On the surface, I’m writing this column to convince one of my best friends to pick Stanford over Yale and Harvard (how’s that for subtlety, Rachel?), but beyond that, this column is for every Stanford ProFro who is currently undecided about where to spend the next four years of his or her life. I can sympathize with the nervousness about having to choose by May 1. Fortunately for me, Stanford’s Admit Weekend 2010 ended on April 24 — a full week before the deadline. But fortunately for you, Class of 2015, I didn’t decide until April 30, either, so we’re essentially in the same boat.

I remember the thrill of April — hearing back from schools on the first (and Stanford a full week earlier than everyone else), missing nearly two straight weeks of school to go to various admit weekends, flying home from my first-ever visit to California and announcing to my parents the same night, “Mom, Dad, I think Stanford’s the school for me.” Then I remember the immediate nausea I felt with the weight of my words, with the understanding that I was choosing to leave everything I knew on the East Coast to go to a school and live in a state and on a coast I knew nothing about. Two seconds after uttering these words, I decided to take them back; another two seconds later, I decided to take back taking them back. And then two seconds later…

Essentially, I remained “undecided” for an entire week, drawing up the pros and cons of an Ivy League education and staying close to home on the East Coast versus going to my dream school (Stanford), a name that caused lots of anxiety, some bad, but more good, whenever I thought of it. On April 30, as I tried to put off the decision another day, my mother stopped me and said, “You’re not leaving the house until you make a decision.” So, I said, “Okay, I pick Stanford.”

My decision was one I spent a lot of time thinking about, so instead of giving the “just follow your gut” advice (which did work, by the way, but also felt too intangible to trust), I’ll give you my concrete reasons why Stanford is different from every other school you’re considering and why it’s better.

First and foremost, no university does the freshman experience better than Stanford. Before you even get here, two undergraduates have spent their entire summer reading your housing applications and hand-matching the roughly 1,700 of you that will choose to matriculate here. With few exceptions, the University does an excellent job pairing you with a roommate who will challenge you to learn, but in a way that’s compatible enough with your own living preferences that you won’t even feel like you’re not at home.

Beyond that, freshman dorms are amazing. Not only do the aforementioned matchmakers pair you with your roommate, but they organize the entirety of your dorm so that your entire floor is compatible with each other, so that the dorm represents a cross-section of every kind of diversity the University excels in bringing to each class and so that the dorm becomes a vibrant community. More than anything, my freshman dorm has been my favorite part of my Stanford experience.

Why, you ask? Friday barbecues, weekly house meetings, inter-dorm competitions, fountain hopping, San Francisco Scavenger Hunt, Word Assassins, Secret Snowflake, Ski Trip (the University essentially pays for the entire freshman class to spend a weekend in cabins and skiing in Tahoe over the course of January), Assassins (yes, this is different from Word Assassins), Screw Your Roommate and The Game: imagine teams of five students in a car, performing a Bay Area-wide scavenger hunt with clues based on really complex puzzles created by insanely smart and creative Stanford students. The Game was my single favorite activity within the single favorite part of my Stanford experience.

You’ll be getting a great education no matter where you go — world-class faculty, brilliant and motivated students, etc. But based on what I know, no other university invests as much in cultivating a sense of community among the freshman class and within the entire school. Feeling a sense of belonging is extraordinarily important when you’re investing so much of your life in this decision — not just in your intellectual development, but more importantly in your personal development. Feeling welcome, feeling free to be whoever and whatever you’d like to be and feeling capable to taking on the challenges of the 21st century are all what Stanford excels at.

Thursday afternoon, one of my professors and advisors gave Rachel what I think is the best piece of college advice I’ve ever heard: you won’t be sorry wherever you decide to go, but if you go to Stanford, you won’t be sorry you didn’t go anywhere else.

I’ve yet to mention our excellent athletic program, beautiful weather, the gorgeous campus abounding with nature, etc. — and on the most serious level, this really affects the sense of community, my happiness and my optimism about the future — but I’ve already convinced you, and you’re two seconds away from logging in, clicking “Accept” and making the best decision of your life…

Go forth unafraid, ProFros.

 

Kristian is in FloMo without a ProFro even though he’s a RoHo, but since he’s a HoHo, it’s all a go-go. If you’re mad at him for his asinine assonance, let him know at kbailey ‘at’ stanford.edu.