<p>New national recruiting effort launched; new techniques, including broader use of "likely letters", more financial aid.</p>
<p>Stanford previously had the "President's Scholar" program which was discontinued several years ago. This program provided a grant for research to about 200 admitted students each year, as part of an effort to persuade top applicants likely to also be admitted to Harvard, MIT, etc. to choose Stanford. The likely letter idea sounds like a similar effort, without providing funds or a specific program once the students actually attend.</p>
<p>stanford's prez scholar program kinda got killed: <a href="http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=8960&repository=0001_article%5B/url%5D">http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=8960&repository=0001_article</a></p>
<p>The idea of "merit aid" (other than for jocks, of course) seems rather cheesy ... beneath Stanford's dignity as an "elite"! </p>
<p>Kudos to them for axing the program. </p>
<p>Duke and a few others go this route, along with a number of flagships trying to avoid "brain-drain."</p>
<p>My son was in the last group of students to benefit from this program - he is a senior this year. I agree with the description in the Daily article linked above, in that the program often funded experiences that were more of the nature of "intellectual exploration" than focused researchd. I also agree that Stanford does not need to do this anymore in order to attract great students. In fact, some feel that the program may have done more harm than good, as some admitted students were "offended" by not being designated President's Scholars and chose to attend elsewhere, when perhaps they might have chosen Stanford all things being equal. However, from a personal standpoint, my son was very fortunate to have been funded for an experience during the summer after his freshman year which he likely wouldn't have had without the President's Scholar program.</p>
<p>In Stanford's effort to enroll its admits, what was most impressive and exciting was the wide opportunity for undergraduates to initiate and obtain funding for research and to establish close working relationships with faculty in doing so. The five year campaign ending last December raised over $1 billion devoted entirely to undergraduate education, much of it earmarked specifically to fund undergraduate research. I agree that this is a much better approach than the President's Scholar program that has been described. My daughter was selected to be a Woodrow Wilson Research Fellow at Hopkins with a $10,000 award for a research project she proposed in conjunction with her freshman application, but in the final analysis, this was not a decisive factor in her choice of college. It makes sense that the President's Scholar program probably repelled more propspective freshman than it attracted; why start their relationship with the school with a rejection experience and suggest to your admits that the opportunity for research is limited and restricted? The impression that is created with the current Undergraduate Research Programs (URP) is that any student with a sound research idea and a faculty sponsor can get funding. Does anyone know if this is actually the case?</p>
<p>I am not sure specifically that any student can obtain research funding, but it is likely true. I do know that the money from the campaign is funding many programs, including undergraduate research. For example, an entire Sophomore College class (a special program held in the summer before the fall quarter begins) travelled to Washington, DC for a portion of the course, totally funded by the school. This is just one example which I am aware of - I am sure there are many others. It seems that Stanford does have quite a bit of money to fund opportunities such as this.</p>
<p>likely letters??</p>
<p>aw... my respect for Stanford just plunged.</p>
<p>never had any respect for the school anyways</p>
<p>
[quote]
never had any respect for the school anyways
[/quote]
Aren't you matriculating at Stanford in the fall?</p>
<p>i really hope he is not. Please matriculate somewhere else that qualifies for your "respect"</p>
<p>A lot of "elite" schools have likely letters, including Yale.</p>
<p>Except for Dartmouth, most Ivy "likelies" are directed to athletes, as the "likely" is the Ivy equivalent of the Letter of Intent for schools that pay their recruits. Stanford "likelies" do not include ANY letters to recruited athletes. </p>
<p>Stanford sends out more Letters of Intent, to more recruited athletes, than does any other college or university in the United States of America.</p>
<p>yeah, and now I respect Stanford as much as I do Yale.</p>
<p>:/</p>
<p>Byerly, can you please explain what "brain-drain" and "flagships" are?thanks</p>
<p>SF has to get its application pool up. Presently top 4 states CA, WA, TX and Or take almost 90% of the 22000 applications.</p>
<p>hereiam, what's your problem with stanford? why do you hate it so much, and do you think its really necessary to verbalize it? it's sorta irritating that most of your posts on this forum bash stanford in some way. I'm curious to know if you're like this in person too because damn, your negative, asinine, a-holish view isn't very fun.</p>
<p>I'm hoping hereiam gets off the Harvard waitlist. Although things aren't looking so good right now...</p>
<p>IMO, there is nothing wrong with a school recruiting athletes. I cannot wait to go see some games!!! Go Cardinal!</p>
<p>Sadly, people bash other schools all the time. It's a way of life.</p>
<p>Hooray for Stanford! More funding = more cool stuff to do. :D</p>