If you’re looking for an Eastern counterpart to Stanford, think Duke with a touch of MIT mixed in. Stanford’s big-time athletics, preprofessional feel, and laid-back atmosphere set it apart from Ivy League competitors. In contrast to the hurly-burly of Bay Area rival Berkeley, Stanford’s aura is upscale, spacious, and green. Bring your bike and a pair of sunglasses, and leave your ego behind.

You might think the only difference between Stanford and the Ivy League is a couple hundred extra sunny days each year. You’d be wrong. From the red-tiled roofs to the lush greenery and California vibe, Stanford is a world away from the Gothic intellectual vibes of the Ivies. Virtually all the great Eastern universities began as places to ponder human existence and the meaning of life, with European institutions as their models. Stanford, by contrast, built its academic reputation around science and engineering, fields characterized by American ingenuity, and only later cultivated excellence in the humanities and social sciences. In this sense, Stanford is, without a doubt, the nation’s first great “American” university. Now the most selective university in the country-turning down 24 of every 25 applicants-Stanford has begun to increase the size of its entering classes and intends to expand its dormitories and number of faculty proportionately until it reaches a new comfort level.

The differences between Stanford and other institutions it competes against for the country’s top high school seniors are evident everywhere, from the architecture to the curriculum. The school’s mission-style buildings look outward to the world at large, rather than inward to ivy-covered courtyards. And unlike its Colonial-era predecessors, Stanford-founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their son Leland Jr.-has been co-ed from the beginning. During its centennial, the school became the first U.S. university to successfully launch a billion-dollar capital campaign; today Stanford’s endowment is $27.7 billion. Some architectural critics say the campus looks like the world’s biggest Mexican restaurant, even though Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York City’s Central Park, planned many of the buildings. The campus stretches from the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the edge of Palo Alto in the heart of Silicon Valley, smack in the middle of earthquake country. The campus is nationally recognized as “bicycle friendly” and is outfitted with 12 miles of bike lanes, 19,000 bike parking spaces, and free bike repair stations. Recent campus projects include the renovation of the Sapp Center for Science Teaching and Learning.

Stanford requires students to complete one course in Thinking Matters and 11 in a series called Ways of Thinking/Ways of Doing, which includes aesthetic and interpretive inquiry, social inquiry, scientific analysis, formal reasoning, applied quantitative reasoning, engaging diversity, ethical reasoning, and creative expression. Stanford also requires writing and rhetoric courses and one year of a foreign language. More than 200 optional, small-group Introductory Seminars are available to freshmen and sophomores, covering topics like The Aesthetics of Data and Human Rights Advocacy, in which about half of students enroll; one student credits these courses with helping freshmen “develop relationships with really engaging professors.”

Computer science is the most popular major on campus, followed by human biology, economics, symbolic systems, and engineering, especially mechanical engineering. Stanford has developed a spate of interdisciplinary programs, notably international relations, public policy, and earth systems; the latter is an interdisciplinary environmental science major. The Haas Center for Public Service offers more than 130 service-learning courses in a wide range of disciplines, while the well-regarded communication department offers paid positions at various California media outlets. The Stanford Hopkins Marine Station is located on a mile of coastland in Pacific Grove, next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and offers courses in marine and biological sciences.

Don’t let Stanford’s California location fool you into thinking studying is optional-it’s more like a full-time job. “People are always working together on projects and assignments. This might be because it is intense, and many students do take on a heavy workload,” one student says. Students sometimes compare themselves to ducks: they look peaceful on the surface, but they’re paddling like mad underneath. Stanford’s faculty ranks among the best in the nation, with impeccable credentials, and most departments boast a nationally known name or two. Class sizes are generally small, with 69 percent enrolling fewer than 20 students, and 93 percent are taught by faculty, as opposed to graduate students. “Overall, professors do seem to care about the students. They are definitely accessible, almost all having open office hours,” says one computer science major.

For students inclined to study abroad, programs are offered at Stanford’s campus in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as several other locations around the globe, including Australia, Chile, Japan, and Germany. Forty-eight percent of each graduating class takes advantage of these programs. Closer to home, the Stanford-in-Washington program allows 60 students to live, study, and intern in the nation’s capital each quarter, and a similar program is offered in New York City. The Summer Research College is designed to create community among undergraduates engaged in full-time summer research on campus, and there are three honors programs. Three-quarters of students undertake independent study projects with faculty. For those seeking additional academic support, the Schwab Learning Center-named after alum Charles Schwab-offers services for students with learning disabilities and ADHD.

