<li>Is Stanford diverse?</li>
<li>Is Stanford rich in research opportunities for freshmen and other undergrads? </li>
<li>Is Stanford’s campus beautiful?</li>
<li>Are Stanford undergrads happy with their choice of college?</li>
<li>Is Stanford highy-esteemed in the sciences(undergrad classes) and comparable to MIT?</li>
<li>Is Stanford highly-respected in the humanities( undergrad)?</li>
<li>Is Stanford a good choice for pre-meds? </li>
<li>Is Stanford rich in the opportunities they offer to undergrads?</li>
<li>Is Stanford elitest or is it down-to-earth? </li>
<li>Is Stanford good for studying abroad?</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>umm...lots of asians and whites, but still diverse enough</li>
<li>yes, or so i hear</li>
<li>yes, visited recently and loved it. has an old spanish feel to it.</li>
<li>dunno, not an undergrad...yet (i hope)
5-8. yes!
9.down to earth, esp. for such a prestigious school</li>
<li> yes, the ad com said they have lots of oppurtunites.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>To some extent, but people fall into cliques very quick</li>
<li>Yes if you get involved</li>
<li>Very nice, looks like something from a californian postcard</li>
<li>We 0wn berkeley easily</li>
<li>Engineering is great at stanford, maybe not the MIT prestige that you get in engineering, but its great.</li>
<li>You can make your own major combining what you like</li>
<li>Stanford has a graduate medicine school, but its pretty difficult to get in, even if you were an undergraduate student here</li>
<li>So many choices in majors and you can make your own!</li>
<li>Both, depends on who you meet</li>
<li>never paid attention</li>
</ol>
<p>I would say yes to pretty much everything, as a Stanford grad myself with a son who is a senior there. Lots of opportunities, good diversity--although ethnic groups do tend to stick together. A fantastic overseas program. My son did two semesters in Japan last year. (Yes, Stanford is on the quarter system, but the Kyoto campus is on the semester system.) He absolutely loved it!</p>
<p>As for elitist, maybe a bit, but not too much. Definitely more laid back than the Ivies, from what I have heard.</p>
<p>alternate perspective: I don't find the campus to be very attractive (though the rodin and the manzanitas do appeal to me, there's not that much else that I like), and my aunt found the students to be quite stuck-up.... I'm still crossing my fingers to be accepted, though, 'cause it's an amazing school :)</p>
<p>Every school has its stuck-up students.
Attitudes also vary generation to generation.
Talk to more students before you make a generalization about them ;-)
Good luck!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Stanford is quite diverse - like previously said, mostly Caucasians and there's about 25% Asian-Americans, but there's a nice spread of internationals and people of all different backgrounds, be it geographic, social, economic. Every time I step into Trancos 1st floor, for example, I say hi to 2 kids from China, 1 from Malaysia, 1 from Puerto Rico, 1 from North Dakota, and I dunno about the rest of the hall. But from that one floor alone you can see a sample of the diversity that Stanford attracts.</p></li>
<li><p>Stanford is flowing with UG research opportunities, but you do have to actively pursue it; nobody's going to be there to take your hand and lead you to it. There's usually a couple of undergrads with every lab. Of course, some labs are more popular than others, and in the really popular labs competition to get a spot in the lab can get harsh.</p></li>
<li><p>"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Personally, I think Stanford is the 2nd most beautiful campus I've ever seen (1st is Dartmouth). My personal tastes just happen to fit Stanford's architectural styles more; instead of Yale or Harvard's houses/res colleges that face inwards, Stanford's main quad faces outwards with the foothills behind it and gorgeous Palm Drive leading out of it onto University Ave. Driving down Palm Drive into The Oval is one of the most gorgeous views I've ever seen - it really is quite a breathtaking experience, especially seeing the lawn and the grandiose MemChu behind it. Stanford's critics say that it looks like the world's largest Mexican restaurant (haha when you think about it, it's actually kinda true) but then again that's one of its chracteristics that I really love. The sandstone pillars, the long rows of arcades...it's just a perfect picture. GGARRR I WANNA GET INTO STANFORD!!!!!!!!!!!</p></li>
<li><p>Well, it IS Stanford...if you choose to matriculate and choose to stay past freshman year, I'd say you're pretty happy at the school. There are some annoying things about Stanford, though, that students complain about (but then again, some of these go for any school): meal points are too expensive, quality of dorms (Wilbur is ehhhhhugh....it gets fly-infested during late spring/summer), lack of streetlights (this is one that especially ****es me off. I have rather poor eyesight, and when I'm driving around campus trying to get to my tutor's dorm at night, it's really creepy because there's always students biking or walking around and it's hard to see them), the tougher workload due to quarter instead of semester system (upside to quarter system: you get to take more classes), IHUM (most people hate it)...yeah. But otherwise the feeling I get from walking around campus is that students are all happy where they are.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>5-8. Yep.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Stanford is VERY down-to-earth. Inevitably, there are some of those snobby rich kids, but overall, Stanford is a very open community. Out of all the Stanford students I've met (and I've met quite a few), I can honestly say I like every single one of them. Even though I'm just a high school student, they'll always take time to answer my questions and make me feel welcome whenever I'm in Trancos or Lantana.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't know much about this area, but I do know that Stanford offers a myriad of scholarships for study and research abroad.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>ADCOM PLEASE ACCEPT ME!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your responses. </p>
<p>I've heard that Stanford is really high on grade inflation. Other than the pre-med classes, Stanford is not as difficult as will be expected. Is this true?</p>
<p>I don't know about that. According to my son, a senior there, it is easy to get a C, you have to work for a B, and it can be very difficult to get an A in many classes. One professor actually gave him a B++, rather than move it up to an A-. Now that, to me, is just a bit ridiculous...</p>
<p>My son finds techie classes especially hard, but that may just be that he is personally better at fuzzie ones (humanities, etc.).</p>
<p>Agree with Susantm: no grade inflation at Stanford in the sciences, engineering, pre-med, at least as far as I can tell. Can't speak to the "fuzzies," but P-J, don't expect it to be easy. Those kids work hard, and they're all very smart.</p>