<p>As many students have noted, a lot of the courses in “the list” are not easy by any means (like econ 1A) but instead fit into a time frame. The list was more useful before Stanford had online course systems. Anyone can browse Stanford’s course listings and filter by time, department, GER, etc.</p>
<p>[Stanford</a> University Explore Courses](<a href=“http://explorecourses.stanford.edu%5DStanford”>http://explorecourses.stanford.edu)</p>
<p>Students also have access to course evaluations, as well as grade distributions via CourseRank. They can use syllabus.stanford.edu to see the requirements/demands of courses they might want to take. Plus students already know what courses help to “pad units” if needed–activity courses (like dance or golf), most introductory seminars, 1 or 2 unit classes, etc. For those “in the know,” graduate seminars are often easy–mostly just reading papers, and you get an A (though normally you have to present at least once a quarter, or write a final paper). The list is/was just another resource that Stanford’s over-staffed offices provide to students (look at ual.stanford.edu and you’ll see what I mean by resources provided by over-staffed offices–really helpful, of course, but lord there’s a lot).</p>