<p>This article from today's NY Times gives a good sense of Stanford's atmosphere. Though it focuses somewhat on the perspectives of well-known current and former student-athletes at Stanford, the piece also captures several aspects of the overall feel here, which may be useful for those wondering how Stanford is different from some of its peer schools. </p>
<p>Happy New Year.</p>
<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/7rqgbs5%5B/url%5D">http://tinyurl.com/7rqgbs5</a></p>
<p>Interesting insight- How do you think it compares to the actual feel</p>
<p>The article is pretty much spot-on.</p>
<p>Stanford has a very relaxed and calming social environment. You don’t have the majority of the people constantly comparing grades and discussing which investment banks to enter. There are a lot of valedictorians, accomplished athletes and musicians and math/science olympiad medalists to be found in any freshmen dorm, but you never know who they are by looking. (Well except maybe the football and basketball players.) People treat each other as equals, more so than most social environments full of late teens that I have seen.</p>
<p>Are special/unique talents aprticularly respected?</p>
<p>Just alone in my frosh dorm we’ve got everything: Several people who’ve started their own businesses, someone who produces beats for rappers, a foreign actor/singer superstar who was famous in his own country, a top recruited football player, a contortionist, a #1 recruited tennis player, among lots of other amazing people, and nobody sticks out. Everyone is respected and revered equally. This article is completely correct and is one of the big reasons why Stanford is such a great place.</p>
<p>Yes. So many people here have amazing qualities and/or acccomplishments, but they are also confident, secure, self-respecting people, which allows them to respect others for their own strengths. This is what makes them great to be around–that hard-to-define “nice” quality that Stanford is seeking in applicants. It makes for a different feel on campus than at some peer schools who compete for the same students.</p>
<p>The best part is that everyone is excelling somewhere. When someone accomplishes something, everyone is happy for him/her and there is not weird jealousy like many of us were plagued with in high school. This is not true for some people, but I felt like I had to hide cool things that I did during high school because I would get weird vibes and so I would be overly modest about everything. At Stanford I can truly be relaxed and be who I want to be and say what I want to say because everyone is doing something awesome. We don’t treat people differently for being more famous or anything like that.</p>
<p>Andrew is a great representative of Stanford, not so much in that he’s such a great athlete but because he’s so humble about it. One time before a pick-up basketball game he came to introduce himself. Now we all knew who he was, but he still came up and said “Hey I’m Andrew” and shook all our hands. On a side note, I picked off a pass from him in that game haha. </p>
<p>That’s what I love about Stanford: that a majority of people are humble almost to a fault. It makes for a really comfortable learning and living environment. </p>
<p>Of course, on the flipside, students also keep things like emotional distress pretty close to their chests too. There is a strong impression that everyone at Stanford is super happy, which is far from the truth. So it can be pretty isolating if you’re feeling down.</p>
<p>I know what you mean, Senior. Based on what my friends at other schools tell me, keeping doubts and distress inside is pretty common at lots of schools with very high achievers. I generally really appreciate the anti-whining culture at Stanford, but you’re right, sometimes you gotta drop the smiley face and vent. Freshman year, I found that the best outlet for that was with RA’s in the dorm. They are great at giving perspective and making you see that everyone eventually gets challenged at college (or else they’re not doing it right). By sophomore year, I’ve made enough good friends (brahs and babes) that I can talk to when I need support, though I sometimes have to be the one to open up first. After that, most people don’t have as much trouble being open about their own issues, I’ve found. Just my experience.</p>
<p>My S is a freshman on campus. He loves Stanford and it’s truly everything he could have hoped for. He is always amazed my the accomplishments of his peers and their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with others. The overall feeling of comaraderie and helpfulness abounds on campus, not only with the students but the Professors. </p>
<p>We didn’t get an ounce of finaid and S was offered a full scholarship to another school that he really liked. However, once he visited Stanford there was no comparison. For him to go to Stanford is tough on us, especially because we live on the East Coast but honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Its a chance of a lifetime, an honor and it is everything we could have hoped for, for our son. </p>
<p>Go Cardinal!!!</p>