Stanford Parents Thread

ydnar · April 2011

I have seen other threads for parents for the various other CC universities; while I know that Stanford prides itself on being unique, I would like to start a similar thread for Stanford parents to share information and suggestions.

Our daughter just announced her "official" commitment to Stanford tonight and we are planning on attending Admit weekend with her. Are there any other parents planning on going? For any of you who have attended in the past, what are the highlights? Any suggestions?

Look forward to hearing from you all!

ydnar · April 2011

any parents......?

stillwater · April 2011

I'm glad to see this parents thread. My daughter has also enrolled, and she and I will be attending the Admit Weekend. The program sounds great. I don't have it in front of me, but I am looking forward to the event in which Dean of Religious Studies, Scotty McLennan, will be speaking. Once on a visit to the campus a few years back we heard him give a wonderful sermon about friendship in "Of Mice and Men". Since then I have looked up his sermons online and highly enjoyed his celebration of the grandeur of evolution as well as his scathing indictment of American torture. I'm sure the other events will be good, too. Particularly important to me will be the opportunities to meet other parents such as yourself! I'll pm you.

M's Mom · April 2011

For D, the Structured Liberal Education (SLE) program was a great find during the admit weekend, so check it out. She's in the program this year and loves it. Per Dean Elam, some of the happiest students on campus are SLE-ers. That close-knit community makes the transition high school to college especially easy, with friendships that endure long after the program year is over. It's housed in Florance Moore (opposite Tresidor Union) and is also reputed to have the best food on campus.

As a parent, one of my favorite things on campus is the New Guinea Sculpture Garden on Lomita Drive. And my favorite off-campus activity is hiking Russian Ridge which overlooks the university and bay on one side and the Pacific on the other - go at sunset.

ydnar · April 2011

Thanks M's Mom. I out of town and don't have great Internet access. Can you explain more about SLE? Any negatives?

MidwestPop · April 2011

Hi all. We are attending Admit weekend with our D. It is our first visit to campus so are excited to experience it. It sounds wonderful! We had a nice visit to Yale last week so it will be interesting to compare how the two universities handle their Admit Weekend activities. I'll need to look up the SLE program. Sounds like something that my D might be interested in!

M's Mom · April 2011

Here's the link from Stanford's web site. Structured Liberal Education | Structured Liberal Education Right now, several of the pages are 'under construction' so there isn't as much information there as usual, but check back periodically or ask while you are there.

Here's the description, in case you don't have internet access:

Program Overview
Structured Liberal Eduction (SLE) is among Stanford’s longest-running programs designed especially for freshmen. Since 1974 it has served as the liberal arts college within the research university: an integrated program in humanities classics (literature, philosophy, and the arts) and writing instruction in which the 90 students live together in the three houses of East Florence Moore Hall. All components of the course take place in the residence: lectures, discussion sections, film screenings, and special events (SLE Salons). The thrice-weekly lectures by distinguished humanities faculty from across the University introduce students to scores of scholars with whom they might like to do further study in sophomore through senior year.

Students have to apply to SLE - it's competitive admission and the application is submitted, as I recall, around the time when the housing forms are submitted. The SLE curriculum counts as two courses for each of the three quarter of a student's freshman year and is taken in lieu of the IHUM requirement. So D takes two classes each quarter outside of SLE with the rest of the student body in her areas of interest in addition to the SLE curriculum.

Tspwt5 · April 2011

Midwest Pop, I too was at Yale with S and he is finding this to be a very difficult decision. We will also be at Stanford next week and hope to get a better feeling for residential life on the farm. We have visited Stanford in the summer but will be glad to experience the campus during regular session. S is a musician also and eager to know the possibilities for that area of interest. We are also from the midwest but S's school hasn't had anyone go to Stanford for a while, so that's a resource we're without. How tough will the decision be for your d?

