Things I hate about Stanford

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>-It rains pretty much every day.</p>

<p>-The weight room is absolutely pathetic for the size of this school. The equipment is old and the place is packed all the time.</p>

<p>-The undergrads here are completely unremarkable. I have no idea how this school ranks so high. </p>

<p>-Apple laptops, organic food, and Barack Obama. If you don't love all three, you won't fit in.</p>

<p>-Class size. I've only had one class with under 50 people since I got here.</p>

<p>-Want to talk to your professor? Good luck catching them during their one hour of office hours per week.</p>

<p>-Only about half the student show up to class on time, which means that every minute for the first half of class, a student will stumble in and slam the door.</p>

<p>-Not enough bike racks. Good luck trying to get your bike out of the heap of tangled metal after spots run out and people just start parking their bikes anywhere.</p>

<p>-Want only a superficial overview of topics you're interested in? Then the quarter system if for you!</p>

<p>-Bike riders don't obey traffic laws. It's pretty bizarre to see so many people ignore stop signs and fly into busy intersections under the assumption that cars will yield to them.</p>

<p>That's enough for now. Just had to get that off my chest...</p>

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<p>Always beneficial for potential applicants such as myself to hear of some perceived negatives by current students, although some of your statements sound just a tad hyperbolic :)</p>

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<p>Don’t be so harsh on yourself.</p>

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<p>We’re dying to hear your next ranting and raving. What will we do to pass the time?</p>

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<p>Seriously unrealistic expectations, anal compulsiveness, being a freshman taking introductory courses, or a little of all three?</p>

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<p>-It rains pretty much every day.</p>

<p>Really, it hardly rained fall quarter. Yes, winter quarter has a lot of rain and spring has so far.</p>

<p>-The weight room is absolutely pathetic for the size of this school. The equipment is old and the place is packed all the time.</p>

<p>Borrow one of you athlete friends’ t-shirts.</p>

<p>-The undergrads here are completely unremarkable. I have no idea how this school ranks so high.</p>

<p>Unfortunately for our generation, I have realized from visiting friends at similar caliber schools I don’t think you find much better.</p>

<p>-Apple laptops, organic food, and Barack Obama. If you don’t love all three, you won’t fit in.</p>

<p>False, I don’t love all three. In fact I only like one of them and dislike the other two (Hint: I am conservative). I feel as though I fit in just fine.</p>

<p>-Class size. I’ve only had one class with under 50 people since I got here.</p>

<p>I have had four, but many times I actually prefer lectures.</p>

<p>-Want to talk to your professor? Good luck catching them during their one hour of office hours per week.</p>

<p>Yes, they only post an hours worth, but have you tried emailing them if that hour does not work for you? I have never had an issues talking to a professor when I have need to. Also, two of my friends and I spent 4 hours talking to a professor after class without any other students there and this was a class with about 40 people.</p>

<p>-Only about half the student show up to class on time, which means that every minute for the first half of class, a student will stumble in and slam the door.</p>

<p>Yep, thats me.</p>

<p>-Not enough bike racks. Good luck trying to get your bike out of the heap of tangled metal after spots run out and people just start parking their bikes anywhere.</p>

<p>Really? A heap of tangled metal?</p>

<p>-Want only a superficial overview of topics you’re interested in? Then the quarter system if for you!</p>

<p>That is IHUM bud, don’t generalize to all other courses. Also, when your a freshman isn’t that what taking intro courses means? Isn’t it a broad overview of that subject? If you want to know more major in it.</p>

<p>-Bike riders don’t obey traffic laws. It’s pretty bizarre to see so many people ignore stop signs and fly into busy intersections under the assumption that cars will yield to them.</p>

<p>Have you visited any other colleges?</p>

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<p>Thank you for the dose of reality. Ever since I was admitted I could not for the life of me, find a Stanford student willing to share any negatives to this damn school. I asked and asked and asked and all I got was “I lUv it h3Re!!!1111”. I think some criticism is actually good in this case.</p>

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Halfway true. It does rain a lot of the days, especially winter quarter and start of spring quarter, but for many of those it’s less than an hour of rain and mostly sunny. I bet in the summer you’ll complain that it doesn’t rain enough. </p>

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Maybe because you decide to go at the same time as everybody else. Friday afternoon, maybe? And the equipment seemed good to me. You can’t expect it to be like an Olympic training gym. Although there are no locker rooms. </p>

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Like the guy above me, I don’t love any of these and I fit in fine. If anything Stanford is a lot less liberal than some of its peer schools. </p>

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In three quarters, I’ve had four as well. If section were included, it would be all but two. I don’t think you can expect much better with IHUM and introductory classes. </p>

