Why would someone choose Stanford over Harvard?

PLEASE NOTE: This response contains some generalizations that will not hold true in many cases. I stand by this response, but your mileage may vary. Back when I was touring colleges, I visited Harvard in the summer of 2015. read more

For me, Stanford was different. I was there for three weeks last summer (attended their Summer Humanities Institute). I loved the place as soon as I set foot on campus. The people there are different. At Harvard, people were smart, and seemed friendly enough when I approached them. At Stanford, people were outgoing and affable. read more

A2A. I can only speak about Stanford and Harvard that are academically roughly the same. I would choose Stanford because I am from California and Stanford is more in tune with my lifestyle than the Northeast. read more

As for why I chose Stanford, it was a combination of a lot of things, but it really came down to lifestyle. I knew I could get top notch academics at a number of schools, but I valued how happy Stanford students tend to be (of course, Stanford will be what you make of it and not everyone will be happy). read more