<p>I think we are all embittered by our chances of getting in. :) Yay Stanford!</p>
<p>As a current Stanford freshman, I can name a number of things:</p>
<p>1) Quarter System: 3 sets of exams, start and end late, right when you get used to a professor's grading style and personality you already have to sign up for new classes</p>
<p>2) Curves: Especially in math and sciene classes, the curve is brutal because everyone is so smart</p>
<p>3) Location: Stanford Bubble</p>
<p>4) Food is medicore</p>
<p>Questions raised by Vissanik:</p>
<p>Is the food really mediocre? I thought Stanford food was supposed to be top-notch.
Also, are the cons of the quarter system are outweighed by the pros of having the opportunity to take so many classes and explore different fields?</p>
<p>HAHA that video made my day...</p>
<p>ya i'm gonna agree about the campus. i mean it's not ugly by any means. but i visited berkeley and stanford on the same trip up to cali and i saw berkeley first and that campus is GORGEOUS. and so i thought stanford would be even better, but i was actually pretty disappointed. it just is kinda of boring and it's not beautiful and open like berkeley is.</p>
<p>I mentioned the Toxic video to my tour guide when we visited and she had no idea what I was talking about. Which cafeteria is the one featured? I think I might have toured it.</p>
<p>They did a new one. It's pretty good too.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure I'm not embittered, I've just grown up around the area.</p>
<p>I would take amazing people and taco bell over any beautiful campus.
I mean, the architecture is cool, but there's never anything different.</p>
<p>On a side note, I've been in the dining halls a lot. The food isn't bad, but it's all the same, too.</p>
<p>But the pineapples were the best I've ever had, for however much that's worth.</p>
<p>lol that video dsm3 posted is from the summer session this year, i was in that dorm !!</p>
<p>What's wrong with Taco Bell?
It gives you the ****s.</p>
<p>I also heard Stanford has hott girls, this notion correct?</p>
<p>i dont like rush hour traffic with the bikes
food is good compared to other schools
iffy on the quarter system</p>
<p>Haha. I love Stanford but my mom complains that it looks like a huge Taco Bell. Every time we drive by one or there is a Taco Bell commercial on television my mom goes, "Look! Your school is advertising!"</p>
<p>I personally love Taco Bell.</p>
<p>I've never made the Taco Bell connection before, but it makes so much sense in retrospect.</p>
<p>And I love Taco Bell too! (Soft Tacoooo with fire)</p>
<p>Ihum Ihum Ihum!!!!</p>
<p>There is architectural variety, especially in the Engineering quad being built and the Bio-X buildings. The quarter system has enormous positives and negatives, so don't just focus on one or the other. It helps to note that there are many top colleges now that use the quarter system, so it isn't as though we are the only school doing this.</p>
<p>Taco bell makes my butt and stomach uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Stuff I didn't like or thought was lame:</p>
<ol>
<li>INVASION of caterpillers in April</li>
<li>Having to dodge bicycles left and right, especially the tools who think riding a bicycle while using no hands is still fashionable (yes, conservation of angular momentum is cool, but you don't have to keep showing me)</li>
<li>"Stumpy" the Phallic Symbol (aka Hoover Tower)</li>
<li>Students are more hesitant to demand reasoning from or debate with professors during lecture (than at Berkeley) = sometimes felt like high school, not a university</li>
<li>Okay on-campus food but BAD off-campus food</li>
<li>PALO ALTO IS NOT A COLLEGE TOWN; "Stanford U Bubble"</li>
<li>The campus is way too big</li>
<li>Students are overly self-conscious about seeming nerdy; "Stanford Duck Syndrome" where students pretend to be laid back and "cool" on the surface but actually nerd away (the idea being that ducks moving through water look calm on the surface but their legs are paddling like crazy)...you're an adult now, be yourself</li>
<li>Large class sizes and TAs are often underqualified (i.e. Juniors TAing upper-div classes and first-year grad students TAing sophisticated upper-div classes that they have little knowledge in); it's a very strange feeling when you TA someone in one class and that person is your TA in another...in the same field of study (this scenario is very common in some majors)</li>
<li>Supplementary resources were minimal for quite a few classes</li>
<li>Smugness </li>
</ol>
<p>To be fair, (some of) the stuff I liked about Stanford:</p>
<ol>
<li>Friendly, interesting, and very intelligent students</li>
<li>Dedicated and supportive faculty</li>
<li>Access to very prominent guest speakers in classes</li>
<li>The feeling of being "in an exclusive club" (but have to be careful of #11 from previous list); the university does a good job of keeping the students happy socially, although I've met many students who are frustrated with the academics</li>
<li>Campus is very beautiful at night, especially the Quad area with the cathedral.</li>
<li>The Dish Area</li>
<li>Its proximity to San Francisco and Berkeley</li>
<li>I recently joined the Alumni Association and the benefits look pretty nice (Travel/Study with faculty around world, Golf course access, Stanford Sierra camp, etc)</li>
</ol>
<p>Formerly that was a very informative post; thank you. Just out of curiosity, what state/geographical region are you from? And how do you know that students are more forthright in Berkeley classes?</p>
<p>I COMPLETELY second you on the caterpillars! They are everywhere! You can't even walk under a tree without them falling on your head. And then the students on their bicycles run over them, and they are dead in the middle of the road. Yea, they get pretty annoying, those little guys. LOL</p>