There have been no released statistics showing any such thing… it is just CC rumor and gossip that gets passed on from thread to thread. Also, nearly 50% of Harvard students are in STEM… it is not just a recent phenomenon… it has always had a relatively high % of STEM. In fact, Harvard has more students in physical, biological sciences and math, by far, than Stanford. Stanford, obviously, crushes Harvard in number of students in engineering disciplines.
From the CDS 2016-2017:
Computer Science: 06% at Harvard, 14% at Stanford
Engineering: 04% at Harvard, 23% at Stanford
Biological Sci: 14% at Harvard, 06% at Stanford
Math/Stats: 11% at Harvard, 03% at Stanford
Physical Sci: 07% at Harvard, 03% at Stanford
Psychology: 06% at Harvard, 03% at Stanford
Total: 48% at Harvard, 52% at Stanford
Note: 17% of students at Stanford are reported as primarily “Interdisciplinary Studies”, a significant fraction of that could also be specifically in STEM; hard to say from the CDS alone.
If you look at the interdisciplinary studies majors, and make some reasonable assumptions about which are likely to be popular, it looks likely that over 60% of Stanford undergrads are in STEM or STEM-focused majors. Over 40% of Stanford students are from California. It’s a tippy-top university, but it’s a different world from Harvard (and not just because of the weather). Choose accordingly, if you’re fortunate enough to have the choice.
Harvard has the 380 year old prestige as the top school that is hard to beat. Stanford is objectively just as strong a university and in some fields significantly stronger which is why it is able to attract a good portion of the cross admits and has comparable yield figures. Its lay prestige has been growing exponentially in the past few decades and is right behind Harvard’s now however it is not 100% on par with Harvard yet. There is no denying though that Harvard, Stanford are the undisputed top dogs in higher ed and each other’s main competition.
While Harvard has the edge in prestige, I am much more impressed with what Stanford has done within the last few decades. It’s so strong in everything. Even in athletics, no school has won more national championships than Stanford.