Stanford students may be Olympic champions and future Rhodes scholars, but students say there isn’t a sense of elitism on campus. One notes, “People are a bit quirky, but everyone is generally happy and easy to get along with.” Thirty-five percent are from California, while international students represent 10 percent of the population. Minority enrollment is well above average, with Asian Americans accounting for 23 percent of the student body, Hispanics 17 percent, African Americans 7 percent, and multiracial students 9 percent. Students on this liberal campus are keen to be heard, and recent hot topics include “divestment from Israel, divestment from fossil fuels, and race relations,” according to one senior. Admissions are need-blind, and the university guarantees to meet the full demonstrated financial need of every domestic admit. Academic scholarships are based on need (meaning no merit awards), and Stanford has eliminated parent contributions for families with annual incomes below $150,000. The university also awards more than hundreds of athletic scholarships every year.

Freshmen must live on campus, and Stanford guarantees housing for four years; 93 percent of students stay on campus, in part because of the lack of affordable off-campus options in extraordinarily expensive Silicon Valley. As students gain seniority, a lottery system decides where they’ll live. “Junior year I lived in an old faculty mansion for 30 students that had a Thai chef,” one student says. The multimillion-dollar Governor’s Corner complex includes all-oak fixtures, homey rooms with views of the foothills, microwave ovens in the kitchenettes, and Italian leather sofas in the lounges. Dorm dwellers must sign up for a meal plan. “Campus security is quite good. We have an AlertSU program that texts emergency messages to the school whenever there is any sort of security violation, and Stanford is extremely well-lit at night,” says a freshman.

Like most things at Stanford, social life and activities vary a great deal, although most take place on campus, with a constant lineup of events and performances. Greek organizations claim 18 percent of the men and 24 percent of the women and provide their share of happy hours and weekend bashes, which are open to all. Underage drinking happens, but is kept under control. As one freshman puts it, “Party culture is not exclusively Greek, and social life is not exclusively partying.” As tradition goes, Full Moon on the Quad occurs at the first full moon of the fall quarter, during which freshmen can become “true Stanford students” by kissing a senior at midnight on the quad. The Viennese Ball is a February event that may make you wish you’d taken ballroom dancing lessons, and Halloween finds students partying at the Mausoleum, the Stanfords’ final resting place.

Palo Alto “has a few fun hangouts and is slightly overpriced,” a political science major says, and students love to seek refuge in the outdoors-nearby hills are perfect for jogging and biking. Trips to the Sierra Nevada mountains (four hours away) or to the Pacific Coast (45 minutes) are popular, as are jaunts to San Francisco, Los Angeles, or the Napa Valley.

Stanford has a proud athletic tradition that includes winning the Directors’ Cup, which recognizes the best overall collegiate athletic program in the country, 25 years in a row. Despite this success, Stanford announced in 2020 the decision to permanently cut 11 varsity sports, calling its athletics model “financially unsustainable.” Nevertheless, many Cardinal teams continue to excel, and men’s golf, men’s gymnastics, and women’s volleyball, swimming and diving, tennis, and water polo are all recent national champions. The women’s basketball team won the national championship in 2021. The baseball team has been to the College World Series, and the football team has become a powerhouse. The annual contest against archrival Cal (Berkeley) is dubbed the “Big Game.” The marching band proudly revels in its raucous irreverence, to the delight of students and the dismay of conservative types. For those not drawn to varsity play, Stanford offers 31 club sports and 20 intramural activities, and its vast sports complex includes 26 tennis courts, two gymnasiums, a stadium, an 18-hole golf course, and four swimming pools.

Stanford University’s sunny demeanor and infectious West Coast optimism offer an appealing alternative to the gloom and gray weather that seem to hang over some of its East Coast counterparts, with the same high-caliber academics and deep athletic traditions that have made them great. “Stanford is hard to fit into a box,” muses one student, “but there is a very innovative and individualistic personality that is also a collective culture on campus.”

-Fiske Guide