<p>what major are you in?
are you a freshman,sophomore etc?
Does anyone happen to go to the beach around stanford?
what did you write in your essays?
are you international or domestic student?
do you people mix among freshmen,sophomore etc at stanford or do you pretty much end up only getting to talk to people in your year?</p>
<p>@crusader543</p>
<p>1) Psychology, probably, although you don’t have to declare until end of your sophomore year I believe.
2) Freshman, class of '17
3) Yeah, you can definitely go to the beach and people do from time to time. Santa Cruz is about 45 minutes away and the Peninsula beaches (Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio, etc) are probably like half an hour? Nobody’s going now, as it’s COLD, but it’s definitely popular during earlier fall and spring quarters. We even have a Stanford Beach Society that goes all the time - they’re a club literally about going to the beach and chilling.
4) That’s a little private! You can message me if you’re really curious 
5) Domestic
6) That really depends on what you’re involved in, and also where you live. Some freshmen only know other freshmen because they make friends in an all-frosh dorm or in frosh introductory classes primarily. If you’re involved in really any group on campus, though, you’ll make upperclassmen (soph+) friends really easily. I’m in a club sport and performing arts stuff, and I’ve made some great upperclassmen friends right off the bat. They’re great!</p>
<p>Also, you can choose to live in a four-class dorm and be in an environment with people from all years if you so desire - there are many options like that. That definitely would let you mix with upperclassmen even more, because you’re living with them.</p>
<p>Okay I’ll pm you. Also I thought you couldn’t choose dorms and its a random draw sort of thing? Another important question to me is how does the bathroom thing work? I keep trying to look for stuff on line to explain but to no avail. Does some dorms have a communal bathrooms or you share with like 3 people or you get a single one? or what?</p>
<p>Is there a lot of stuff to do outside of Stanford, around Palo Alto?
How often do Stanford students go to San Francisco?</p>
<p>@crusader543</p>
<p>1.CS
2. '17.
3. Yup, went a couple weeks ago. Norcal beaches kinda suck tho.
4. A lot about sports; if you write on this topic tho, don’t be cliche.
5. Domestic.
6. Agree with harborceal</p>
<p>@mikey486</p>
<ol>
<li>Not really; Palo Alto is a really high-end town - not ideal for college students.</li>
<li>Depends on how much you want to. 1 hour train ride isn’t too bad.</li>
</ol>
<p>thanks for the info guys :)</p>
<p>
The Draw is used for all but first year. The lower your draw number, the more likely you are to get into one of the dorms you list among your top choices. The different dorms have different bathroom setups. I believe most use communal bathrooms, but some have individual bathrooms. In my first year, I lived in Floorence Moore. Bathrooms were shared among people living in the same hall. In my later years I lived in Mirrielees, Rains, and Escondido Village. Stanford calls all of these 3 “apartments.” One can also choose to live in co-ops or self-ops. Some residences have unique themes and personalities. Mirrielees and Rains had 1 bathroom shared among 2 roommates, with each roommate having a separate room. My EV residence was within a group of townhouses. My residence had two floors, with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. EV is technically a grad student housing. Being a coterm, I was eligible (choice to apply to housing as either grad or undergrad). It had a different feel than typical underclassman dorms. For example, some of neighbors included families with kids that often could be seen playing outside. In some grad residences, each student gets their own bathroom. Munger has some residences with more than 1 bathroom per resident (5 bath / 4 bed).</p>
<p>oh sigh really not looking forward to communal bathrooms… yuck</p>
<p>^they really aren’t that bad, although waiting for a shower can be a pain</p>
<p>is Stanford the most stressful college in the country? because of really high standard student body as well as due to the quarter system?</p>
<p>What’s the honor code like? Is it something you guys are aware of/students care about upholding, or is it just another set of rules the faculty imposes on you?</p>
<p>how can you balance social and academic life?</p>
<p>Hi, thanks for doing this! I’m curious, you mentioned that you’re enjoying the business classes you’re currently taking. Stanford is toward the top of my list, however, I really love business and so my top colleges all are ones that have undergraduate business schools. Could you talk a bit about the undergrad business classes/paths at Stanford? I understand they don’t have a business major, but do they have a lot of business-related courses and such? Thanks.</p>
<p>yeah did you find the work very stressing? almost overly rigorous? or was it fairly alright to adapt to?</p>
