Yes. Stanford makes the choice to be in the Pac 12. They could do whatever they wanted. Harvard chooses not to. UChicago used to be in the Big 10 and decided to leave to keep sports from overshadowing academics. These are the values and philosophies I’m talking about.
i don’t think having strong athletics takes anything away from the other parts of the Stanford experience. It just makes for a more vibrant and fun atmosphere. It is pretty amazing that a school so strong academically is also so strong in athletics. It just goes back to the point that Stanford is the most well-rounded school out there.
yes and that’s more a function of ivy league vs a power conference that gives out athletic scholarships. I see it as a major plus for Stanford and Berkeley… it adds to the diversity of the student body with student athletes that compete at the most elite level along with excellence in all academic disciplines. to each his or her own.
The model espoused by Stanford, UMIch and Notre Dame creates a duality - there are the students and there are the gladiators hired to wear the team colors. The two seldom meet. To each his own.
at Stanford they meet…
love him or hate him Richard Sherman came straight out of Compton… graduated second in his class. Dad was a former gang member. Richard was admitted to Stanford on an athletic scholarship. Yes his SATS were most likely below the Stanford average yet he demonstrated academic excellence in admittedly a challenging environment. it’s a matter of perspective
You all have very fair points. As of now, I’m leaning toward Stanford.
Pros of Stanford
-The campus
-Athletics (so many Olympic athletes)
-Creativity and innovation
-School pride
-Traditions
-Internationally renown
-The weather
-All around amazing
Cons of Stanford
-I’m not a fan of the housing
-Not a semester system
-One weather year long
Pros of Harvard
-The campus
-The east coast
-The housing system
-4 different seasons
-Internationally renown
Cons of Harvard
-The atmosphere
-Not good athletically
-I could be wrong, but people seem very pretentious
I will visit Harvard next week and I’ll fly to California for Stanford’s admit days. It;s really frustrating that Stanford visiting days are literally a day before the decision deadline, though.
They changed it to May 2nd (FYI).
“From my point of view, even if you want to live in general interest housing, you don’t get a cross-section of the population because many groups have separated themselves.”
Oh, Hanna, your comments are the peas under the mattress today (for which I thank you).
I would be amazed if the decision will be influenced by a housing story happened when stanford was still a farm.
^^Can you come back in and expound? Who said anything about The Farm aspect of the institution?
I think Stanford housing in freshmen dorms was great. They have houses of 90+ and 8 houses per residence complex. D in final year still keeps up with many of the first year dorm mates now scattered all over campus. After 1st year they can choose anyone for a room mate for the next 4 years. What is interesting is that all form friendships where they are able to attend senior year parties of each dorm as the one allowed guest of one of their friends in that dorm. It is ridiculous how many parties they have been going to though.
@texaspg: For the next 4 years? Wow.
So the answer to a question I was posing,
Tell me, what was the impact of the freshman year housing option, where so many of the kids are actually not in one of the larger group housings but in, say, FroSoCo or SLE? Did your child(ren) sense a distinct air of ‘I don’t need to make friends with someone who is not in my house?’
is answered with ‘D in final year still keeps up with many of the first year dorm mates now scattered all over campus’? And, ’ …all form friendships where they are able to attend senior year parties of each dorm as the one allowed guest of one of their friends in that dorm’?
“Oh, Hanna, your comments are the peas under the mattress today (for which I thank you).”
So I’m bruising you while you sleep? (Genuinely confused.)
No, the sensitive soul that I am, I am mulling over your words quite deeply, and not exactly as assured as I seek to be at this point in the game.
It is not my decision to make, choosing a college, but I also want to feel that I have sufficient information going in.
(The reference is from some tale told to children. Looked it up, The Princess and The Pea by Hans Christian Andersen.)
At the end of the day, @potterfan, you’ll end up at a great school. 20 years from now if you’re at a social event and someone asks where you went to school, you’ll say “Stanford”, and your spouse will chime in, “but he also was accepted to Harvard.”
@danstearns That’s really sweet. I’m a girl, btw. I’ll then add: “but only God knows how I got in, though”
@waitingtoexhale - I have no idea what you are asking. I noticed cons from OP in post #65.
I don’t really know what your interests are in this thread. If your D is admitted to Stanford and you have questions, you should start a separate thread.
“It is not my decision to make, choosing a college, but I also want to feel that I have sufficient information going in.”
Well, there’s hardly a way to go wrong here! Talk about a win-win.
My D considered both Stanford and Harvard (and other colleges), but made her decision in advance (after visiting campuses, sitting in classes, etc) and chose to apply to Stanford Restrictive Early Action. She was admitted and more than delighted to accept her place in the class of 2020. Given her resume she had at least a chance of being admitted to more than one top college, but she had no interest in applying anywhere just to get in. She was all in on Stanford from the beginning and thankfully it worked out.
You never know what might make a difference for someone in choosing a college. For example, Stanford and Harvard both have freshmen seminars that involve the opportunity to interact with senior faculty in a small group setting (typically 12 students). But Harvard’s seminars are ungraded discussion sessions while Stanford offers the seminars as full academic classes. The preference for one or the other is strictly personal. One student may prefer the idea of being able to interact with senior faculty without the pressure of graded papers and exams. Another may prefer an interaction that involves the complete educational experience, including feedback on one’s academic work. My D happened to fit in the later category.
As others have suggested, you can’t go wrong in your choice (at least in terms of the reputation of the two universities). But if you take the time to really dig into the differences between the two schools you should be able to figure out which one is best for you.
There are some die hard Stanford Posters on this site. They claim that Stanford helped start the silicon valley and is responsible for its success. However a lot of criticism has been heaped upon silicon valley both in regards to its blatant gender discrimination and racial discrimination. The may of Oakland said “when will tech look like America”. Silicon Valley has been referred to as a bro culture and a big frat party.
I have known a number of kids who didn’t want to go to Stanford because of this attitude they thought was prevalent at Stanford. I looked at the tenured faculty in CS at Stanford and noticed only a couple were women. I wonder to what extent Stanford is responsible for the bro culture in SV and what some of the fervent supporters of Stanford think of that