<p>It can be anything... from the mosaic on the buildings to the professors to the location to the people or whatever. </p>
<p>thanks :)</p>
<p>Clowiebear, it’s getting to be midterm time, so you’re not likely to get many responses to your question. Looks like you’re going to have to come up with your own ideas for your “Why Stanford?” essay. That’s really for the best, though, because that’s the only way the essay has any chance of being persuasive and genuine.</p>
<p>Biking around</p>
<p>
Our own ideas? How are we supposed to know firsthand what a Stanford student likes. It would be nice if this could get some responses, instead of using things we see in a brochure/website, it would be great to hear from a real student and see if it applies to us so we can write about it.</p>
<p>You misunderstand, ripemango. You’re supposed to know why YOU want to attend Stanford, and why YOU belong there. Why else would you be applying, if you don’t already know the answer to that?</p>
<p>The only way you know the reasons YOU want to apply is from what you hear about Stanford. It’s not like we can magically write a deep essay about why we want to attend Stanford, maybe some poeple need to be exposed to more information so they can see what else they could add if they like what they hear, of if they haven’t decided to apply maybe what a current student tells them will convince them otherwise.</p>
<p>please. the real reason we want to go to stanford is because it’s on the west coast and ranked #4. thaaat’s about it. </p>
<p>in the end of the day, it’s not much different from harvard yale or princeton or wherever.
these questions are ridiculous.</p>
<p>so excuse us zenkoan.</p>
<p>Sure, you’re excused, Clowie. And I’m sure Admissions will excuse you (from the Class of 2015) too, if that’s your attitude toward Stanford and “wherever” else you plan to apply.</p>
<p>But seriously: I realize this is a stressful period and that the supplement questions demand time and attention. If you don’t really investigate what is distinctive about each college you apply to, you won’t be able to produce any persuasive essays. Asking current random students to just list things isn’t the kind of research that will accomplish that objective. Try drilling down into the websites of the colleges that interest you, and see whether your interest is deeper than a name and a US News ranking.</p>
<p>do you mind if i send you my essay?
you can destroy it if you wish</p>
<p>OK, Clowie, PM it to me. I’m glad you can tell that I am only trying to be helpful, not trying to give you a hard time.</p>
<p>thank you 
i’m emailing it to you</p>
<p>If anyone is applying to Stanford just because of its rank, apply somewhere else. we don’t want you here. </p>
<p>Stanford offers so much more than just a rank, so if you don’t have real reasons to be here over any other top school, go somewhere else where they care about rank.</p>
<p>^ Yea it does. If you’re a current student, why not share some of that?</p>
<p>For me, initially there were a lot of factors. But once it came down to actually choosing between Stanford and other schools, these were the things that were my favorite:
- First and most important: the atmosphere. People here are awesome. Faculty members (mostly) are great. People are cooperative and work together on just about anything. Everyone looks for ways to help each other. Most people have no desire to compete with you just because the class is graded on a curve. People do care about grades, but it isn’t like other colleges where people are so competitive that they don’t want to help you.
- I was really attracted by the Program in Human Biology (i.e. major in Human Biology). Please see <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1019763-humbio.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1019763-humbio.html</a> for a full explanation of why i like it.
- It’s an awesome place to be and has the best of both worlds: academics of a top university and an actual college experience. People here are not afraid to get a B+ if it means that they can be extra-involved in an organization they love. Students balance academics and other things pretty well here. I never really liked sports before I got here, but it makes a huge difference in how happy students are, which affects everyone. These and other things make it just a great place to be.
- The area. Not just the weather or Silicon Valley, but the entire society around Stanford and the Bay Area is a really great place to be. People are always looking for innovation, whether in technology, public policy, health issues, environmental issues, or anything else. It’s not as stagnant as the East Coast (I’m from New Jersey, which I love, but the Bay Area is so different).
- Stanford is really a university always looking to the future.</p>
<p>Wow that’s really similar to what I wrote the Why Stanford essay. But those are things that you know before you go to Stanford, but now as a student is it all true, and is there anything you found out about it from going there that you didn’t know before?</p>