I was lucky enough to be admitted in through EA this year and I was just wondering how difficult it would be to do a double major in Human Bio and PoliSci..
I know that HumBio requires 87 units, and PoliSci 70, but with Gen Eds and other factors, how difficult would this be?
zenkoan-My IntroSem was much more work than the others my friends were in, but I do agree I had a bit of a light courseload last quarter. However, it seems like a lot of my frosh friends who had/have heavy courseloads made it a bit harder for themselves. I've never heard of anyone that's taking 17 or more units of all req'd courses that they absolutely have to take now, usually its a combo of classes they have to take and really want to take, so they sacrifice some free time for a class they enjoy. (And there's nothing wrong with that obviously.)
Laeven-I'm not too sure about grad school classes. Maybe Senior or zenkoan can answer those since they've had more time on the Farm?
Freshman housing is broken into all-frosh and four-class. The all-frosh dorms are Wilbur and Stern and both are all one-room doubles. The four-class dorms are Roble, West Lagunita, and Florence Moore and from what I've seen and heard, rooms there are a bit more varied and spacious. Like you've heard, all-frosh is definitely more social when compared to four-class. Generally most frosh are really happy with the dorms they end up in since there's not really any "bad" frosh housing. The only group of frosh that are unhappy with their housing are those who wanted all-frosh and ended up in four-class.
I was also admitted REA and have confirmed my intent to enroll:
Around what date are incoming frosh allowed to sign up for classes? Did you find that you had trouble getting any classes you wanted? I'm thinking of taking CS 106X, IHUM 1, some other class (ENGR 40?), and an intro seminar. How does this sign up date change with your time at Stanford?
from what i gather, in most colleges, ur group of friends will usually begin with the people in ur dorms and then as u become more involved with ECs you make more friends there as well. since housing changes for stanford students every year (or did i get this part wrong?), how does that affect your social life? the campus is huge[!!] too so are you able to build and maintain strong relationships throughout your 4 years? (this question is geared towards a more introverted person.) thanks
mrcool: I could be wrong, but I believe it wasn't until we arrived on campus for orientation that we could sign up for classes. Nothing I've wanted was ever closed, nor was it for any of my friends. The only exceptions are IntroSeminars, for which you have to apply for limited spaces -- but ordinarily if you go to the first class the prof will let you in anyway -- and some popular activities / PE-type classes. Everyone, no matter what grade/year s/he is, can sign up at the same time. It's really not an issue.
I'd also say that that schedule looks pretty heavy. CS 106X in and of itself will be a ton of work. Why do you need to load yourself down like that so much for first quarter? Remember, socializing and making friends truly is like another class. Would you rather spend a given two hour chunk of time hanging out with new friends, getting to know people, and having fun, or slaving away at a PSET? If first quarter is too easy, you can always load up second quarter! Congrats on getting in! The Farm is an awesome place to be.
amaninakupenda: I'm in SLE and I absolutely love it. You either take SLE or IHUM and PWR as requirements. EVERYONE hates their IHUM, and no one hates SLE. There might be a very slight stigma about SLE, but it's more of a joke than it is people actually refusing to hang out with you because you do it. No one even has to know if you don't tell them.... But anyway you will make most of your friends in your dorm, and if you're in SLE a lot of those kids will also be in SLE. We're totally not social pariahs, I've never felt bullied or anything for being SLE. I consider myself reasonably socially adept -- my best friend in high school was class president. There are some super cool people in SLE. And if you're worried about partying, there are definitely people in SLE who go hard. A lot. And there are people in SLE who don't like to party at all. And people in the middle. Really, it's just like any other dorm at Stanford. The one thing I'd say is SLE kids maybe tend to be less superficial. Everyone here is SOOOO nice and I love all the friends I've made in SLE, you totally won't regret it if you do it. Haha sorry for the intense rave.
Laeven: I'm not too sure about the grad school thing, but I do know this freshman girl who is taking a class at the Law School. She just sort of asked the prof, and the prof was like sure, we'll just keep it on the DL, and now she's in the class. So it seems like the sort of thing where it might not technically be allowed but you can get it if you're persistent / crafty.
A lot of people think all-frosh is most social, but when they say "most social" they mean parties the hardest / has the most sex / etc. I actually wanted all-frosh and was put in 4-class and am really happy with it. I do party once or twice a week -- sometimes with some of the upperclassmen in our dorm, who are really cool -- but it's not as extreme a party culture in 4-class as in all-frosh. That doesn't mean people in 4-class don't socialize or have as much fun as people in all-frosh. It's really cool to have upperclass friends who can give you more of a perspective. Honestly you can't really go wrong though.
To back up some of the things that sinisinumne said, CS106X alone is a lot of work. I remember on the facebook group over the summer a lot of kids were talking about taking Chem 31X, CS106X, or Math 51H; basically the honors classes in the intro sequences. What I think a lot of us freshmen forget right as we come into college is that even though we've been taking honors classes throughout high school, honors classes at Stanford are a completely different level. So my suggestion is to just take it easy your first quarter. If you really want to try it, go to the first class, and don't be afraid to drop down if it's too difficult.
