<p>I saw a similar thread to this in UT Austin's board, and I was interested to know what all you gung-ho, Stanford-all-the-way people don't like about Stanford. I personally would like to hear from people who attend or have attended Stanford -- or have at least visited campus. </p>
<p>I'm from Maryland, recently accepted for the class of 2013, and I've never visited campus before, so please don't hold back! I'd really like to get a good picture of what to expect before making my own trip to the west coast! Stuff they don't say on the Stanford website.</p>
<p>Atmosphere, weather, student life, housing, dining, San Francisco, competitiveness among students... whatever! What should a prospective student like myself be aware of?</p>
<p>I asked this same question. What I don't like:</p>
<p>-housing: I don't much like the draw; not all the housing is very nice--there are some squeezes, and some dorms don't have as many facilities as others (like conference rooms and music rooms). Good news is, Stanford is building more housing and "unstuffing" all the dorms, as well as renovating all dorms.</p>
<p>-location: SF and SJ are accessible rather easily, and downtown Palo Alto is okay, but Stanford is definitely suburban</p>
<p>-IHUM is pointless and forces large classes on everyone</p>
<p>-party policy at Stanford is that all parties must be over by 1 or 2 AM. You can get around that by starting earlier (which people should do, and then just go to smaller after parties, but people are generally not that sensible)</p>
<p>-crazy bikers: seriously, we have AlcoholEdu. Why not RidingaF***ingBikeTheRightWayEdu? So many people don't understand the principles of riding a bike--it's essentially the same as driving a car. (Don't go in the opposite direction in a circular turnaround, always ride on the right side of the road, signal if you're going to make an abrupt turn in a stream of bikes, slow down in areas with people, etc.)</p>
<p>Other complaints are mainly just general ones not specific to Stanford. There are no big problems that I've encountered.</p>
<p>First of all, I think Admit Weekend is terrible and does not paint an accurate picture of life at Stanford. </p>
<p>Other things:
-IHUM is a joke. It's more like BHUM.
-Palo Alto is pretty upper middle class and not a "college town" (Berkeley wins this)
-The Stanford bubble consumes you if you don't make an effort to get off campus, do something new, etc.
-Some departments/classes need to be revamped (ie. chemistry labs)</p>
<p>To be honest, I have to agree with kyledavid: I haven't yet found any major problems while at Stanford. I've found it to be a generally great experience. I would say more than most (all?) universities, your experience (at Stanford) is entirely in your control.</p>
<p>thanks kyle and smooth, this is the type of information I'm looking for. so is IHUM like...a philosophy class or something? </p>
<p>kyle, do you think you could post a link to where you asked this question previously, if you can find it?</p>
<p>smooth, do you think it unnecessary to wait until Admit Weekend to visit Stanford for the first time? i have one chance to visit before making my admissions response, and i was debating whether to wait until that weekend or go at my own convenience.</p>
<p>tennisboy, i'm asking about Stanford more as a campus/place-to-spend-four-years-of-your-life, not about the Stanford Admissions Office...</p>
<ol>
<li>IHUM is a complete waste of time...seriously</li>
<li>Not pre-professional enough for my tastes...I think a group of more outwardly ambitious students actively looking for high paying jobs (premeds don't cut it for me), like at Penn, would keep me on my feet more...but that's just me</li>
<li>Being far away from home, I'm from the east coast too, so I guess that would be of interest to you</li>
<li>Horrible hours for the swimming pool, it's like 10am-2pm, but the pool is apparently amazing but I'm never free or awake then</li>
<li>Condoleezza Rice is coming back, self-explanatory</li>
<li>Oh, and did I mention, IHUM is a complete waste of time?</li>
</ol>
<p>When doing your college search I would try to make sure that you weigh the intangibles or the not-so-knowables of every university that you get admitted to that you are seriously considering. I think this was an excellent idea for a thread, because generally the fanboys of a school won't talk about these things in a X college vs Y college thread. I'm going to say though that I've enjoyed my first quarter at Stanford a lot and the college experience has left me for the better so far. I have been exposed to so many new ways of thinking and have realized the importance of being actively involved in our society and am so happy that Stanford was able to help me do this. The range of talented people I have met at Stanford has also been extremely impressive, reducing my ego just a tad =) Choosing your home for the next four years is not a decision to be taken lightly (especially with the sticker price), therefore I can't say with certainty that Stanford is right for you. If you tell us a little more about yourself, perhaps we can help you see if Stanford would be a good match, and suggest other schools that may have what you are looking for as well.</p>
<p>ok so the general consensus seems to be that IHUM is pointless... collegehopefull1, IHUM stands for Introduction to Humanities, and its supposed to be about "the study of human thought, values, beliefs, creativity and culture."</p>
<p>thanks for your opinion morsmordre! (btw, your name reminds me of a character or place you would find in the lord of the ring)</p>
<p>about me... well, um, i applied to stanford because I was looking for a top-notch school that doesn't take itself too seriously. I wouldn't call myself the typical intellectual, in that I tend to shy away from...other intellectuals and high thinkers, I guess. Some may call it modesty, others would call it anti-intellectualism. I don't know how to explain it.
