<p>iCalculus, your insensitive statements about a fellow applicant’s ability to pay a deposit aren’t candid–they are deplorable. (Look it up.) Your comments on the Stanford board were dopey enough, but you’re really outdoing yourself here. For the sake of your future classmates, you might want to think a bit before posting.</p>
<p>It just makes me mad, because it’s not like everyone who’s poor gets a free ride. I mean, my single parent works hard, doesn’t make a lot of money, doesn’t own a house, and still has to dish out a significant amount for my college costs.</p>
<p>At the same time, someone is complaining about PAYING A DEPOSIT. I think I spent more on science fair stuff in high school than I would on a college deposit. I can understand if you’re dirt poor, and barely make enough to feed yourself, but come on. I’m sure that if you’re this poor, you would have difficulty posting reguarly on college confidential in the first place. </p>
<p>On the other end of the spectrum, you have kids paying full tuition and it’s not like they can necessary afford it either. A 200K income doesn’t mean that dishing out 55K/year is easy. </p>
<p>A fee waiver for paying a deposit is going way too far.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You misread.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s a matter of respect. For example, not telling someone you will do something that you don’t.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Minor corrections, but he actually probably doesn’t get loans (unless Stanford does not have a no-loan policy for low income students like many other colleges do), but has student contribution and work/study. Additionally, you’re not looking for “is need-blind”, you’re looking for “meets full need”.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>College costs divided by total income is certainly progressive at that level, but I guarantee you, assuming assets are identical, your family keeps more money than his does despite his cheaper education. If it doesn’t, I seriously recommend sending an appeal for your financial aid.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m not understanding the logic here, especially since College Confidential/the internet in general seems to be an important tool for him to ask critical questions such as “my fee waiver was rejected and this happened, what do I do?”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And why is this? The deposit ultimately goes to his cost of attendance anyway… He merely attempted to postpone paying his share because his family understandably could use more money now as opposed to later.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And you tried to use that to push your agenda and alter the course of someone’s life. Again, it’s not that I don’t understand the concept of “respect”. It’s that you’re taking a minor issue in respect way too far.</p>
<p>iCalculus, please read your post again a couple of times and come back to aploogize:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I found Stanford to be unwelcoming, the professors completely inaccessible, the classes Freshman and Sophomore years were huge (100 to 500 undergraduates in an auditorium wasn’t uncommon), and the sense of elitism astounding. Freshman year I was stunned by the number of Porsches, Ferraris, etc. that were given as graduation gifts by over-indulgent parents. I did well academically at Stanford, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior, and yet my only positive memories are of working at the radio station, KZSU, and attending the Stanford in Britain program. </p>
<p>I recently lectured at Stanford and found that the currently enrolled students I met were more interested in how to make money without working too hard and simply didn’t have the love of learning I found at Princeton.</p>
<p>Momsters, what year did you graduate from Stanford?</p>
<p>@Momsters:
that may be your experience but it is not the experience that I have had or many other students. i love the stanford atmosphere, and the people were always welcoming. its the kind of place where people never talked about their own achievements because they dont feel the need to, but you know they are intelligent and talented nonetheless.</p>
<p>I am now trying to decide between Princeton and Stanford because I was just admitted from Princeton’s waitlist. if anyone could provide more info about their own experiences at princeton so i can compare to what i already know about stanford, i would really appreciate it!</p>
<p>NJDS, in which field you want major in?</p>
<p>I want to go into Public Health. At Stanford, I would major in Human Biology, anticipating a concentration in International Health. At Princeton, they have the Program in Global Health, which provides a certificate, but I would hope to get into the Woodrow Wilson School for my major</p>
<p>Well, I had both options and picked Princeton. But don’t let me influence you. To be brutally honest, I picked Princeton because it sounded more prestigious (HYP clan) and I like being a snob (yet, I turned down Harvard, but that’s a different story). People at my school are like ■■■■ Prince-ton?? like it’s some exotic place</p>
<p>That, and I also believe that undergraduate education is a place for personal enrichment. You train for a profession in graduate school. Princeton is for undergrads, definately. Their seminars appealed to me very much. You don’t get to sit around a little table with a professor and have insightful discussions about the world, politics, humanity that much at Stanford.</p>
<p>Also, my choosing a college philosophy is not a “typical” one. I didn’t like MIT or Caltech (got into them), hardcore engineering schools, etc, because life just seemed dull at those places (<em>disclaimer</em> I am not a person who reenacts star wars and writes computer coding for fun). Specialized schools definately have a place in one’s educational career- grad school. And also, when you go to one of these schools as an undergrad, there is a 90% chance you will not partake in anything that is of great substance, because grad students get ALL of the attention. You go there to simply watch what older students/professors are doing. At these specialized schools there will probably be 1 student out of 200 who makes a name for the school. These are ONLY the super genius, outgoing, innovative, precocious people, who invent something or go do start up companies. And to do this, you need the personality AND the smarts. It’s definately NOT the school that MAKES you successful. YOU use the school to make yourself successful.</p>
<p>Somebody: Oh, yeah where did you go to college?
