<p>@docfreedaddy:</p>
<p>I’m going to make the assumption that when you say “Something to consider,” you’re implying that the Trustee Merit recipients are a more select group than those admitted to Stanford, which simply isn’t the case; the applicant pools for each school are fundamentally different. I’d venture to say that there are fewer cross-applicants between Stanford and USC than you’d expect; Stanford is a world-class school, whereas USC is still known in the US as a largely regional school. </p>
<p>Also, while we’re on USC – they admitted 8400 of their 46000 applicants, yielding an initial acceptance rate of 18%. </p>
<p>I’m not sure that anyone mentioned university rankings; I do know that Stanford doesn’t particularly care about its rankings, because it – and other top schools – will continue to maintain the high academic standards and excellent classroom experiences that define their undergraduate education. I can’t speak about USC’s undergraduate experience, though. I suppose if you were really concerned about the undergraduate/classroom experience, you would choose a liberal arts college. </p>
<p>Summer is the worst time to make any impressions of a school, because there are very few actual undergrads on campus; naturally, any impression you would receive about their undergraduate population would be misguided. These are mostly summer school students during the summer, and aren’t at all reflective of Stanford’s usual vibrancy and joie de vivre.</p>
<p>Subrankings consistently rank Stanford’s undergraduate teaching in the top 5 (not that I, or you, should/do care about rankings). The humanities programs at Stanford are incredibly strong, and are on par with, if not better than, those of HYP. The number of majors is smaller, which in my opinion is a good thing - more money for grants and projects per student, as well as more individual attention. See: Major Grants, Chappell Lougee grants, their Creative Writing Program, other opportunities for research, etc. Really, Stanford spoils their humanities majors and departments, relative to their moneymaking capacity at the university. For more, see humanexperience.stanford.edu</p>
<p>Naturally, introductory classes will be large; there’s no need to have small groups to teach basic concepts of disciplines. All lecture classes do feature sections, though, which are smaller groups of students that meet to discuss the content of the lecture. If you’re looking to create a small liberal arts college inside a university (again, raising the point – why not go to a LAC?), consider the Structured Liberal Education program at Stanford. I won’t go too deep into it here, but it fulfills many of Stanford’s distribution requirements while maintaining the “feel” of a LAC. Google for more detailed info.</p>
<p>You’ll find – I promise you this – no university where interdisciplinarity is prioritized more than Stanford. From interdisciplinary majors – Human Biology, Symbolic Systems, International Relations – to faculty interdisciplinary research, Stanford is committed to interdisciplinary thought.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a bottom line, it’s this: Go to Stanford. There are clear differences in campus culture at Stanford and USC. Though there may be pockets of Stanford-caliber students in programs like Thematic Honors and scholarships like the Trustee Merit, they cannot overcome the benefits of being on a campus with students whom you KNOW are academically, athletically, and artistically gifted, the best of the best in the entire world. There are no limits at Stanford, not during your time as a student, because of the University’s unflagging support of undergraduates, and not afterwards, because of the great number of doors Stanford opens up for its graduates.</p>