<p>At schools like Stanford, there’s often little difference between the quality of the grad portion and the quality of the undergrad portion. Some posters on CC like to draw a distinction, but the reality is that the two have the same professors, same classes, same facilities, same resources. The quality of a department in the grad portion “leaks over” to undergrad, which is why I think it’s always a good idea for students who know what they’re interested in to look at departmental rankings. (Looking at “overall university” rankings makes no sense, but subject-specific ones do.)</p>
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<p>While you don’t have a research offer in hand from Stanford right now, believe me, it’s extremely easy to get a position over the summer. Most departments offer an undergrad research program. See [url=<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_research_opps_ResearchOpportunities.html]this[/url”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_research_opps_ResearchOpportunities.html]this[/url</a>].</p>
<p>It’s not hard to get into research as a freshman. When I was first admitted, I was also concerned about this, so I talked to a few profs who assured me I’d be able to. Of course, you need to have some background in the subject, and you may be working more with a team of grad students at first, but if you are qualified to do research (as I assume you are), it’s not hard to get face time with profs as a freshman. Being on the quarter system also means that you’ll be able to advance in material quickly. I took my first grad-level class the second quarter of my freshman year and jumped into research that same quarter. I’m not special either.</p>