Is Stanford now the best school in the world?

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/education/americas-it-school-look-west-harvard.html"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/education/americas-it-school-look-west-harvard.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>yes</p>

<p>(slight bias since I’m going there…)</p>

<p>This is nothing new…and no comment is necessary when the facts speak for themselves… </p>

<p>Stanford is perceived to be top university due to

  1. proximity to Silicon Valley
  2. attractive campus
  3. nice California weather
  4. Good PR in using athletics to advertize the school
  5. Good financial resources and planning</p>

<p>Academically, there are several universities ahead of Stanford.
For example,
Humanities and social science - Harvard, Columbia, …
Sciences - Harvard, Berkeley, MIT,…
Engineering - MIT, …
Medical School - Harvard
Business School - Harvard
Law School - Yale, Harvard,…
Alumni (Awards, Prizes) - Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, MIT,…</p>

<p>On “average” Stanford perhaps is on top, but there is no academic major called “average”</p>

<p>Why do people still compare Stanford with Harvard? I don’t see the comparison of Yale with Stanford, or Princeton with Stanford anymore.</p>

<p>Wow. @kcs. 1 response since 2008. You must have a BIG chip on your shoulder to “all of the sudden” respond to this thread…must really be threatened…</p>

<p>

I’m sorry you are completely wrong and 50 years behind!</p>

<p>…when did you crawl out of the cave to see the “light”…read any Plato lately?</p>

<p>@kcs. Since you only seemed to have woken up recently from a deep sleep 50 years ago…let’s give you the recent world rankings:</p>

<p>Arts and Humanities #1
<a href=“Subject Ranking 2013-14: Arts & Humanities | Times Higher Education (THE)”>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/subject-ranking/subject/arts-and-humanities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Social Sciences #1
<a href=“Subject Ranking 2013-14: Social Sciences | Times Higher Education (THE)”>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/subject-ranking/subject/social-sciences&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Engineering #2
<a href=“Subject Ranking 2013-14: Engineering & Technology | Times Higher Education (THE)”>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/subject-ranking/subject/engineering-and-IT&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Computer Science #1
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Law School Tied with Harvard at #2
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings?int=992008”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings?int=992008&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Medical School #2
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings?int=98fd08”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/research-rankings?int=98fd08&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Business School #1
<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings?int=993c08”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings?int=993c08&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>National Athletic Ranking #1 (has won the Director’s Cup NCAA Top Award for 19 consecutive years)
About to win again this year…</p>

<p>What other school has all these elements along with the beauty of Bay Area…</p>

<p>…and I know how the east coast biased establishment love to “underplay” Stanford’s prowess in the Arts, Humanities, and the Social Sciences…</p>

<p>yeah, it has been for awhile now. top programs in the social sciences, humanities, and engineering. top law school, medical school, and business school. best location, situated in the center of a booming industry. if you want to head east for wall street, that’s always an option too after you graduate. beautiful campus, and happy student body. one of the safest campuses in the country as well. that’s why it’s the most selective university in the country</p>

<p>I wish Stanford would make it a priority to fund international students too (that is to say, it should go need-blind). It’s not that Stanford can’t afford to… it just doesn’t make it a priority. My friend at Princeton was commenting how she applied SCEA to Princeton simply because it was need-blind and was under the impression that Stanford did not have any aid to offer to internationals, which is untrue. I mean seriously, Stanford spends like $6m on international undergraduate students. Compare this to the tiny Middlebury College, which spends $6m too, and Mount Holyoke College, which spends $15m on international aid. Does this imply that Stanford just does not care as much about international socioeconomic diversity? </p>

<p>That said, Stanford is probably the only school that is uniformly strong across the board, with few or no relative deficiencies in any academic areas.</p>