<p>I was curious as to why you all chose Stanford and what attracted you to it as opposed to other schools. I'm a rising junior interested in engineering and computer science and I know that the charm of Stanford to me is the entrepreneurial culture with silicon valley in the backyard. How about you?</p>
<p>When I was searching for colleges, I made a complex ranking system based on my personal values including things like location and student life, the more common measures like strength of engineering program and desired majors, and at least a dozen other criteria. This got me down to the list of 5 colleges to which I applied – Stanford, MIT, Cornell, Brown, and Princeton. I was accepted to the first 4 (EA to Brown, so no need for safeties). I chose Stanford over MIT because I favored the entrepreneurial culture with silicon valley, my experiences while visiting including a very friendly and helpful atmosphere, the increased opportunities outside of engineering, and moderate CA coastal climate. I had a great time at Stanford and truly believe it was the best college in the world for me.</p>
<p>How did you apply EA to Brown?? It is an ED school.</p>
<p>Brown had a non-binding EA when I applied several years ago. This option has since been removed, and now it is only a binding ED. The director of admissions at Brown said they switched to ED because, “The old policy was intended for students who had identified Brown as one of their top choices, but instead it became a means for students to cover their bases and then apply to other schools.”</p>
<p>Best aspects of Harvard + Best aspects of MIT + ideal climate = STANFORD</p>
<p>^^Strongly agree with zen. More and more people in the know seem to be coming to that conclusion…</p>
<p>One very important fact to remember…Stanford - MIT - Harvard - Princeton: they choose you, not the other way around…</p>
<p>Stanford trys really hard to make life easy for students (yeah, the academics are no joke, but everyone seems pretty happy there). After talking to many students from there, I decided I’d be happiest at The Farm.</p>
<p>Stanford is strong across the board: academics (ALL departments rank in the top 5), people, climate, campus, athletics, etc. All A+.</p>
<p>But having said that, Stanford certainly isn’t for everyone.</p>
<p>Like Army113 said, the administration tries to do as much as possible to cater to the students. Plus the faculty vibe is such that they are willing to take on prot</p>
<p>^ That’s an interesting thought. When D was taking her athletic official visits, the coach for her sport was completing his first year working at Stanford. He said he absolutely loved it because everything at Stanford was made so easy for him, compared to all the red tape etc. at the previous school he coached at.</p>
<p>Agreed with aleaiactaest - Stanford is top-notch, AND is strong across all disciplines, in both undergrad and graduate programs. Harvard lacks Engineering, MIT is not strong in humanities, Princeton does not have many professional grad schools.</p>
<p>I have to agree with everyone who says that Stanford makes life easier - of course, the classes aren’t a joke, but things like clubs and other ECs are well laid out and easy to develop. I also have to put in a word for the freshman RAs - they are INCREDIBLE. They really make the transition much easier. </p>
<p>As for why I chose Stanford, it was a combination of a lot of things, but it really came down to lifestyle. I knew I could get top notch academics at a number of schools, but I valued how happy Stanford students tend to be (of course, Stanford will be what you make of it and not everyone will be happy). At the end of the day, I wanted to be somewhere where I felt supported, where I could make close friends, and where I would have a higher quality of life. I went to a very competitive high school and was not eager to repeat that experience. I’ve only been at Stanford for a quarter, but so far it has surpassed all of my expectations. It really is incredible.</p>
<p>Stanford is the perfect mix of good academics, wonderful sports atmosphere, non-pretentiousness (if that’s a word even though I’m sure it’s not) and wonderful weather. See ya later KS, here I come Cali!</p>
<p>Stanford is a great place to study the Humanities. The Humanities depts are as highly ranked as the STEM depts. but they get overshadowed by all the hype around the STEM/Silicon Valley/Venture Capital relationship. Not sure of my source, but I was told that 80% of the applicants who declare majors or express areas of academic interest, indicate a preference for STEM and social science majors. But 50% of the faculty are in the Humanities and the school wants to keep a balance between STEM, social sciences and the humanities. So Humanities majors actually have a better chance of admission to Stanford than the acceptance rate would suggest.</p>
<p>What that has meant for D is that she has small classes - including several that were one-on-one, privately arranged with nationally-known Humanities faculty. She’s been able to get into graduate level seminars in her field, and several of the Humanities depts. have funded her during quarters she took off to do independent research. The other big plus at Stanford has been the flexibility to graduate in more than 4 years because, unlike several top east coast ivies, you can take time off to pursue your interests in other settings (and, as mentioned above, Stanford provided funding for her to do it.) It also means that while she’s majoring in the humanities, she has a minor in a STEM subject (because she likes using that part of her brain as well). The quarter system has given her the necessary flexibility to do this.</p>
<p>Also worth checking out SLE (Structured Liberal Education) - not just for Humanities majors. Like a small liberal arts college experience for Freshman. She made many of her closest friends at SLE. </p>
<p>I don’t know when, but I will go to Stanford for higher education in Psychology. I’ve decided. There is nothing that will stop me.</p>
<p>Suggested by Friends in the USA. Also heard of few good doctors in India, who are graduates from Stanford.</p>
The money is great and it’s easy to get in.
I’m currently deciding between Stanford and the University of Washington. Both are top-notch in STEM and my Spanish major. They also have awesome opportunities for pre-med students such as shadowing, research, and taking classes at their respective med schools. At the moment I’m waiting on hearing from Stanford’s registrar if they’ll ok my transfer credit for the bio core and ochem sequence. UW will take them. If Stanford doesn’t, I’ll go to UW for two years and hopefully see Stanford for medical school quite soon.
@StartAdventuring. You remind me of @Data10. He, I believe, had extraordinary curiosity and depth of purpose in wanting to learn as much as he could…so he sought out challenging classes (which he could not get from his high school) from colleges and accumulated a lot of credits from local colleges similar to you when he got accepted to Stanford. He was able to transfer some of his college credits as you are trying to do as well. He has long graduated…but, he may be able to help you navigate the credit transfer process better…you could PM him. Hope it works out for you.