<p>This sounds fuzzy, but I’d say what I love most is how engaged everyone is, in every sense of the word. People are really really into their interests, and on top of that, people are generally pretty involved outside of class (with everything from a cappella to public service to building a solar car). That whole “intellectual vitality” stuff that Stanford emphasizes in its applicants–it shows through in the students who attend. I hate to use the word, but they’re just “passionate” about what they do. It creates a high-standard environment that inspires or even forces you to go out and do something, and more than anything, to find what it is that engages you the most. If you hear someone describing their work on a story they’re writing or a solar cell they’re designing, and they seem so into it, you feel lame if you don’t have something that you’re just as jazzed about.</p>
<p>We could all say that awesome things about Stanford are weather, location, professors, etc. but for me, none of that would matter if nobody had any interest in what they were doing / were apathetic.</p>