<p>@crusader - So “the draw” is not random, but it is a sort of wierd housing process. </p>
<p>Basically, you get three “tiers” for your three upperclassmen years - Tier 1 (best), Tier 2, and Tier 3 (“worst”). Each year you get to pick within what tier you want to draw (ex: Tier 2 as soph, Tier 3 as junior, Tier 1 as senior or WHATEVER you want), and list what dorms/houses/apartments you’d prefer to live in. Subjectively “better” places to live have a higher draw number, and so you can’t get into them unless you choose Tier 1 or 2. You can also put yourself into a “draw group” with friends so you’ll all be put in the same place.</p>
<p>There are tons of different housing options, and some of them even allow you to skip the draw. For example, we have a French house, and if you really like French culture, you can apply to live in it and not have to go through the draw (although you can also get into these theme houses via the draw, but it’s harder). </p>
<p>So yes, some elements are random (i.e. how good a draw number you get) but you do have a lot of control and choice as well.</p>
<p>As for the bathrooms… yep, communal, and a lot are co-ed. As you get older you can live in apartment-style places or suites where you’d only share a bathroom with your roommates, but I don’t think any frosh dorms have that. It’s weird for the first week, but you get used to it really fast. And @sophus I’ve never waited for a shower… ever…</p>
<p>And I’ve found the work fairly easy to adapt to, but I went to a very academic and rigorous high school, so I’m pretty prepared. Some people have a harder time, and it also depends on what classes you’re taking.</p>
<p>@mikey486 - there’s not a <em>ton</em> to do in PA, and it’s kind of expensive, but it’s a BEAUTIFUL little town and lovely to just walk around in. Also, there’s tons of great restaurants and FOOD places, so that’s really nice. Honestly, there’s so much more going on on campus, there’s no need to leave often!</p>
<p>And getting to SF is fairly easy, but taking time away from being on campus/your activities is sometimes hard. If you make it a priority, you can totally go a ton. I have friends who go up there for concerts/art shows/whatever LITERALLY every single weekend. It’s just up to you where you want to spend your time, and there’s no average for how much people go up. Some never go, some are there every weekend.</p>
<p>@veritasry - No. I truly don’t think so. Yes, the quarter system moves fast, yes there’s a TON of work and opportunities, and yes, everyone’s very high-achieving and impressive - but I really am so unbelievably HAPPY here - and I think many/most would agree with me. Of course, everyone’s different, and some people get more stressed than others, but the overall culture and ‘vibe’ is really not stressed… It’s hard to define, but there’s such an omnipresent sense of joy here, and everyone places a high value on having fun and taking care of yourself. Bottom line - yes, there is stress here. But I don’t think Stanford is anywhere near the ‘most stressed school in the country’ because of our amazing culture and people.</p>
<p>@lafontana - I’d say the relationship toward the honor code is more intrinsic, and it means there’s a sense of trust. For example, teachers aren’t in the room when you take tests, and you’re responsible for your own behavior. I think overall it really works - Stanford is a very safe campus, and everyone tacitly respects what the honor code does for our community. I haven’t gotten the sense that there’s an “imposition” or tension over it, at all.</p>
<p>@paulmccullough Haha… that’s a broad question! It’s hard for sure, because Stanford really doesn’t accept very many people who aren’t super social AND super academic, so there’s always friends to hang out with, stuff to do, parties to go to… but, at the same time, nobody gets here without knowing how to prioritize and get their work done. It’s 100% possible, but it does take time to figure out.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help.</p>
<ol>
<li>I’ve heard a rumor that Stanford doesn’t look at freshman grades?</li>
<li>Does Stanford do affirmative action?</li>
</ol>
<p>@RMIB - nope, they don’t look at frosh grades at all, but how your grades affected your overall ranking and whatever does matter. and yeah they do take race/background/SES into consideration, I’m not sure how though.</p>
<p>What clubs or activities are there in pure math?</p>
<p>
It’s my understanding that they recalculate GPA without freshman year; but they still look at the full transcript, including freshman year.</p>
<p>@Sesquipedalian4 youre a pure math guy too? Also I believe that the Stamford University Mathematical Organization ([SUMO</a> - Stanford University Mathematical Organization](<a href=“http://sumo.stanford.edu/]SUMO”>http://sumo.stanford.edu/)) is the math “club” there. There’s also stuff like the putnam although I don’t believe that math contests are a very big deal in college.</p>