Stanford, Harvard, or Yale?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hey everybody,</p>

<p>So I've found myself in the enviable position of having to choose between my three top colleges: Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Honestly, even after being accepted EA to Stanford, I didn't expect to be admitted to Yale and Harvard as well. I'm thrilled, but also totally lost!</p>

<p>I'm primarily interested in humanities and social sciences-- maybe International Studies, Linguistics, Anthropology, or Comparative Literature. I also want to study languages like Spanish, Hindi, and Turkish. </p>

<p>I am really looking for an academically rigorous school with an INTELLECTUAL, not pre-professional, student body. I want to be surrounded with interesting, not overly competitive people who are smart but don't take themselves too seriously. </p>

<p>I know there are similar threads, but I haven't found a lot that aren't science/math/tech so I thought I'd give it a shot. Obviously, I'm visiting all three again so hopefully that will help me decide. But what kind of things should I be looking for at each college? Any known issues that I should look for? Which do you think I should pick?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>

That should give you some indication of the type of place Stanford is. At Stanford, CS is king. It’s more of a culture thing than anything else, and the location in Silicon Valley contributes immensely to it. After CS and, to a lesser extent, EE, most of the other STEM disciplines are roughly on par with the humanities and social sciences in terms of the hierarchy. </p>

<p>There are intellectual people here, obviously, but the overall culture is not too intellectual. That can often be a good thing–we get lost in our sunny world out here–although for those who crave intellectual environments this fact can be overwhelming. </p>

<p>But then you mention students who don’t take themselves too seriously, and Stanford has the other two covered in that regard. Check out our band. That’s something we pride ourselves on, even though just a select few are band members. </p>

<p>Each school will be pretty different. Hopefully your visits will help clear things up.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your help! Do you by any chance know anything about SLE? I’ve heard that’s a more intensely intellectual experience, but I’ve also heard that there’s some negative social stigma attached to the program. Is it worth it, do you think?</p>

4

<p>My D is in SLE and loves it. She enjoys reading and that’s a good thing because they do lots of it! While she has always been a good writer also, the SLE classes have helped her greatly improve upon her writing skills. D was initially hesitant to sign up for SLE as we’d read on CC about the potential negative stigma but she has experienced none of that. The SLE dorm has been a great experience and she’s met lots of great friends. If you like reading and writing, SLE is a great option.</p>

5

<p>That’s great to hear! SLE definitely seems like something that would appeal to me, and I’m looking forward to learning more about it at Admit Weekend.
Does anyone know how it compares to Directed Studies at Yale?</p>

6

<p>Last year my D was accepted to Yale along with admission into their Directed Studies program. Yale accepts appx. 125 students into the D.S. program which “introduces students to the fundamental texts and ideas of the West. They take year-long classes that consist of 1) Literature, 2) Philosophy and 3) Historical and Political Thought”. D elected instead to accept Stanford’s admission offer and then enrolled in SLE as her alternative to Directed Studies. I believe that these programs are very similiar. Here is some info on SLE from the Stanford web site:
Several peer institutions maintain programs that resemble SLE, but no major research university offers as much as Stanford does: the small student population, the residential setting, and the renown of the faculty combine here in a unique opportunity that has defined this kind of education for over thirty years.</p>

<p>Autumn Quarter: We concentrate on texts from ancient Greece, Israel and India, reading works of classical literature, religious thought and philosophy.</p>

<p>Winter Quarter: Investigating classical culture and literature permits us to examine the social, political and economic transformation that produced the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, colonization and capitalism.</p>

<p>Spring Quarter: Through attention to works of fiction, political theory and social criticism, we focus on the powerful forces that have shaped the modern world.</p>

<p>Texts
The Bible, the Koran, Buddhist Sutras. Works by Plato, Aristotle, Euripides, Sappho, Homer, and Confucius. In addition, works by Chuang Tzu, Mencius, Augustine, Dante, Descartes, Machiavelli, Saikaku, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Woolf, Kafka, Sartre, Camus, Arendt and Salih.</p>

<p>SLE places an intensive concentration on both the analysis of texts and the written and oral communication of ideas.</p>

7

<p>Stanford hands down!
So have you already made your decision? Which did you choose?:)</p>

8

<p>Stanford over everything</p>

9

<p>just to let everyone know, i will be attending stanford university in the fall! admit weekend really sold it for me, and i’m so excited! thank you all for your help and advice</p>

10

<p>Welcome to the Farm, amaninakupenda!</p>

11

<p>Congrats Aman! You’re going to have a GREAT four years. Admit weekend also sealed the deal for my D last year. And she’s having a wonderful Freshman experience. You won’t regret your decision although you had three wonderful schools to choose from.</p>

12

<p>Congrats Aman! My son was in similar hard choice situation. After Stanford admit weekend, he decided to Stanford.</p>

13

<p>D had to choose between Harvard and Stanford. She chose Stanford, and will be graduating in June. She has loved it from the day she started, and says “Disneyland is NOT the happiest place on earth!” However, it depends on your style. D is fairly easy-going and, while she is very intense academically, she is not really competitive with other students. From what I understand, Harvard students are more outwardly competitive, and many people thrive in that environment.</p>

14

<p>@amaninakupenda, congrats on your decision!
@thousandmiles, amen:)
@cgarrett101, “disneyland is not the happiest place on earth!” i like that! even with the fact that my son has to work and study sooo hard and long hours and sleep less, he cannot verbalize enough how happy he is at stanford.</p>

<p>@zenkoan, maybe, the admit weekend attendance should be promoted/emphasized more?admit weekend is the bomb, strategically scheduled close to decision time, but sometimes it doesnt work. this yr, 2 of my son’s friends chose Y over S, since they visited Y earlier and were so impressed that they decided to go to Y and not attend the S admit wkend anymore. things might had been different if they just attended the admit weekend.</p>

15

<p>I went to Stanford undergrad and Yale Med - many years ago. The 4 years at Stanford were the most fun 4 years of my life. Wish I could do it again.</p>