<p>I just got an email today indicating that I was accepted off of Stanford's waitlist! Originally I thought that I would definitely accept this spot, but now that I have committed to Amherst things aren't that easy.</p>
<p>I really, truly adore Amherst and fell in love with it when I visited. I know that Amherst & Stanford are completely different, but I was hoping you guys could add some sort of insight.</p>
<p>What attracts me to Amherst: Open Curriculum, Accessibility of Professors, Intimate Community, Progressive Area (love Hampshire & Smith Colleges!), fierce intellectualism, humanities/liberal arts feel, beautiful dorms, New England charm, and its access to everywhere via Amtrak.</p>
<p>Stanford: At Stanford I would ideally double major in Feminist Studies and Psychology (and possibly Ethics in society). I am fascinated by the study of gender and plan to explore and do research on queer/gender theory wherever I go. I also have several social psychology studies I want to run as an undergraduate and I know that Stanford's Psychology Department is top notch. My hope is that I would be able to publish original research as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Me: I am an avid poet. Art is really important to me, I graphic design and write frequently. I am gay, an activist, pacifist, and am very socially conscious. I am definitely an idealist and humanities kid. I refuse to drink in college and find more stimulation from late night philosophy discussions. At the same time, I know how to have fun and party. I am more concerned with learning how to think in college rather than making money.</p>
<p>After college I plan to attend law school and go into gender/civil rights.</p>
<p>I plan on visiting Stanford this week, so maybe that will help -- but any comments will still be appreciated. Thank You!</p>
<p>A plus for Stanford would be that as an undergrad you’re allowed to take classes at the professional schools. So you could enroll in some courses at the law school if you want, since you want to practice law as a profession. </p>
<p>A plus for Amherst would be that it probably has a more intimate community feel than Stanford, since that’s what you’re looking for. Don’t get me wrong, both schools have strong on campus communties but since Stanford is larger you’d be slightly more anonymous there (although people at Stanford remark how small the school feels).</p>
<p>Both schools are really gay-friendly too, so you’re in a win-win situation here as well. But I must say, it’s really hard to beat the bay area in terms of gay-friendliness.</p>
<p>Yeay, I’m gay too!
I think if you’re thinking about activism, Stanford is the better bet. Amherst is located in a sleepy ol’ part of the country, and although students are very intellectual and concerned about current affairs, the fact that it’s so isolated will make activism pale in comparison to a school like Stanford, which seems a lot livelier and located in a part of the country known for stirring up hot debates. I’m not too familiar with your major though, so I won’t comment on that, but I’d say you should lean towards Stanford from the description of the kind of person that you are.</p>
<p>You are getting some bad advice about the Amherst area. It is not a “sleepy ol’ part of the country”; it is ultra-hip (in a non-urban way) and probably far more activist per capita than Palo Alto. Northampton has been a center of lesbian culture since time immemorial. There’s nothing wrong with Stanford, but it sure doesn’t have any advantage over Amherst in gay-friendliness or activist communities.</p>
<p>When I was in graduate school at Stanford (admittedly, a long time ago), one of my closest friends was an activist gay woman who had gone to Smith for two years, and then dropped out to play in an all-women rock band in the Amherst-Northampton community and to be a political activist. She did that for a couple of years, then decided that she needed to finish college and transferred to Stanford so that she could focus on schoolwork more.</p>
<p>Amherst is incredible. Let’s face it, Rachel Maddow comes from California and she’s a proud resident of the Amherst area. It is not at all sleepy, it is very hip–much more so than a staid richy-rich suburb like Palo Alto. I think people would be much more conventional and complacent at Stanford than they are in the incredibly rich and diverse student heaven that is Amherst. Not only that, but at a place like Amherst, you will get a much more personal atmosphere, with careful advising and attention to your own growth. The Amherst/Northampton area is lesbian heaven. Now, I don’t know where you plan to live after college, but if you do, one factor you might weigh is name recognition. Stanford is more respected in the West, Amherst in the East. Either one is a great school. But for you in particular, I would recommend Amherst.</p>
<p>I’m surprised Stanford is getting some students from the waitlist pool this year when it’s admission rate has gone down to a record low. last year it didn’t happen, right?</p>
