<p>Stanford is academic not intellectual and not particularly politically-minded or liberal, either. I speak as a former grad. student having taught undergrads, there, and as the spouse of a Stanford graduate. The other disappointing thing, and I hear that Brown suffers from this, as well, is Stanford takes its share of sub-part applicants whose parents are either prominent CEOs or celebs.</p>
<p>You want intellectual, you should take a serious look at Berkeley and Univ. of Chicago.</p>
<p>We are pretty much more laid back than other colleges, but that being said, there are PLENTY of quirky people. There are seemingly quiet people, who once you’ve taken the effort to talk to them, have done some amazing things. And people are always up for intellectual discussion really, I’ve had plenty of conversations in the dining hall where people argue/debate over ideas (though this might also be in higher concentration because I’m a sle-er). But even the kids who aren’t sle kids are more than willing to discuss politics/ideas etc. For me, it’s a nice balance because I thought I wanted to be in a purely intellectual place, but this kind of atmosphere is actually really nice and relaxing. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think I want to be in SLE, but I’ll probably hang out with the SLE kids. I don’t anticipate that being a problem.</p>