<p>One small, but significant, thing in USC’s favor is how long this thread is - 120 replies. Before, a “Stanford vs. USC” thread wouldn’t have been able to get more than 20 replies, so this is a small bit of evidence of USC’s rise. ;)</p>
<p>^ If money weren’t a factor, the thread would have had 1 reply.</p>
<p>I am the original poster. Money is not a factor as indicated previously.</p>
<p>^ Mmmmkayy…</p>
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<p>^I agree. OP did make it sound like money was a factor. When people took their time to reply, they did so based on that. Otherwise, yes, it is a no-brainer.</p>
<p>If a family makes up to $100,000 Stanford will give you full tuition. You only pay for room and board. And, they even have some leeway with that, ie; if you go a bit over that. And, they do a sliding scale as the salary goes up. They are VERY generous.
And, you’re guaranteed housing on campus for all 4 years. My husband is an alum and we would have LOVED it if our daughter had been admitted two years ago. And, it would have been the least expensive school for her.</p>
<p>I am surprised you are not getting any aid from Princeton since they are extremely generous with aid for middle class families. If not, then I guess the question is if you can afford the 50/60 a year? If so, let her enjoy going to whichever school she likes best. What incredible options in such a hard acceptance year. </p>
<p>If you are concerned about when your other child is in school, talk to financial aid office to see the impact of aid next year for your family.</p>
<p>Good luck and congratulations again</p>
<p>Sorry, I was the original poster on another content area for the same question, but was moved over here by the administrator. Money is not an issue for us. Surprisingly, Stanford paled in comparison to USC for non-engineering, computer science, science and math undergraduate areas as well as the vibrancy of the student body, especially their ability to relate to one another. Quite surprising indeed.</p>
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<p>Can you elaborate? So you chose USC?</p>
<p>@docfreedaddy, Stanford accepted your daughter, you should be grateful for that. Now, she decided on USC, good for her. Anything that bashing on Stanford here is a reflection of your own education.</p>
<p>I was greatly impressed with Stanford as a now mature institution with deep ties to Silicon Valley. Its facilities and commitment to technology entrepreneurship are a centerpiece of its position statement and quite effective as evidenced by a recent 50 million dollar donation by Apple. Of note, if you read recent articles about Apple, Apple has avoided paying several billions dollars of taxes to the State of California by maintaining a 5 person office in Nevada. These tax dolars are desperately needed for public education in California and relatively insignificant to, though accepted, by Stanford. </p>
<p>As you likely know, a number of years ago a prior provost of Stanford, along with many others, aptly criticized US News Reports and other rankings. This past weekend the acting dean of Stanford emphasized twice in a brief address to admitted students and parents departmental and overall rankings of Stanford in USNWR. i believe Stanford culture has changed since its dynamic growth phase and perhaps not for the better.</p>
<p>The engineering facilities are striking and form a stark contrast to the humanities facilities which, though venerable on the outside, are dated and seemingly neglected on the interior. The humanities area most certainly seems the poor stepchild and like a stepchild an uncomfortable fit. Parents were told the humanities curriculum will be revised, but a timeframe and in what direction seem unanswered questions.</p>
<p>Since there is such identification and passion about the schools one attends, teaches at or identifies with, I will encourage each reader to come to their own conclusion. My observation is that the departments themselves parallel their online presentation very closely. Again, I had an interest in comparing Stanford and USC in humanities and journalism areas for undergraduate study:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Stanford’s communication department webpage: [Communication:</a> Undergraduate Program](<a href=“http://comm.stanford.edu/undergrad]Communication:”>http://comm.stanford.edu/undergrad)<br>
USC’s annenberg page [USC</a> Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism](<a href=“http://annenberg.usc.edu/]USC”>http://annenberg.usc.edu/)</p></li>
<li><p>For Humanities:
Stanford’s SLE Program: [Structured</a> Liberal Education | Structured Liberal Education](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/sle/]Structured”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/sle/)<br>
USC’s Thematic Options [Thematic</a> Option > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://dornsife.usc.edu/thematic-option/]Thematic”>http://dornsife.usc.edu/thematic-option/)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The links will get you to the web pages, which if you are really interested, please explore in depth, especially the sample curriculum. Again, after visiting both schools, interviewing faculty and students and an immersion in the curriculum offered, there is no comparison in my opinion-- Stanford pales in comparison to USC in the humanities and journalism/communications areas.</p>
<p>docfree, may your daughter flourish at USC. They have a very good journalism school. However, the notion that Stanford “pales in comparison to USC in the humanities” is so absurd that it barely merits discussion, and this will be my final comment on the matter. It’s not just a matter of rankings, of course, but every other meaningful metric, including faculty prominence and publications, overall student body, et al. As a single data point, Stanford had five Rhodes Scholars in the most recent year alone, and four of them graduated from the Colleges of Humanities and Sciences; only one from the College of Engineering. Again, my sincere best wishes to your family. I’ve no doubt that USC puts on a motivated, full-court press to attract its merit scholarship winners, and I hope it lives up to your kid’s expectations.</p>
<p>Yes, “pales in comparison” is right:</p>
<p>English:
Stanford #2
USC #38