iCalculus:emm hmm…PRINCETON. In your face mother******. Where did you go to?
Somebody:Harvard…snap!
What are the odds of this encounter happening? i.e.You bragging to graduates of more prestigious schools (Yale or Harvard). Because that would be hilarious.</p>
<p>By the way I know you gave your reasons for why you chose Princeton over MIT and Caltech, but why did youn decide to reject Harvard?</p>
<p>Because Harvard is a bunch of nerds :D, and I feel that its environment would be too high strung, like you’re on your toes all the time. Princeton sounds more WASPY, even though it’s probably not. I like its stereotype, as horrible as it is. My vice.</p>
<p>gedion, for undergraduate school, why would you lie here that Yale and Harvard are more prestiigious than Princeton?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My friend, I am an interantional student and if you ask a person in my country what Princeton is they would say it is an obscure herb found in the winter season…where as Harvard, Oxford and Yale are synonymous with educated, high-minded etc. Not that these stereotypes are true. </p>
<p>I agree Princeton’s quality as an undergraduate institution is unrivaled, but prestige does not necessarily reflect quality.</p>
<p>Well, to make another sweeping generalization. My family members from Europe have never heard about Yale so that generally means that most of Europe has never heard about Yale.</p>
<p>You know, iCalculus and Baelor are the exact reason why Stanford>>>>>>>>>Princeton.</p>
<p>I’ll be attending Stanford in the fall, so take my opinion with a grain of salt if you’d like. But from what I gathered from being on Princeton’s campus, the culture is VERY WASPY (iCalculus said as much). I H-A-T-E-D the school when I was there, and P is the one letter in the HYPS acronym I didn’t apply to-- and I’m darn proud to say it. Stanford embodies the free spirit of the great American West; Princeton, on the other hand, is the epitome of stuck-up elitist snobbish east-coast conformity. Baelor and iCalculus’s comments have confirmed that notion for me (so thanks?)</p>
<p>Quite frankly I’m appalled at iCalculus’s diatribe about the OP’s inability to pay the (Stanford!) deposit. Honestly? You haven’t the vaguest idea what the OP’s financial situation is, and your presumptuousness is astounding. You should be ashamed. You seem to like Princeton because it’s a school comprised of mainly rich white kids with little diversity, and it’s a school that makes you sound smug, arrogant, and supercilious when you tell people you’re going there. I hope you have fun there; what with their “eating clubs” and all. How fancy.</p>
<p>Baelor didn’t upset me in any way, per se, but his comments did reinforce my existing thoughts about Princeton. S/he is looking for a traditional, east-coast, religious, conservative atmosphere, and Princeton fits that bill. That’s cool-- it’s just not what I want. As a liberal agnostic who is largely against anything traditional and religious, Princeton didn’t strike a chord with me. My tour literally spent 20 minutes on the church when I was there (blech). </p>
<p>Look, I’m sure Princeton has a lot, and I mean A LOT of great people. In fact I read Krugman’s column in the NYT regularly. But the general atmosphere of the school seems pretty WASPY and uninclusive, if not downright snobby. (Funny-- this is the way it’s been depicted in a lot of modern literature, too: The Sun Also Rises, for example)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As much as I disagree with your assessment, I’m glad I could be some help. But you should include the caveat “for you,” just as Princeton was a far better choice for me.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m looking for a traditional, east-coast, and OPEN atmosphere, and Princeton fit that bill. I went to a high school that was similar in a lot of ways to Stanford (many parents were actually alumni), and it was just awful! I didn’t see that Stanford was different enough for me, so I chose Princeton.</p>
<p>“you should include the caveat ‘for you,’ just as Princeton was a far better choice for me.”</p>
<p>You’re absolutely right.</p>
<p>(still don’t know how to directly quote someone-- gonna have to figure that out)</p>
<p>You use quote tags – (quote) and (/quote) to end, with replacing ()</p>