another question: do any of you remember admit weekend? what should we be expecting? is it worth flying out all the way from the east coast if i've already visited?
We attended Admit Weekend last year with D. It was our first visit to campus. If you can financially make it work, I'd recommend that you attend. It's a great way to make some initial friends at Stanford. They really roll out the red carpet for admitted students and their families. My D had a blast and it really convinced her that Stanford would be a better fit for her than Yale. Until that Admitted Student weekend, she had not made her decision. It's really one of those life experiences that I'd recommend you participate in if at all possible.
^Yeah, I second MidwestPop's comment. You may have visited already but during Admit Weekend everything is really catered to prospective freshmen so it's a lot different. Also, if you're going to be receiving aid from Stanford they should send you an email about paying for your travel expenses. I know for me if it wasn't for that, there was no way I could make it to AW (I'm east coast as well).
Plus, I'm going to be a Head House Host for Admit Weekend this year so I'm already super excited for it!!
@smugfiend: You only have to worry about getting rescinded if you go from like A's to C's, and I'm talking about multiple A's dropping to C's. If you have one grade that drops I'm pretty sure that Stanford will give you the benefit of the doubt.
SLE stands for Structured Liberal Education, and it is an alternative to the Introduction to the Humanities (IHUM) requirement for all freshmen. With SLE, you live in a specific dorm (Florence Moore) with everyone else who is in the program, and your SLE classes happen inside your dorm. I'm not exactly sure how the curriculum is different (since I'm not in SLE) but from what I've heard, it lends itself much more to people who are really interested in the humanities. There's a bit of a stigma/stereotype on campus that all SLE kids are really weird and anti-social, which isn't necessarily true. Granted, the students that tend to pick SLE are sometimes a bit more nerdy/geeky, but obviously not everyone in the program is like that. The anti-social idea comes from the fact that the people that are in SLE are really tight with each other, since they're living with the same people they have class with, so often they don't have too many friends outside of the program. As a result, students who are in IHUM don't really know many SLE kids. (I think I know like 1 person in SLE...) But obviously it's all up to you. If you choose to do SLE, you're not stuck with the people in your dorm, you just have to make a bit more of an effort to meet other people on campus.
^ yes, as of right now. the student senate is working hard to change that in the future, and it actually looks like the motion will pass. the final vote is on March 8th!
just 20760,
I have to ask sth about admission though.
1.How many international students are admitted on the average per year by Stanford and are data on geographical distribution of Stanford students by, say, nationality available?
2.Do ECs represent one of the most important admission criteria? Though this ECs query seems obvious to US students, they are pretty unusual in other countries (esp. in Asia) where classroom studies are top priority, unless schools cater their ECs towards US unis. 3.How important are ECs vis-a-vis other more objective benchmarks like SATs, ACT and TOEFL?
Your view, please.
54% of Stanford's international students come from Asia, 17% from the Americas, 9% from Africa, 14% from Europe, 5% from Middle East and North Africa and 1% from the Pacific Basin. Some of my Stanford material states that they have students from 90 countries.
From a different Stanford source: "Among the many measures of diversity, more than half of our freshmen are students of color:
Asian American 20%, Latino/a 17%, African American 11%, International 8% and American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian 4%
Sompornburin, you are welcome. In response to your question #2, I believe that EC's are extremely important to Stanford. While good SAT/ACT scores get you into the "possible admission" pile, I believe that it is your EC's and the strength of your essays that ultimately get you into the "accepted" pile. They receive so many strong candidates that they simply can't use test scores alone to build each unique Stanford class. Work hard to get that excellent test score and then start working on a theme for your application/essays that will highlight the non-academic side of your personality. Good luck!
As far as the IHUM question, up until yesterday, all freshman had to take the course every quarter of their first year. They've been in the process of changing it all this year and yesterday they finally decided to get rid of the IHUM requirement in place of a new "Thinking Matters" course that you only have to take for 1 quarter during your first year. None of us really know what the class is like or is about since they've literally just introduced it, but I guarantee that once everyone is accepted there will be lots of information provided about it in the "Approaching Stanford" booklet you get in like May/June.
I was wondering whether freshmen can apply for theme housing. Also, I am a bit of a clueless high schooler when it comes to course selection so could you possibly provide a bit more insight on course requirements, when to sign up, and about how much coursework I should take for the first quarter/freshman year?
