<p>I am assuming that many of you favor Stanford over other equally competitive schools. Can anyone please tell me why one may choose Stanford over other Ivies, primarily Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and UPenn? What can Stanford offer that the other institutions cannot? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>California weather :D</p>
<p>yea..i wanted to stay in California. Plus I also really liked the laid back attitude stanford students have compared to HYP etc..
but really...stanford is just STANFORD! there is no other..</p>
<p>Who would pick UPenn over Stanford?</p>
<p>^ Only a Whartonite. :)</p>
<p>Stanford is very strong in both Arts and Sciences AND Engineering. It is stronger in Engineering than any of the Ivies you mentioned in the originial post, although Princeton and Penn have good Engineering schools.</p>
<p>I actually wish to pursue business as my career. So, would you still suggest that the general educational and social experiences I may gain at Stanford (majoring economics) might be better than those at HYP? Also, would any of you decline Wharton for Stanford (assuming that you are equally interested in business as I am)? Lastly, I was informed that it is very difficult to prolong one's academic career at Harvard Business School if he goes to the undergrad program there. Does anyone know if it is as difficult to finish undergrad at Stanford and advance to its business school? Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, I picked Stanford over Harvard and Princeton as a potential physics major. All three schools would have given me an excellent physics education, that's for sure, so I had to make my decision on factors like location, academic structure, "feel." I ended up with the impression that Stanford was a very innovative place where research, cross-disciplinary connections, a wide variety of courses, and things of that nature were really encouraged, all of which I think are very important for a good education. And then there's the weather factor, of course -- it's hard for me to leave CA, heh. As for social life... mm, the Harvard kids I stayed with didn't seem to have much of one in the traditional sense (which may or may not have been an anomaly) -- they were all very busy and most were very focused on one area of academics and one big extracurricular activity (as opposed to exploring different things as much as the Stanford kids seemed to). Princeton's social life really seemed to revolve around the eating clubs, which may or may not be a good thing in your book; I found the kids there to be absolutely amazing -- they were all smart, interesting, down-to-earth -- but I knew I'd get sick of the social structure there well before graduating, so I did have to say goodbye to Princeton as well. There didn't seem to be a unified Stanford social scene, but one definitely existed (unlike at Harvard), and it wasn't as constraining and Princeton's would have felt to me personally (though Princeton would definitely be a great choice if you're that type of person... I'm still halfway in love with the school, can you tell?)
Hope that helped a little bit, even though I can't answer your specific questions about business.</p>
<p>Last time I looked at some stats, highest average starting salary after graduation was for Stanford grads. Wasn't a lot higher that HYP and I assume it could be partially a function of being in CA. (more grads take jobs in CA).</p>
<p>stanford vs. ivy league
stanford WINS because...</p>
<ol>
<li>california weather</li>
<li>beach</li>
<li>hotter girls</li>
<li>hotter girls</li>
</ol>
<p>laxman18, you cannot enter HBS directly after undergrad. You have to have at least two years of work experience before you can apply. </p>
<p>Wharton is the best undergraduate business school since other renowned business school's such as SBS and HBS do not have undergraduate programs. Remeber though, you will be doing more classes at SAS than you will be at Wharton and HYPS are far better than Penn's SAS.</p>
<p>inuendo, im aware about the job requirement for the top-tier business schools. anyway, would you recommend studying 4 years at an undergrad business school or 4 years at stanford, taking advantage of the research opportunities and the study-abroad programs? also, approximately how many undergrad classes are taught by stanford professors?</p>
<p>i say 4 years at stanford...just so your perspective doesnt become narrow and you can toy with a lot of thing before doing business for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>Just want to stay in California!!</p>
<p>Stanford not only wins because of the weather/wide range of academic excellence but also because it offers a more open social environment than HYP, which have more legacies and more East Coast pretension.</p>
<p>-better engineering than ivies
-more well-rounded than techs (MIT and CalTech)
-better weather
-lots of relatives in cali
-excellent athletics
-more open minded, less pretentious than ivies</p>
<p>I chose Stanford over Yale because of the amazing atmosphere. Stanford just seemes so laid back and friendly while at Yale I sort of felt tension and stress in the air. Coming from New York I knew the fast paced east coast mentality is pretty tough to live by so I doubted Yale would be any different. Stanford however seems to embrace relaxation and happiness. I was able to tell the difference between the two schools within seconds of being on both.</p>
<p>Yeah, on our student-led tour at Admit Weekend, they bragged about Stanford's ranking in some poll of college student happiness and about the fact that the average Stanford student apparently gets 7.1 hours of sleep a night. :) Both the existence of, and the pride in, those statistics got 'em some points.</p>
<p>Is higher or lower better on the sleeping statistics? In any case, isn't 7.1 quite low; I thought you were supposed to get 9 hours of sleep to stay healthy.</p>
<p>7.1 is heaven compared to what I got in high school (~ 5 hours a night on weekdays...if i got lucky..maybe 6)</p>
<p>7.1...I am more than happy!</p>