<p>I have been lucky enough to have been accepted to some great schools.</p>
<p>Dartmouth, UPenn (CAS), Duke, and now Stanford.</p>
<p>I am relatively “undecided” but I don’t really think I want to be an engineer (although my HS transcript would probably indicate otherwise). </p>
<p>If I hadn’t gotten into S, I probably would have ended up at Duke or Dartmouth. Dartmouth really appealed to me because I visited and felt they really did emphasize undergraduate teaching, but on the flipside, Stanford really is a research institution that has (potentially) even more to offer. </p>
<p>As a sidenote, I’m interested in Music Composision and plan to play in LSJUMB and the Wind Ensemble if I matriculate. I will probably study music to some degree. And I think that although Stanford is not Yale or Harvard in this regard, the program there would be comparable to Music Studies at Duke, Dartmouth, or Penn…</p>
<p>I haven’t checked my aid yet but I’m guessing that Stanford’s aid is going to blow the other’s out of the water… (upper middle class)</p>
<p>I’d really like some insight into my situation.</p>
<p>Well unless you are very rich you need to look at the aid packages to decide. For those of us in the middle class it comes down to the money.</p>
<p>Well, the stock answer is that no, it’s not obvious, as it completely depends on who you are and which one is best for your interests - “fit” is important.</p>
<p>The cheerleader answer is, yes, Stanford is the obvious choice. :p</p>
<p>Regarding undergrad teaching, there was a ranking before on which universities had the greatest focus on undergrad teaching, and I know that both Stanford and Dartmouth ranked high on it. Duke was probably in there somewhere as well.</p>
<p>You’re right that Stanford music isn’t at the level of Yale’s or Harvard’s, but it’s pretty decent, and Stanford is currently throwing a lot of money into the arts. For example, the [Bing</a> Concert Hall](<a href=“http://binghall.stanford.edu/]Bing”>http://binghall.stanford.edu/) will be completed this summer. There are already many facilities in place: the Braun Music Center in the central part of campus (White Plaza), music practice rooms in many dorms, 6-foot Yamaha pianos in every dorm, the Knoll (which houses the <a href=“https://ccrma.stanford.edu/[/url]”>Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics | CCRMA), and all the typical performance facilities like Memorial Auditorium. There are lots of resources, like a large collection of music holdings in Green Library, one of the top 5 largest archives of recorded sound, etc. There are also a great many performances held throughout the year through [Stanford</a> Lively Arts](<a href=“http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/]Stanford”>http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/). Stanford also has countless [arts</a> groups](<a href=“http://arts.stanford.edu/organizations/studentgroups]arts”>http://arts.stanford.edu/organizations/studentgroups) in music. Other links of interest:</p>
<p>[Music</a> @ Stanford: Undergraduate Studies in Music](<a href=“http://music.stanford.edu/Academics/ugradStudies.html]Music”>http://music.stanford.edu/Academics/ugradStudies.html)
[Grants</a> | Arts at Stanford University, Presented by SiCa](<a href=“http://arts.stanford.edu/grants/studentarts]Grants”>http://arts.stanford.edu/grants/studentarts)
[Arts</a> Intensive: Overview | Undergraduate Academic Life](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_ai_overview.html]Arts”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_ai_overview.html)
[Creativity</a> & the Arts | Undergraduate Academic Life](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_creativity_arts_CreativityandtheArts.html]Creativity”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_creativity_arts_CreativityandtheArts.html)
[Chappell</a> Lougee Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/sites/default/files/common/docs/uar_ChappellLougeeInfo_1112.pdf]Chappell”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/sites/default/files/common/docs/uar_ChappellLougeeInfo_1112.pdf)</p>
<p>Other than that, what are you interested in studying? What sort of climate are you looking for? Is access to cities important to you? Is exploring nature an interest of yours? What do you want to do in college in terms of extracurricular activities (outside of music)? Do you want to do research?</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the links, I really appreciate it. I hadn’t heard about their new concert hall but it looks awesome.</p>
<p>Honestly, I feel a little “lost.” I really have no idea what I want to study and realistically I could see myself focusing on anything from pre-med to pre-law with something like psychology or poly sci falling in between. I know that all of these schools encourages experimentation in new disciplines. </p>
<p>As far as climate goes, I’m from Florida and I don’t like the heat at all, so any of these schools will be an improvement :P. Then again I’m not sure how I feel about the frigid Northeastern temps. </p>
<p>Access to cities… I live in the suburbs of a large, bay area city already so Stanford would be within my comfort zone. Additionally I have some family that lives within 20 minutes of Palo Alto. Realistically, I can totally see myself there. </p>
<p>I did get to visit UPenn, and the campus was beautiful, although people seem to hate the housing. Dartmouth was very nice, and very secluded and Hanover was pretty cool. Duke I haven’t visited but from what I hear Durham is sub-par to nearby Chapel Hill. I hate for my decision to come down to something so superficial.</p>
<p>As far as research, that’s definitely something I’d want to pursue as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Finance & econ also interests me and I know Duke / Dartmouth are heavily recruited. Seeing as Stanford has a great business school like Duke/Dmouth I’m guessing the same applies.</p>
<p>You’re most welcome :)</p>
<p>Yes, you’re right that Stanford is very heavily recruited at by firms in finance - much to the chagrin of the Occupy protesters at Stanford… where, ironically, the “Stop the Brain Drain” movement started.</p>
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<p>Then I’d say Stanford is definitely the better choice, because you have the comfort of knowing that no matter what you major in, you will be in a top department with the best professors, students, facilities, resources, and curricula. Every single one of Stanford’s departments was ranked in the top 5 this year by US News, except for civil engineering, which was #6 (but it made top 5 last year). It also has the most top departments in the NRC rankings, and was the only school in the world to be ranked in the top 5 across all broad areas (from the humanities to the social sciences to the physical sciences) in the Times Higher Education rankings. The breadth and depth of Stanford’s academics is unparalleled.</p>
<p>Re: climate, the average temperature is 70 degrees, with not much deviation. Because the Santa Cruz Mountains shield Stanford from the Pacific, there’s very little rain (avg. 15" per year; consider that a desert is defined at 10 inches or less) and consequently very little humidity, which might be a nice change for you. In effect it’s the perfect cross between NC/CA/Northeast weather.</p>