I’ve been following this thread for a while now. Although you did not get into Cornell ED, I’m glad everything went very well for you in the end :). Have fun studying CS! Keep us updated on your choice!
Thanks! I’m just waiting on this week’s admit weekends. Super excited to be visiting Stanford tomorrow!!!
Recommended: Zombies vs Humans
@GoBears2023 are you officially a Golden Bear or undecided?
UPDATE:
I’m proud to announce that I will be attending Stanford as part of the Class of 2023! I’m super excited to be moving to the Farm and being a part of Nerd Nation 
Reasons for choosing Stanford over other T20s and HYP:
1 CS Program in the country
Full ride + extra money to help pay for food and such
Everyone there was awesome and super passionate about what they do
People genuinely wanted to go to Stanford for the opportunities
Amazing alumni network
Palo Alto is just a great city, small but not too small
Fantastic sports teams
Right in the middle of Silicon Valley, which means more opportunities for internships
One of the top entrepreneurial colleges in the world
CS Faculty who are doing cool research
Graduate school for CS is top notch as well
Thank you everyone for giving me advice and support throughout the admissions cycle! Now that I have officially finished with college apps, I will be devoting my time on CC to helping more students as they go through the application cycle and watching over the summer programs forum.
@GoBears2023 I thought for sure you would have been an ursine. But as they say Fear the Trees!
I thought I was going to be a bear as well up until this past weekend. Berkeley was definitely the lead contender for bear mascots but I just didn’t vibe with the grade deflation and the overall feel of the campus during Cal Day.
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If you really want to compare grade inflation, you can check online grade distributions (mostly public schools, but available for Stanford as well):
@ucbalumnus Super helpful link!
@GoBears2023…Congratulations!!..happy for you. Stanford + ComputerScience…awesome combo.
Congratulations! How was your Harvard visit?
Congratulations!
I’ve always thought that anyone who gets the option of Stanford, CMU, and Cal can’t really go wrong. Would be interesting to hear you thoughts on them as well. Stanford is a magical place… 
Congrats!
Congratulations @GoBears2023 , have been following this thread and happy that all your hard work has paid off. you are truly an inspiration to many students. Keep up your positive attitude and humility, all the very best !!
Thank you @AV2020! Best of luck with the college process next year!
So based on what I’ve seen here and through my PMs, people are curious about why I chose Stanford over the other colleges I was admitted to. I think it would benefit everyone on here to post about what I liked / didn’t like about other colleges, sort of like a pro’s and con’s list. I’ll try to do 1-2 per day, so that means we’ll be done by the end of two weeks. Hopefully all future applicants will be able to benefit from this!
With all of that being said, I’m going to start off with Harvard:
Harvard (“Ask me what school I went to!”):
Some consider Harvard to be on another level of prestige along with Yale and Princeton. Being one of the oldest educational institutions in the US, many of high school applicants based on its widely recognized fame and world renowned faculty. When I first began the college application process back in June 2018, I, like thousands of other applicants, was immediately attracted to the seductive possibility of becoming part of Harvard’s distinguished Class of 2023. Sure enough, I went straight to working on my essays and spent countless late nights thinking of ways to stand out from the crowd.
Fast forward to February, I seriously thought I would be committing Yale. I already was calling myself a bulldog. I was wearing my bulldogs tshirt with pride and was ready to move to New Haven. When I came back home to a Harvard package in my mailbox, my heart started beating insanely. Thoughts were running though my head. I kept thinking about all the worst possible scenarios. Did I get rescinded? Am I missing something? When I finally mustered the courage to open up the package, my eyes instantly fell on the words “likely to be admitted”. I remember rushing around my house, cheering at the top of my lungs. Once I got the letter, I knew that it was more than likely smooth sailing from there on out.
Days past and Harvard remained at the top of my list, surpassing other fantastic schools. As days started counting down to college signing day, I became more and more excited for Visitas. Little did I know that it would completely change my views on Harvard as a whole …
As many of you know, Harvard was part of the college admissions scandal in which people essentially paid their way into college. Although I would’ve liked to never have seen Harvard in such a bad light, I could simply not forget about it. I know some of you are probably thinking, “Oh, that happened at Stanford as well”. Just bear with me for a second. When I went to Visitas, it seemed to be perfectly normal: streams of red covered the campus, all the people were super accommodating, and everyone really tried to sell Harvard. The CS department was spectacular and the professors I met with were genuinely interested in what they were researching and teaching. Now while all of the Harvard employees were fine, the one thing that drove me away from such a fantastic school was the students I met.
Coming from a low income home, I never had the privilege of getting a new car, taking fun trips to Hawaii, or enjoying what many other students took for granted. Instead, I worked non stop, whether it be gaining money for my family or studying for an upcoming test. This type of atmosphere made me become the hardworking, persistent, and resilient person I am today. Each and everything I achieved over the past four years was through my own blood, sweat and tears. At Harvard, I was appalled to find that my work ethic was not consistent in the potential peers I would have. Many of them seemed to have been gifted a place at Harvard by their parents or simply by the private school they went to. With their socioeconomic status, they believed that they were of another echelon and seemingly looked down on others. One instance that I instantly shut Harvard out of my mind was when I was seemingly alienated by the rich kids for what I presume was the fear that I would steal something since I was “poor”. While coming from a low income family may not have been the life I desired, I was and still am proud of where I come from, as it has shaped me into the person I am today. If I can’t be accepted by my peers, I didn’t believe that I would be able to fully enjoy my time at Harvard, which led to me choosing Stanford.
Pros:
If you’re looking for prestige, Harvard is the one
World renowned institution that will get you any job you want
Great overall breath in undergraduate education
Lots of post graduation opportunities (Law school, medical school, etc.)
Study amongst some of the brightest minds in the world
Grade inflation
You literally cannot fail out of Harvard
Cons:
Lots of cocky people
Some sort of social hierarchy built around money
Clubs and organizations seem to be very exclusive
You’ll be competing against kids with lots of money
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Aw, it would’ve been nice to meet you in the fall. I get what you mean though. Especially when meeting kids at the admitted students reception in Boston, I noticed there was a noticeable population of cocky rich kids. cough Boston Latin cough Even one of my friends that I met during visitas said he overheard a conversation that was sorta a “I have more money than you” contest. But that’s the nature of some kids that get into Harvard. That population will probably exist anywhere you go, including Stanford, but I couldn’t say how prevalent. Regardless, congrats! Best of luck.
Interesting to hear @GoBears2023 and @zbrown01 assessment of the impact of money. I realize that it may be an issue for events etc, but I’m surprised at the conversations that evidently take place. Our S (at Stanford) has a circle of friends that range from uber wealthy to low income, I’ve never heard him or his friends mention similar conversations. I’m wondering if it could be an old-money vs new-money thing. I assume (I know, dangerous) that Harvard has a large presence of old-money students that see more value (and security) in their position based on wealth. Maybe. Who knows.
Re: #316, #317, #318
Hmmm, a comparison of Harvard and Stanford students from College Navigator:
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=harvard&s=all&id=166027#finaid
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=stanford&s=all&id=243744#finaid
| Frosh All Undergraduates
College %FA %Pell %FA %Pell
Harvard 56 15 43 11
Stanford 50 14 60 15
The apparently significant drop in FA recipients and Pell grant recipients from frosh to overall at Harvard may be a reason for concern – perhaps the social environment is not friendly to those not from the upper edge of the SES distribution? This despite the fact that there seems to be plenty of family money at Stanford.