>
<p>just don't tell anyone you have a car if you're that concerned about it, which you really shouldn't be.</p>
<p>We aren't allowed to have cars, but I am sure there is a way around that.</p>
<p>As one of the uh... beneficiaries of the new fin aid policy (or to put it plainly, one of the poor kids) I will tell you that I am not going to run around thinking you are a jerk because you can afford a beamer. It's your money and I am not judge you based on what you do with it. As long as you don't rub it in my face and then refuse to give me rides. Then I will call you a jerk. :)</p>
<p>If you decide to get a car as a freshman, some people might question your judgement because of the lack of permits for freshmen and laugh at you.</p>
<p>^yeah we've been over that. haha.</p>
<p>I totally agree with im_blue. Stanford is an expensive school to attend after all, so students tend to have nice cars. But a good half of them (I am estimating) have clearly saved hard-earned money to get that used 1996 Toyota Corolla. Nothing wrong with that at all; I have a cheaper car and have never heard or even felt someone judging me for not having a BMW.</p>
<p>That brings up another interesting point about Stanford... I'm from a middle class family and it took me quite a while to realize that so many people were richer than I was. They were so nice I didn't even think about it =] Pretty awesome.</p>