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I know a guy, 3.0 GPA (at public high school), 1 mediocre EC, poor writer, a couple AP classes, unhooked, who got into Caltech, which arguably has the most merit-based admissions program in the country. Stanford, which also accepts athletes, hooked applicants, and others, shouldn’t be expected to have all “remarkable” students. And remember that this is all relative. To the average American, almost every student here is remarkable. </p>

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not true for me either. </p>

<p>My main problems with the school:
-pre-professional atmosphere
-CS + entrepreneurial focus
-distance from Lake Tahoe (4 hours is a long way)
-IHUM (sucks)
-sports culture = practically non-existent. although I’m used to the midwest.
-too many talented people competing with you for research positions, on-campus jobs, introsems, sophomore college/arts intensive, and clubs. No matter how qualified you think you may be, there is almost always someone more qualified than you. There’s really not much of a competition for grades, due to grade inflation (aka the “losers” in the game still end up with a B, and if you put in the effort you should generally get at least a B+)
-Tiger Woods went here :)</p>

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<p>What were you expecting? For those of you from out of state who don’t know better, Stanford is located in NORTHERN California. Forget all those sunny SoCal beach scenes you saw “The OC.” They happened about 400 miles to the south.</p>

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<p>That’s why some people choose UC Davis. Its location splits the difference.</p>

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<p>Really? I thought “fabulous sports culture” was one of the sticks Stanford boosters are endlessly using to hit the Ivy League.</p>

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<p>These two can’t both be true.</p>

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<p>Thecardinal is your typical ■■■■■. If you look at his previous posts, he claims to have gone to an undergrad school that “99% of people never heard of”.</p>

<p>Thecardinal states that the “undergrads here (meaning Stanford) are completely unremarkable.” Yet in a previous post he claims he is going to flunk one of his classes at whatever school he really attends.</p>

<p>My son goes to Stanford, does not have an Apple laptop, does not eat organic food, is apolitical, and thinks Stanford is the greatest University in the world. He has typical class sections of 12 to 15 students. Some freshman lectures do have a relatively large number of students (not any more so than most of the Ivys). My son has never had a problem talking to professors. There may be a few professors that focus on research, but most professors are very approachable. </p>

<p>Thecardinal ■■■■■ states, “every minute for the first half of class, a student will stumble in and slam the door.” Do you think that is accurate accounting of the classes or do you think that is an exaggeration from some loser with an agenda?</p>

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<p>I do always like hearing the other side. I can’t possibly fathom why the gym doesn’t have locker rooms, but alas, that seems to be one of the many mysteries. Every school has flaws. I want to hear them. It is nice to know that some of the prevailing flaws don’t bother me at all (rains a lot = not even 1/3 as much as it rains here).</p>

<p>Full disclosure: I hate Apple with a passion, wish I were affluent enough to eat organic food, and don’t care for Obama’s presidency but am in awe of how the campaign was run.</p>

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<p>I’m a graduate student…</p>

<p>And I ended up getting an A+ in the class I thought I was going to fail out of. Grade inflation is no joke here.</p>

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<p>P.S. Living vicariously through your son, cardfan? That’s kind of sad.</p>

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<p>Maybe not quite so sad as a disgruntled grad student (if indeed you are one) hanging around on a website populated primarily by high school students…</p>

<p>OTOH, I’m very glad you raised that dire problem about insufficient bike racks–there’s still time to choose another college before May 1st! (rolls eyes)</p>

<p>Can grad students transfer? Sounds like something to consider in this case.</p>

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<p>Speaking of sad try posting online about how ****ty everything is in the hope of having some interaction. Log off and get some friends thecardinal. Maybe you don’t fit in because all you do is moan.</p>

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<p>Yeah it kinda sucks the gym doesn’t have a locker room. The actual gym though is nice. Wish there were more adjustable benches though, there’s only around 7 and it can get crowded. That’s why I go to the gym in the morning =]</p>

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<p>squidgerwinks is a parent of a student too? I think it’s time to cut the umbilical cord…</p>

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<p>lets not get personal here…
personally i appreciate hearing both sides of the ideas</p>

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<p>^agreed…</p>

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<p>The absence of locker rooms is quite the mystery for a big sports school like Stanford. Could it be it’s because the weather is so nice you can actually walk around in shorts and a T-shirt, whereas in Cambridge or Hanover your sweat would freeze you into a popsicle? Or could it be that there are so many athletes scurrying to and from practice that sports attire is pretty common, and so you wouldn’t look out of place if you didn’t change right away? Don’t know, just asking…</p>

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<p>No you wouldn’t look out of place wearing gym clothes. People do it all the time (including me this quarter).</p>