<p>^^^^i decided just to combine all the ?'s so ignore the above post. stupid 20 min limit on "edit post".</p>
<p>is there much drinking/drugs at Stanford. I mean, how is the social atmosphere on campus in general?
---there are many who drink, and many who don't drink. i don't believe its a problem. of course you have people that throw up and stuff like that, but that'll happen everywhere. stanford is pretty lax on its alcohol policy. what i mean is it doensn't set out to shoot and kill those who drink underage. instead, they promote a "helping" environment. basically they tell you to help each other if one of you is drunk or passedout and get help without worrying about reprecussions. socially, its very alive. always something to do, alcohol or no alcohol. it IS stanford. we aren't really the type to get drunk off our asses every night.</p>
<p>hows the dating atmosphere in general?
---if you want to, its def doable. of course, those are those who are conservative. look in the main Stanford forum under the thread of this same title and you can see what i put about the dating/sex scene. i'm too lazy to copy and paste.</p>
<p>is it a high pressure environment (gradewise)?
---i think most of the pressure comes from yourself. there isn't a lot of the cut throat atmosphere felt at those hoity toity easter universities. i think its all about how you personally approach school. i'd say 80% of the pressure come from the individual and their own standards and expectation for what they want. the rest is normal parent/don'tknowwhatiwanttodoinlife/collegeatmosphere pressure.</p>
<p>a. Is working at Stanford hard-- I know we have to do 8 to 9 hours a week to help pay off loans but does it intrude on personal time?
---well you'll have less time to do something else, like sports for instance. but it's definetely not a burden on social life or other things. i know lots of people that worked this past quarter and it never came between them and other commitments. job hours are lenient and school comes first. they'd call in b/c they had exams or tests and it was ok.</p>
<p>b. How smart are the kids at Stanford. Are they overtly serious pricks (I am pretty sure they are not) or completely party hardy characters?
---you have it all. there are some pricks, though not many. most are pretty normal kids. there are some crazy genius's, but not everyone knows everything. i've met people that are in junior math courses as freshmen, and i've met people that don't know what oxidation numbers are. that doesn't mean one is einstein and one is an idiot. everyone has something they excell in some way or another. but overall, yeah, people are smart. above average, but not intimidating or daunting for the most part. trust me.</p>
<p>c. I did summer at Stanford and the food was mediocre (likely because of summer programs). How is the food for most of the year?
---i talked about this in the thread with this same title in the main Stanford forum. excuse my laziness.</p>
<p>d. Intramurals, how big are they?
---depends on your dorm, and how involved you want to be. usually, frosh dorms are pretty into it. basketball is pretty big. dodgeball, frisbee, and touch football were this past quarter. it's def fun and a lot of people like to play. so it's big for intramural. to give you an idea, i believe there are 3 divisions for intramural basketball (2 for sure). div 1 is basically varsity rejects and varsity athletes from other sports out season during winter quarter ie football players.</p>
<p>e. Here on the east coast, a lot of people don't really look up to Stanford as much as the HarvPrinceYale. From knowing peeps on the West, will a degree from the Farm take you as far as other places?
---well, i'm only a freshman, but everyone out here knows stanfords pretty freakin good. so in cali, i would say its as good, if not better, than a hahvahd or other stick up thier you know where school.</p>
<p>f. How are the internment oppurtunities?
---really good. i get like 38428430 emails about oppurtunities and i know a lot of people who have done them.</p>
<p>g. Courses: mostly fun, or mostly drab?
---IHUM and PWR suck. i'm a techie though. but courses you are forced to take suck no matter what. of course, class you are interested in are awesome. IntroSems (introductory seminars) are fun. you apply to the ones you want and its a small class taught on specific subjects. heres more info <a href="http://fsp.stanford.edu/forStudents/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://fsp.stanford.edu/forStudents/index.html</a> overall, GER (general ed req) are a ball/boob buster if you don't like that particular subject. an english major is probably not going to like finishing the math req. but overall, courses can be bearable at the least if you get a good prof and gread TF/TA. I hated my IHUM but my TF was awesome, so i didn't mind the course. always make sure to get a great TA/TF for all your courses.</p>
<p>h. Race mingling: I know its diverse, but do races stick to themselves or is there some "cross-polination?"
---def diverse. a lot of race socials and race specific activities, but that's just the usual pride and educational side to it. races mix in classes, sports, everything. if i had to pick one race that sticks pretty closely to itself, i'd say the black community. but even then, it's no where near exclusive or anything. stanford is really diverse and any race congregation or specific group you see is too plan some sort of event where all are invited to learn and experience new things. no discrimination. if there is any, its an individual, not a group. </p>
<p>i have some questions about the dorm lottery, how does it work? i have no clue what the process is like and would like to learn about it.
---what im_blue said. but don't worry about it until the end of your frosh year. you should make friends to draw with first, unless you're a loner, which usually doesn't end up being the case.</p>