Also, about registering for classes, frosh can't register until NSO is about half over, so don't worry about planning your schedule out now. You still have another 9 months to decide on your classes.
Obviously SLE isn't for everyone, but it is true that barely anyone likes IHUM and SLE kids tend to really like their program. Also when people describe the whole social stigma behind SLE, I think it just refers to the fact that they're so close-knit that they don't really have many friends outside of SLE for the first few months. I personally only know one person that's in SLE but he's a really cool guy. They're all probably pretty normal kids, I just think that since they spend so much time with each other, they naturally form strong bonds within the program.
Hey a question about SLE from another EA admit. I want to got into chemE. Would it be wise to do SLE? I don't want to have an Ihum that I don't like but at the same I don't want to be tied down with an enormous amount of units form SLE. And are SLE classes that much more work than Ihum classes? And this might sound superficial but is the reading in SLE extremely dense as oppose to the reading in Ihum?
I am almost certain I want to do CS 106X (About 80% sure I'll be a CS major, although I am going to explore tons of classes!), but I am expecting the class to be pretty hard. To answer why take ti first quarter: I think I want to do a co-term in four years (so freshman year = sophomore year) and I'd like to get started since 106X is a pre req for other courses. I know I sound like a silly freshman worrying when I should take it easy, but I do think 106X might be easier than my IHUM (ugh). Honestly though, the most important thing is that I have a manageable schedule... maybe I will take an easier class than ENGR 40 and save the seminar for another freshman year quarter. I hear that Psych 1 is interesting and pretty easy?
If you're good with CS already and are thinking about being a CS major then definitely go for CS106X. I really do recommend taking it easy during your first quarter because then you can really get comfortable in your new home, you'll start your Stanford career off on a good note emotionally, (as opposed to possibly getting the image that you're going to be constantly stressed from work after your first quarter) and you can really get excited about just having fun!
Also, I've never heard of anyone going after a co-term in four years. Usually people choose to co-term so they can get just be at Stanford for one more year since they don't want to leave! I have no clue how do-able doing a co-term in four years is, but unless the issue is paying for college for longer than four years, don't rush things! Some of my friends would graduate early if they had the chance because they're paying out of pocket and it's a burden on their family, so I understand that argument, but I'd advise taking your time and enjoying your college life. You have the rest of your life to work, but you only have a few years in college, so don't rush it if you can help it!
@just20706: I forgot to mention that I'm transferring in 45 units (and all my math/physics reqs) - so I am in fact using the co-term as a reasonable excuse to stay for all four years!
But on that note: are there any interesting classes in particular which would allow me to take it easy first quarter?
Doener: actually a surprisingly significant segment of SLEkids are techy, i.e. planning on going into engineering/maths/sciences. SLE is 9 units, whereas most classes are 3-5 units, so it takes up a significant chunk of your coursework freshman year. However, you don't have to take IHUM or PWR, the latter of which continues into sophomore year. And SLE lets engineers get a lot of their GenEd requirements out of the way. It is going to be more work than IHUM -- it's more units! I haven't taken IHUM/don't know that much about it, but I would guess the SLE readings are probably denser. Don't be afraid about the readings, I mean it is a lot, but (secret!) you don't actually have to read everything to do well in the class. Most people don't read everything.... I think that to do SLE and to enjoy it you have to have an appreciation for books, for philosophy and literature -- but if you do, don't worry about the workload and take it! It's seriously amazing. Also, with regards to the social pariah thing, I thought I'd add that a significant portion of us party like 2-3 nights/week. There are definitely people who completely abstain, which is fine, but -- if you're into it -- don't worry that you won't be able to party if you do SLE.
@mrcool: Yeah, you could totally handle 106x -- I just wouldn't take that PLUS everything else you were planning on taking. Maybe do 106X, IHUM, and an introsem -- save the engineering class for winter? Most introsems are pretty fun and not that much work. I think that lighter load would be best. If you're really looking for one more course on top of that, you could try I suppose -- we have a few weeks to drop classes. Psych 1 is mostly memorization, which is easy, but the class is supposed to be pretty interesting. There's also a lot of random fun classes.
i have a question,
i have done several ap classes from sophomore to the presesent (senior year) and i was wondering if the fact that i did several amounts of ap classes improve my chances of being accepted?
btw the ap classes have been (10-11 grade) AP Calculus AB/BC, AP Spanish Lan/Lit, AP English Language, and this year (12 grade) im taking AP Physics, AP English Literature, and AP Statistics.
I was also wondering what a typical day at stanford is like. thanks!
ps. about what time last year did you receive your acceptance letter? i dont know when we are supposed to receive them this year and i was hoping to get an idea from your response. thanks again.
Stanford wants their applicants to take the most rigorous curriculum available to them, so by taking AP classes you're on the right track, but obviously you've got to do a lot more than just that to get in.
I did RD last year and I got my acceptance through email in late March, like the 28th or the 29th I think... The date they said they'd send them out was Apr 1st, but Stanford has a history of sending them out a few days early.
