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Physical Layout & Location - Upon entering Stanford, many people enjoy taking Palm Drive. The long palm lined road provides a magnificent view of Memorial Church that is absolutely amazing on a bright sunny day, at sunrise, or at dusk. However, this stretch of relatively open and unused land also provides a buffer between campus and Palo Alto, the closest town. Look at a map, at any point, there is approximately a ½ mile stretch of athletic fields or landscaped vegetation between Palo Alto and the center of undergraduate life. All classrooms and undergraduate dorm residences have this buffer between them and nearest people who aren’t Stanford students. This means that even though it is only a 12 minute walk from the dorm to El Camino Real, almost no one makes it. Getting off campus is seen as a chore, in which a car or use of the Marguerite Shuttle service is almost always “necessary.” Even though Stanford is only a mere 30 minutes from San Francisco, people rarely go. In addition to this, Palo Alto is far from being a college town. Located in the middle of Silicon Valley, it is a very wealthy neighborhood. The social center of Palo Alto, the downtown area, closes by 10 or 11 every night, making it anything but student friendly.

Academics - The biggest selling point Stanford had on my parents was the amount of support and resources that I would have available to me as a student here at Stanford. As a freshman I would have access to the freshman seminars, an in-house academic advisor, a faculty academic advisor, a devoted peer mentor, and access to all of the academic departments, most of which are top in their field. In the freshman year, it is possible to have small classes with professors, classes taught by Nobel Laureates and other people doing cutting edge research in their field. If the frosh should happen to have an academic question, let alone problem, then they have a wealth of advising staff at their fingertips from the RA down the hall to the HPAC in the dorm, the Peer Mentor that checks in every few weeks, and the faculty advisor available to answer policy questions and provide resources for anything the frosh could desire in the academic realm.

Psychological & Emotional Support - In arriving to the dorm, every freshman is greeted by hundreds of volunteers whose soul purpose is to be excited and help run the orientation events. Upon arriving to their new home, a dormitory, their RAs (read big brother/sister) greet them by name without every having met in person. Unlike other schools where the RA must write people up for improper behavior, Stanford RAs are charged with creating a warm, healthy, supportive environment. They create a sense of community within the dorm, mediate issues, initiate fun activities, and organize the much needed study breaks. They are there to help the residents with everything from finding buildings to dealing with relationship issues to identifying and addressing serious issues such as alcoholism and eating disorders. The RAs are the students’ lifeline as the bright-eyed 18 year olds adapt to “life on their own” and face the stresses of growing up. When a problem is beyond the RAs realm, they have knowledge of exactly who can help, whether it’s the Career Development Center, Vaden, or reminding the frosh of the free Counseling and Psychological Services department available to them.

Social Life - Due to the physical layout of Stanford, the social lives of Stanford students rarely result in breaching the Stanford Bubble. Every weekend, there are social events, guest speakers, open campus parties, and room parties within walking distance. As a result, there is never any need to go into Palo Alto or San Francisco in order to maintain one’s social life.

Daily Life - As discussed previously, students no longer need to worry about daily chores. Stanford dining halls provide food and nourishment, the custodial service cleans up the mess left in the lounges and bathrooms. Laundry machines are either available in the dorm/house or within 50 yards of the dormitory. Unlike most universities, these machines are not coin operated; they are covered in the board bill and are available at anytime. Daily life on the farm involves very little exposure to events taking place outside of Stanford. Although national newspapers are provided in every dining hall, few take advantage of this resource.

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