If your kid very recently graduated in CS from Stanford

[Anonymous]

What was their experience like?

I graduated from Stanford in Engineering three decades ago and loved going to school there. I was top of my class in HS at a very good CA public high school and was nowhere near the brightest kids at Stanford, but I would guess top half. I was nowhere near as accomplished as some of the kids you hear about getting into this kinds of schools nowadays, with their ISEFs, internships, etc.

My HS junior DC will have had 4 years of CS by graduation and is interested in majoring in it.
We recently read this article in nymag, and DH said the school sounds like it's a complete hell now because it sounds like every detail of your life there has to be engineered to impress somebody (TBH I was kind of shocked about the Viennese Ball thing--I participated in that and we never thought in a million years that it was a way to network). He thinks there is no way DC should bother applying:

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/how-to-network-through-stanford-university.html

Wondering what your kid's experience was like if it was very recent.

[Anonymous]

Is DC competitive enough to get in?
I probably wouldn’t worry about if DC can go until they are accepted.

Apply at some CS or competitive honors programs at state schools. Those can be prestigious, small communities to shine without some of what you’re worried about. But honestly if you go anywhere selective it’s bound to have a little bit of that. It’s a different world now.

[Anonymous]

Every school has it's issues. Graduating from Stanford in CS has it's perks. Want a job they are totally glued into so many companies on the west coast.

It's like anything else you make of it what you want. Mine loved it.

Ours graduated from there had a great experience. Although, I would not recommend going there for example an International relations major. That's a waste and an automatic have to go to graduate school.

[Anonymous]

I’m no help OP, but am also a Stanford grad (mid-aughts) and wonder about how the school has changed. It used to be that Stanford felt very different from the east coast schools and their rat races, now I’m not so sure.

[Anonymous]

This is not something to be worrying about right now, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not something to be worrying about right now, OP.

This is not what the OP asked, PP.

[Anonymous]

My DC is currently a senior at Stanford with a minor in CS. DC really liked the CS courses...very innovative and it they are constantly updating the curriculum to keep up (somewhat) to the changing CS landscape. There were some very creative projects. There is a distinction between the main CS major courses and the applied courses for the non-CS majors that is quite practical.