| Full-time undergraduate program |
Stanford has the most beautiful campus of any university I've seen. I
spent my first year continuously awestruck. The grounds are fantastic,
and the university spends an amazing amount on environmental upkeep.
The facilities are amazing, from the classroom buildings to the housing
to the athletic facilities. In the last several years, they have added
a Science and Engineering Quad (SEQ), which has many new techie
classroom and lecture facilities, and renovated several of the original
quad classroom buildings.
In addition, Stanford has its own shopping center on campus, which
includes a Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus and any
chain store you could imagine. Nearby, and also on campus is a chi-chi
grocery store, Crate & Barrel and several restaurants.
Housing was generally very nice and has improved greatly in the past few
years with renovations. The architecture of the buildings themselves is
fantastic. Most freshmen end up in a two-room double with the standard
wooden furniture and green plastic-covered mattress. Stanford is really
into residential education, so each dorm is staffed by Resident
Assistants (RAs), Peer Health Educators (PHEs), Resident Computer
Consultant (RCC) and academic advisors and tutors. In the freshman
dorms and also in 4-class dorms with freshmen, there is an abundance of
dorm activities (movie trips, ice cream socials, dances, weekly meetings
with RAs, etc.). Also, transfer students are incorporated into new
student orientation activities and are strategically assigned to dorms
where they have the best chance of meeting others. Each dorm has a
common room with TV, sometimes pool/ping pong tables, and a
kitchenette. There is also a computer "cluster" in each dorm. Every
room on campus is connected to the university network, so students have
high-speed internet access in their rooms.
Dining is decent and getting better. In many dorms there is a dining
hall, though, at some dorms, the options include eating clubs which are
managed by students. The dining halls (not the kitchens) are often left
open 24 hours a day and cereal/fruit and drinks are available. At the
eating clubs, there are often great snacks and meal leftovers available
24 hours a day. Dining services also offers late night dining at a few
locations on campus.
There is a shuttle called the Marguerite that runs around campus and now
to the local Safeway and Target stores. However, biking is the main
mode of transportation. Freshmen are not allowed to have cars anymore
due to limited parking spaces on campus. Parking permits are required,
and they are limited to whichever campus area you live in. Santa Clara
County issues tickets 24 hours/day and it's relentless.
The crime is nearly non-existent, save for bike theft. There were a few
computer thefts in dorms while I was there as well. I never feared for
my safety, even while crossing campus in the middle of the night.
There is one major library on campus (Green), and undergraduates have
access to and privileges at departmental libraries, as well as those at
the professional schools.
The athletic facilities are amazing too. There is the Taubman Tennis
Center, where major tournaments take place. The Arillaga Athletic
Center features a great fitness facility that all students can use.
There are many fields for intramural and club sports, as well as several
fitness facilities across campus. Stanford offers a host of physical
education courses (golf, tennis, sailing, soccer, martial arts, etc.) as
well. The golf course on campus is beautiful and students get very
discounted rates to play there. There are a couple of pools for lap
swimming as well.
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