<p>Amherst is well-known as a “feeder school” and a high percentage of its graduates go to good law/med/grad schools (don’t have the exact data though). I think it would effectively equip you with the knowledge you need to go to law school. With the LJST major and small class sizes, you’d be intellectually simulated for sure and develop the right critical thinking skills to be a successful lawyer. But I heard Stanford isn’t too shabby in terms of student-professor interactions and that the TA problem isn’t as big as it is at similar schools (i.e. the Ivies)</p>
<p>I don’t know enough about Stanford’s academic programs, but I’ve heard their science departments are strong… I don’t know about their liberal arts/humanities. </p>
<p>Stanford also has good public transportation (the BART system, I think), but San Francisco or Berkeley are the only big cities nearby.</p>
<p>Stanford’s campus is much larger than Amherst’s… so if campus size is an important factor for you, you might want to think about whether you’d prefer to spend the next 4 years in a small, intimate, homely setting or a large campus which you’d be able to explore, and isolate yourself if you need to. </p>
<p>Also, I’d think school spirit is bigger at Stanford since its athletics are more prominent.</p>
<p>I’d definitely look at the financial aid packages as well. I’m pretty sure both schools are gay-friendly, since Massachusetts and the Bay Area are both known to be liberal (pardon me if I sound like I’m stereotyping) </p>
<p>I hope my answer didn’t confuse you further. I’d suggest Amherst, but by a very narrow margin. Personally, I don’t know which school I’d choose if I made it to both. I’m sure you’ll do well at both schools.</p>
<p>Wow. This thread is GREAT for misinformation.</p>
<p>Rachel Maddow lives in the Amherst area to the approximate extent that someone who lives in San Diego lives in the Los Angeles area. She lives in the Berkshires, about a 90-minute drive away.</p>
<p>Stanford isn’t on the BART system. You can take commuter trains from Palo Alto up to San Francisco, and go elsewhere in the Bay area from there. There are also buses. It’s not terribly convenient, but you can get to San Francisco, and that’s a pretty great thing. (San Jose, by the way, is a pretty big city itself – much bigger than Berkeley, and it’s even closer. But it’s not as much fun.) Hartford is about the same distance from Amherst, but that’s nowhere near as exciting. You can go to Boston, though. </p>
<p>Stanford has excellent humanities and social sciences. That’s part of why it’s one of the best universities in the world. Amherst is a great, very small, liberal arts college. It doesn’t have anything like the coverage Stanford has, or the faculty depth, or the cutting edge scientific and engineering research. But it has real intimacy and close relationships between students and faculty. </p>
<p>Stanford is plenty respected in the East. Amherst is much less known everywhere except in the traditional Establishment, where it is much respected and viewed as an Ivy-equivalent.</p>
<p>I think school spirit at Amherst is much stronger. It has a proud athletic tradition, and because of its size a huge proportion of its students participates in organized athletics. Half the students at Stanford don’t care at all, and 90% of the rest are just spectators and tailgaters. Amherst-Williams has as much history and passion as Stanford-Cal, just smaller crowds and less professional players.</p>
<p>Given your academic interests, have you evaluated Amherst’s situation within the Five College Consortium? Two of those colleges are top-quality women’s colleges (Smith and Mt. Holyoke). As an Amherst student, you can cross-register for courses there, too, as your schedule permits. A free shuttle bus links the five colleges (Amherst, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire, University of Massachusetts).</p>
<p>It might be interesting, both intellectually and socially, to engage in some courses on the co-ed Amherst campus, and take others at Smith or Mt. Holyoke’s women’s college environment. Similarly, distribute your EC’s among the locations, as you wish. </p>
<p>While you are talking about two tremendous schools, Amherst – within its Five College Consortium setting – has the unusual advantage over Stanford of gender variety among the five campus communities. That could be an interesting exploration or lived experiment over four years, with you controlling how you set up your schedule to explore it each term. </p>
<p>Good luck with a great, but difficult, choice between two excellent schools!</p>
<p>Randomnerdz- I think this decision is easy. While Amherst is a great school, it is not in Stanford’s league. Also, Amherst is definitely in an obscure area compared to Stanford. No brainer!</p>
<p>Amherst is great! It basically depends on what you want. If you want a close-nit community, where the professor will know your name, choose Amherst. If you don’t mind being lost in a crowd, but prefer more diversity, choose Stanford. Also, if you are an east coaster, Amherst is much easier to get to.</p>
<p>The difference is not all the great, they are both in the same exact league of prestige.</p>