Current Student...ask Away

<p>and can you use meal points at jamba juice?</p>

<p>The meal points (Cardinal Dollars) can be used at places that Stanford Dining operates: the Coffee House (CoHo), Union Square, Subway, and Peet's Coffee (in the student union food court), the Alumni Center cafe, the Clark Center cafe (LINX), Olives, and the two late night cafes (Stern and Lakeside). Sorry, no Jamba Juice.</p>

<p>i'd like to know about the a capella/other music groups for nonmusic majors too (do people who don't major in it even have a chance of getting in?), and the vegetarian stuff -- any good vegan food, or is that too much to ask? :)</p>

<p>Wow, so many questions to answer...</p>

<p>I really like the dorms here. My room is WAY bigger than the sample dorm rooms I saw when touring Minnesota and Wisconsin. The lounges are really nice, at least in Wilbur. I'm not a big fan of the Stern lounges that I've seen.</p>

<p>More on dorms: There are two ethnic theme dorms you can live in as a freshman: Ujamaa (African-American) and Okada (Asian). You might be able to live in the Native American house also, but I'm not sure about that as it's on the Row. As far as I know, pretty much all the dorm lounges have pianos. As a freshman, you should plan on having at least one roommate, although there are a very tiny number of frosh that get singles.</p>

<p>Food: I like food here, for the most part. Lately, I've been getting just a little tired of dorm food. One of the things that annoys me a bit is that Stanford has this weird "destination dining" thing where each dining hall has an ethnic theme (this doesn't apply to Row houses and the like). For me, it means that every night, Wilbur has Chinese/Mongolian food. There's plenty of other stuff, but when fried rice and chicken are an option at every meal, it constricts the variety just a little. Vegetarian and vegan options seem to me to be ample and well-labeled, although I'm neither, so I'm not the best person to ask.</p>

<p>A capella is awesome. I regrettably haven't been to a show yet, although I tried to get into Fleet Street's sold-out fall show. A word of warning: people who get in often talk about "selling your soul to a capella"; there's even a Facebook group dedicated to it. It kind of dominates your life, from what I've heard.</p>

<p>Other music opportunities: There are plenty. I'm a math/physics major, and I play in Wind Ensemble (percussion), and sometimes the orchestra when they need me. The audition process, at least for Wind Ensemble, seems pretty laid-back to me. If you're reasonably good at your instrument, there's a pretty good chance you'll get in.</p>

<p>Finally, don't discount the LSJUMB as a performance opportunity. I'm of the opinion that you get out of it whatever you want to put into it. Some people just come and play and party once in a while, others really get into it. In my case, I'm learning a new instrument (trombone) and learning to arrange with the Band.</p>

<p>What do Stanford students call themselves? Stanfordians? Trees? Cardinal(s)?</p>

<p>I miss the Indians.</p>

<p>We're Stanfordites. Not trees, not cardinals. The tree is the mascot of the Stanford Band, not the school, and our "mascot" is the color cardinal.</p>

<p>The only way in which the color designates people is in sports, as in "Cal beat the Cardinal at Big game" or "Card win 188849th NCAA championship"</p>

<p>I have heard "Stanfordians" much more than "Stanfordites" and I much prefer the former.</p>

<p>You're right, a quick Google search shows 441 hits for "Stanfordian" and 134 for "Stanfordite."</p>

<p>I've never heard either of those. All I ever hear is "Stanford students".</p>

<p>yeah, all i hear is stanford kids</p>

<p>nobody here calls each other or refers to themselves as "stanfordites" or the other one.</p>

<p>just stanford students/people/kids/guy/girls...you get the gist.</p>

<p>Can a white person stay in Ujamaa? (serious question)</p>

<p>haha...yes. did you mean for admit weekend or the actual school year? the answer is still yes for both. just request it on the form you'll get for where you want to stay for admit weekend. and when you fill out your preferences online in may/june for where you want to live, put ujamma as #1 and hopefully you'll get in.</p>

<p>what's ujamaa?</p>

<p>It's the Afro-American theme dorm. Which leads to my question: Is it true the there is less self-segregation of Afro-American students at Stanford that at some other schools? Is everybody happy with the amount of interaction (or any lack thereof)?</p>

<p>What do you really mean when you say "xyz theme dorm"? Does it have something to do with the food you get there or is it do with the decor?</p>

<p>Theme dorm means the students tend to have a certain lifestyle, and the dorm likes to do common activities.</p>

<p>the "themed" dorms are ujamma (african america), casa zapata (chicano/latino...although pretty much mexican), muwekma (native american), and okada (asian). i believe each dorm has 40-50% of the themed race living in it. there are also activities that go on dealing with the theme. as far as the food goes, each of the themed dorm is actually a part of a dining hall that feeds several dorms, so its not explicitly any type of food. dining halls do have "themes" but pretty much every dining hall, as far as dorm with freshman, will be very similar.</p>

<p>and as for the segregation question, there's pretty much less segregation at Stanford period. i mean, naturally cliques and groups will form, but every interacts with everyone else for the most part.</p>