[Best</a> English Programs | Top Humanities Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/english-rankings/page+2]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/english-rankings/page+2)</p>
<p>Psychology:
Stanford #1
USC #40
[Best</a> Psychology Programs | Top Psychology Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/psychology-rankings/page+2]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/psychology-rankings/page+2)</p>
<p>History:
Stanford #1
USC #42
[Best</a> History Programs | Top History Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/history-rankings/page+2]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/history-rankings/page+2)</p>
<p>Poli Sci:
Stanford #1
USC #62
[Best</a> Political Science Programs | Top Political Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings/page+3]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings/page+3)</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Zenkoan, Thank you for your well wishes. I was shocked by the substance vs. reputation of each school and the departments I cite, as well as the comparative between Stanford and USC in respective curriculum and sophistication of the students I spoke with. If you take the time to get to know the USC programs first hand, or even review the information provided, you might be as well.</p>
<p>Much has been written about the USNWR rankings, including by Stanford’s former provost. Are you aware they reference graduate education and for department rankings in humanities are based solely on Academy-award type balloting? </p>
<p>Look, I am as shocked as you and would have absolutely loved to have by daughter attend a school much closer to home and enjoy the “bragging rights” of attending Stanford. To her credit, she examined the schools extremely carefully and independent of my due diligence and selected the program that appeared most inspiring, dynamic, well constructed, enjoyed by current students and supported by its university. I have no doubt that if she was a science, engineering, computer science or math major she would have chosen Stanford.</p>
<p>docfree, though I said I was done commenting here, I must add one more, since I’d like to make clear that I’m not “shocked” by what you wrote; rather, I am entirely unpersuaded by it. Though I am glad for you that USC is appealing, there’s simply no objective basis for your assertion about the relative quality of the programs. (And I had to chuckle at the conclusion you drew from your observation that Stanford’s engineering facilities are newer and more impressive than the humanities buildings–state-of-the-art engineering education absolutely depends on the maintenance and continuous updating of physical facilites; humanities and writing, not so much.; ) ) Yes, Stanford is updating its humanities curriculum to make sure it continues to best serve its students and continues to shine a bright light on the purposes and goals of other educational endeavors–that’s what world-leading universities do. Honestly, I wish you all the best, as I do everyone on these forums. But a Lamborghini doesn’t pale in comparison to a Volvo, no matter how much one might wish it would. That’s not to say that for some people the Volvo doesn’t offer more appropriate value–but that’s a different assessment than one relating to their respective intrinsic merits. This is all I’ve been trying to get across in this thread since it started. Cheers, and peace out.</p>
<p>First of all, let me express my sincere thanks to all of you that contribute to this thread. I had several long talks with my D about all the valuable points that had been brought up in this thread. We also talked to the FA office and have our case reviewed, nothing was changed unfortunately. But through the process I realized how much she love Stanford. Right after she got the acceptance from Stanford, she showed her younger sister her 6th grade essay about her dream of going to Stanford one day. So I told her it will be a sacrifice for the family to send her to Stanford, but she really deserve it. Hopefully she will make it worth it.</p>
<p>Zenkoan,</p>
<p>It is odd that you would assume i would want to persuade you or a few of the more uncritical supporters of Stanford of anything. I began an earnest quest with common assumptions shared by many. I have found, though, that the validity of current rankings are completely untested, but as examined found inadequate. Secondly, some schools and some departments seem overrated compared to rankings and some underrated. In depth visits with a probing eye and questions yields the most useful (valid) information.</p>
<p>I do sense an insecurity and lack of graciousness at Stanford from the top down. There seems much more emphasis on Stanford’s ranking than a decade ago and sense of unease when the day to day basis for the ranking is questioned or challenged. That is not very Lamborghini-like. </p>
<p>I am writing for anyone who was in my position a few short months ago having visited a campus or several and finding the rankings not concordant with their experience. Hopefully, the exchanges here will give them a head start on their considerations. I do think the emphasis on rankings and tone of the posts from a number of strident Stanford supporters is most useful information in itself.</p>
<p>@Zenkoan, let it go…</p>
<p>@davev61, I am happy for your decision. My son did the same four years ago when he decided on Stanford over Yale. He is finishing in two months and will start working for Google soon.</p>
<p>LOL docfree. I don’t think you’re trying to persuade me of anything; I think you’re trying to persuade yourself. I come from a fairly long line of Ivy grads, and one of the main reasons I love Stanford, and have from the beginning, is the strong sense of security and genuine confidence, and lack of pretense, among all affiliated with it. This is among its principal distinctions from its true academic peer schools. Stanford surely has “strident” supporters, but that’s because it is sui generis, and we’re justifiably proud of our school’s unique culture. Nothing insecure about it. ; ) All the best to your new Trojan.</p>
<p>And, yes–I’m really done now. : ) Two papers due in two days!</p>
<p>Best of luck on your papers. Hopefully there was enough substance in our discourse to benefit others.</p>