Visit Report by rosarei (Member since August 15 2006 with 9 posts) Visit Date - January 2005
Visit to Stanford University in January 2005 by rosarei (Student, HS Class of 2004)
Visit Activities:
Campus Tour:
Yes - See below.
Stanford University Campus:
Friendliness/Courtesy of Students: 4 - Very Good -
Really friendly and helpful for the most part.
Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff: 5 - Excellent -
Extremely nice.
Appearance of Campus: 5 - Excellent -
Gorgeous.
Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness: 5 - Excellent -
Very clean, very uncrowded.
Dormitories: 3 - Good -
Okay. Decent sized, not too interesting.
Security/Safety: 5 - Excellent -
Good, maybe because it's pretty isolated from the outside.
Overall Campus Impression: 5 - Excellent -
I think I picked my college based on aesthetic value. Plus friendliness, interesting students, and academic reputation.
Off-Campus:
Area Immediately Around Campus: 3 - Good -
Upscale, expensive, everything closes at nine. Good restaurants.
City/Town/Community: 3 - Good -
Palo Alto is not a college town. San Francisco is the most amazing city ever though.
Campus Visit Notes for Stanford University:
Visit Description:
Campus tour: Talked about the academics, walked us around and talked about the different architecture (which was really interesting info actually). The most interesting part I found was the student herself. She said she'd lived in 14 different countries before coming to Stanford, and switched majors about that many times. She'd gotten into Yale and Stanford and said at the level of both schools, there's not much of a difference, and that she'd picked Stanford for the great weather.
Friendliness of students: Most students I talked to from were really nice. It was Valentine's day so a group had a huge cake in white plaza and offered me some. The girl who gave the housing tour wasn't very patient or happy though, that's what I remember.
Staff: The admission office staff was soooo nice and so were the tour guides. I visited as an admitted student outside admit weekend though, and by some confusion the office didn't have my stuff ready (like a card for 7 meals, list of classes to go to, etc). They were really apologetic though and put one together on the spot. Some random people (looked like a professor) I asked for directions were very friendly and helpful even though it was pouring.
Campus: So gorgeous and impressive, I thought it was like a Spanish palace. It looks nothing like the traditional college with red brick buildings, but a lot brighter and bigger. The Quad is so pretty, I still like to look out over the Oval in between classes, kind of like paradise, with palm trees.
Buildings: Really clean... the campus is very big for the number of students I think. Sometimes there are almost no people on the streets.
Dorms: I toured Flomo, it was decent, but average and not distinctive with okay sized rooms. I liked the bay windows at Northwestern better. But the tour guide did say we could go inside any house to look, just knock on the doors and residents would probably happily show us around.
Safety: I felt like Stanford was very isolated (good thing or not? depends) from the outside, like a resort, and there's supposed to be very little crime besides bike theft. You have to walk pretty far down Palm Drive to get to the outside.
City/Community/around Stanford: Palo Alto is not a college town. It's incredibly upscale and expensive (for me anyway). No coffee shops with live music. There are a lot of good restaurants though if you venture out, and some are not too expensive. The mall has some normal stores and other extremely pricey ones. I guess it's fun to window shop. There is no real movie theatre in Palo Alto and most places close at 9. San Francisco is amazing though if you have time to go.
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Really friendly and helpful for the most part.
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Extremely nice.
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Okay. Decent sized, not too interesting.