M's Mom · April 2011

ydnar, you asked for negatives in SLE: I suppose the main negative is that you have to make an effort to leave the comfortable social environment that SLE creates for you. After the first quarter or two, it pays to think about what else you want to try out so you bond with people outside the program. It can be too easy to hang with the friends you've made rather than push your boundaries. (This is probably a good idea for any student who has made a tight circle of friends in the first quarter or two at any school). D made the conscious choice to try out some activities that no one else she knew was doing just to make sure she wasn't limiting herself.

dignified1 · April 2011

Stanford parents,
I think I may have asked this before, but are there any pros or cons to the Stanford residential system? The fact that the kids have to go into a lottery system every year in order to choose what dorm they will be in? Is that true? And, if so, is it an annoyance to the kids or rather a welcome adventure?

MidwestPop · April 2011

Tspwt5, in answer to your question: This is an extremely difficult decision!! She thinks that she might like Stanford better (have not visited yet) however it looks like it might be $35,000 more money after four years. With Grad school probably in the future, we aren't sure at this time if Stanford will be $35,000 better than Yale. I wish the financial aid packages were the same so money issues don't come in to play!

emgamac · April 2011

^ Yes, the housing is by lottery after freshman year aka the draw. It is a bit complicated but students usually go into the draw in groups, so they basically pick their roommates. My D will not ever go into the draw because she is dorm staff (and plans on it until graduation) however she oversees the draw for her dorm. She says it's very orderly and civilized. The groups are assigned a number in the draw. Rooms are selected by the group based on number. Lower number draws first. There are different tiers of housing. Most people use their lowest tier during the year they go abroad or if not going abroad, in their second year.

M's Mom · April 2011

MidwestPop, if your D prefers Stanford, why not try calling the Financial Aid office and explaining the situation? She's been admitted to a comparable school so they may be willing to negotiate. If not, you have lost nothing.

I don't know if Stanford will negotiate (anyone with actual experience?) but other schools will often ask for a copy of the financial aid offer from the comparable school and are sometimes willing to match or at least reduce the gap.

MidwestPop · April 2011

M's Mom, I have talked with the Stanford FA office and have sent them an appeal but I'm not confident that they'll be able to make much of an adjustment. They simply stated that they do not have as large of an endowment as Yale so are not always able to pull together comparable FA packages. I hope to hear back from them before we head out to Admitted Student Days this next week.

zenkoan · April 2011

^The sizes of Stanford's endowment (reported as approx. $15.9 billion at June 30, 2010) and Yale's (reported as approx. $16.7 billion at June 30, 2010) are pretty close, so I hope they'll help close the FA gap somewhat for you, Midwest Pop. But in any case, if your D prefers Stanford after Admit Weekend, it may be easier than you expect to reduce the cost differential. E.g., students' summer earnings can significantly reduce the differential. Best wishes to your family!

Senior0991 · April 2011

^To add to summer earnings, there are also significant earnings that can be had during the year. I'm not sure how dorm staff gets reimbursed if they are also on FA, but I know RAs make 9000 and other staff members hover from 3-6000. And a good summer job can net 8000.

Maybe you can have your daughter do work on a gap year. This not only will net some cash, but it will provide a nice break between challenging academic environments and could be a good real-world learning experience.

beenthere2 · April 2011

Stanford is very aware of the fact that they loose students from upper-income households to HYP because of Stanford's less generous aid for that income group.
However, Stanford offers the opportunity of co-terming (i.e. getting a BA/MA degree in 5 years), so maybe you can save some money there?

MidwestPop · April 2011

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. A gap year is definitely not a possibility. D is ready to jump into her college career. Guess we'll just see what response we get from Stanford's FA office this week and then see how the visit goes. Wish we had a few days after the visit to sort this all out!!

ydnar · April 2011

I have a parking question. We will have a car - complimentary parking where we are staying but not close to any campus shuttle stops. Is there any less expensive way to park on campus other than to pay the daily $9 + fee? Thanks for any input

confusedmama · April 2011

My son just decided on Stanford after an agonizing decision process. I am excited and proud, however, because we live in NY, I am also feeling very sad about him being so far away. Any northeast folks out there? We were not able to attend admit weekend, but he visited last week and said everyone was great.

zenkoan · April 2011

Congratulations to your son, confusedmama! There are lots of students from the northeast here, and the Stanford Parents Association will be able to put you in touch with some other NY parents. HTH, and I hope your family has a wonderful spring and summer together.

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