I like sports and athletics, another key point about stanford. I wanted an active intramural sports program, and decent collegiate-level competition to watch and support.
I wanted a change of scenery from the mid-Atlantic scene.
I'm interested in majoring in Computer Science, and Stanford is obviously one of if not the top school for that.
I'm actually really paranoid about community bathrooms, particularly privacy and cleanliness issues. They kind of freak me out, and they've always been one of my major concerns :P
I don't care much about the size of the campus - all I knew was that I didn't want to be in a rural setting or in a ridiculously cold climate. I also wanted a close-knit community on campus.
Besides Stanford, I have applied to/will apply to USC, UCLA, UCSB, Rice University, UT Austin, University of Maryland: College Park, UMBC, and Drexel University.</p>
<p>hmmm. that's all I can think of at the momemt! thanks for all the input so far.</p>
<p>Hahahaha ihum is a drag, but it could be a lot worse. I ended up really liking my first quarter one. It definitely helped that my TF was fantastic. A plus is that you get to meet a lot more freshman who have also been forced into taking the class as well!</p>
<p>Stanford is the kind of school where you definitely can have deep conversations...but you don't HAVE to (except maybe with the SLE kids). The people here are amazing, but they aren't pretentious. Seems like your type of atmosphere.</p>
<p>Sports are great here. duh. :)</p>
<p>Coming from the East Coast, the weather (SUN) and the scenery (PALM TREES) were very welcome and refreshing.</p>
<p>Comp Sci is huge and you really can't get a better education anywhere else.</p>
<p>Bathrooms depend on your dorm but there is someone who cleans the dorms everyday (especially the bathrooms).</p>
<p>Stanford is huge so it's not totally close-knit (esp. compared to small liberal arts collges) but your dorms are definitely your families (with flags, tshirts, and chants) and everyone is one big community.</p>
<p>honestly, i love it. the one drawback, for me, is that a lot of the clubs are really competitive but they seem like a lot of fun so obviously that works. also, dining halls get repetitive but thats not anything different than other schools. home cooking is usually better regardless of what college.</p>
<p>-location: SF and SJ are accessible rather easily, and downtown Palo Alto is okay, but Stanford is definitely suburban</p>
<p>-IHUM is pointless and forces large classes on everyone</p>
<p>-party policy at Stanford is that all parties must be over by 1 or 2 AM. You can get around that by starting earlier (which people should do, and then just go to smaller after parties, but people are generally not that sensible)</p>
<p>-crazy bikers: seriously, we have AlcoholEdu. Why not RidingaF***ingBikeTheRightWayEdu? So many people don't understand the principles of riding a bike--it's essentially the same as driving a car. (Don't go in the opposite direction in a circular turnaround, always ride on the right side of the road, signal if you're going to make an abrupt turn in a stream of bikes, slow down in areas with people, etc.)
</p>
<p>I'm to lazy to write up my own, but these are basically what I would say.</p>
<p>I'd also add that Stanford tends to be pretty insular. People refer to this as "the bubble".</p>
<p>Wow, haha, jagerdeer. :P Way to give solid advice for the upcoming Stanford frosh.</p>
<p>Anyway, yes, I know that I'm part of Stanford's class of 2013, and have yet to enter as an actual student, but here's some of the things that my college counselor (who had attended Stanford as an undergrad) said he didn't like:
- trimester system (eeeeew!)
- Stanford bubble!</p>
<p>He actually said IHUM was pretty interesting, though sort of a drag. Oh, and as for the lack of hot CA women -- <em>huff</em> I resent that! -- check out College P r o w l e r
<a href="http://college">http://college</a> P r o w l e r.com/stanford-university/
Yay for girls getting a C+ in rating and guys a B. ><</p>
<p>"lower your standards and up your average"
although I am female and should be offended, i had to laugh :P</p>
<p>i feel kind of disappointed about the "Stanford bubble." i was looking forward to living so close to San Francisco. i've only been to southern California (LA, San Diego, Pasadena), but my mom went to Berkeley, and she talks about how she loved san fran as a grad student and how cool it was to be "just across the bridge." Ah, well.</p>
<p>Whoever said that the quarter system is bad needs to remember that you don't have to worry about finals over winter break. Three weeks completely FREE!!! :D</p>
<p>
[quote]
Whoever said that the quarter system is bad needs to remember that you don't have to worry about finals over winter break. Three weeks completely FREE!!!
[/quote]
nice... my sister goes to an Ivy league school and this whole break she's been worried sick about her finals. not having to crack a textbook over winter break FTW</p>
<p>
[quote]
i feel kind of disappointed about the "Stanford bubble." i was looking forward to living so close to San Francisco. i've only been to southern California (LA, San Diego, Pasadena), but my mom went to Berkeley, and she talks about how she loved san fran as a grad student and how cool it was to be "just across the bridge." Ah, well.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The bubble is easy to leave, and students frequently do. It's only a "bubble" in the sense that Stanford isn't integrated into a city--i.e. the school doesn't blend into the surrounding city, as it does at Berkeley.</p>