<p>Stanford and its students cannot be summed up or labeled in any way aside from saying that almost everyone is smart and passionate. Admissions does a great job of creating classes that are diverse in every way possible…I’m always surprised by how many different types of people I meet here. What most of them have in common is intelligence and passion. The latter refers to the fact that they arrive at Stanford caring deeply about something and use the University’s resources to further engage/develop their passion. </p>
<p>Compared to its academic peers (HYPM), Stanford is commonly thought of as being more “laid-back.” But many people say that Stanford students just look this way on the outside and are actually “paddling” very hard under the surface to stay “afloat.” This is called the Stanford Duck Syndrome (Google it), and I’d say that it’s a fairly accurate representation of the environment here. Despite how hard people are working, most people are genuinely nice. With the admission rate as low as it is (5.7%), “personal qualities” like kindness really factor into the admission decisions, and I think this is clear when you look at the student body.</p>