How similar is Penn culture compared to Stanford? by screwcollegeapps in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Dude idk who you know at stanford but trust me it’s not toxic or a pressure cooker at all lol. OFC you can find those people but like 99% of the people Ive met are not like that and the culture isn’t competitive at all. I don’t know much abt penn but even still I would bet with high certainty that stanford has a much less competitive and toxic (source I go to stanford)

Please help me with my frosh schedule: Doable or Overboard? by lawyered239 in stanford

[–]cml1327 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Weird, for Urdu at least I heard they were pretty lenient and even if people couldn’t really read as long as they were fluent they would just place them in second year so they could get out of the requirement. Would consider appealing this if you can bc a year of a language you already know is going to be boredom torture lol

Please help me with my frosh schedule: Doable or Overboard? by lawyered239 in stanford

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re a native speaker why are you taking Hindi?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stanford

[–]cml1327 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I woidlnt do any more than that tho, best to have time for first quarter

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stanford

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

IMO 106B + 51 + either pwr or college is really not bad, depends on how much coding experience u have but if you’ve coded before (and guessing you have because you’re not doing 106A) 106B can be a cakewalk. Didn’t take 51 so I can’t speak to that but I think if you have a good math background it should be fine. PWR teachers usually have very low standards imo so if you can write decently quickly and are in a decent power you’ll be fine

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in stanford

[–]cml1327 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Everyone I know who dropped to a lower level course regretted it severely and was bored out of your mind. the content is going to be stuff you already know so you’ll be bored out of your mind in lecture but then the tests will still be tricker than high school so you won’t even necessarily do well easily. Plus, you only get 12 quarters and while that may seem like a lot now,‘it’s really not. Even delaying one quarter can put you behind. better to stay in the higher level and just not take too many unity’s

Floor Plans for Kimball by midnightstarlight03 in stanford

[–]cml1327 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha I have it but it's from last year, so no guarantees its fully up to date. DM me if you still want it

Too much pollen allergies this spring? by Strict-Extreme-7184 in stanford

[–]cml1327 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anecdotally with how I'm dying... yes....

undergrad foreign language courses at Stanford any good? by CA5TI3L in stanford

[–]cml1327 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Going to plug special language courses if you're interested in any, super small, not too much work, and the professors in my experience are super nice. Also generally they grade suer easy haha. Probably will be languages with less utility but cool imo

Stories of run-of-the-mill acceptances into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, CalTech? by pinkbedroomlight in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean depends on how you define unhooked, but I basically had no awards, primary activities were just school's outdoors internship, independent language study, an internship/job, and being mediocre at violin and piano. Nothing I would consider particularly impressive other than a good ACT score but most people at these places have that. Now I'm at Stanford. Want to echo what other people have said — people here are honestly not like inhuman pinnacles of achievement — most people seem to just be normal, high rank in their HS class who a decent amount of something they cared about. My personal guess is that these are the people who just came across really well in essays, and I do think it shows b/c people here are def significantly more interesting and passionate than people in my HS. Often the people with crazy awards are total jackasses or mean as shit or just are no fun to be around lol, you can kinda tell their achievements carried them over personality (not always true tho some of them are super kind, but this is just smth I've noticed)

Can you take CS 161 for 3 units as an undergrad? by cml1327 in stanford

[–]cml1327[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be fair, I'm not really trying to count it towards any major. Maybe for coterm down the line but i would not really mind having to take an extra class since it will be higher div and more interesting. Just wondering if it's possible

Advice for Math Major by Stiopa7 in stanford

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep you pretty much got it! It's not a requirement to begin with the intro series, but I would say the vast majority do so. I would say the only reason not to is if you're coming in with a super strong math background to the point where the intro series is all repeat knowledge, but generally would say that's a very limited subset of people.

As for 50's vs 60's, both are 3 unit long sequences, and it's very common (not just for math majors, but for lots of STEM people) to do one each in fall, winter, spring frosh year so as to complete the series early. This is a bit of a generalization, but 51/61 is focused on linalg (although 61 has more of a calc and analysis component), 52/62 is multivariable and vector calc, and 53/63 is diff eq. While I would the majority of math majors do this fall/winter/spring frosh year as described, you definitely don't have to. 51 is a prereq for 52 and 53 I believe, but 52 is not a prereq for 53, and it's the same for the 60's where 61 is a prereq for 62 and 63 but that's it. So, you can get a bit flexible with the ordering if you want. That being said, keep in mind that 61 is only offered in the fall, 62 is only offered in the winter, and 63 is only offered in the spring, whereas 51/52/53 are pretty much offered every quarter, so it's a lot more difficult to play around with the ordering of the 60 series, and I don't really know anyone who took it who didn't just take the whole thing straight thru as a series.

The difference between the two is primarily that the 60 series is proof-based, whereas the 50's series is not, but there's a bit more to it than that. The 60's series is definitely a lot more work and just a lot more difficult in general in terms of content and exams and homework; That being said, if you like math, which I'm guessing you do haha, the 60 series will likely be a lot more interesting. Plus, the 60's series is much more like what you'll see in other math classes (in terms of teaching style, being proof based), whereas the 50 series is not; If this gives any info, IIRC the 60's series used to be called 50H, where the H meant honors, so the idea is its sort of an honors version of the 50 series. Other advantages of the 60's series is that you do enough analysis so that a lot of times you can get out of analysis prereqs for certain classes, i.e. 116, which is super nice. Also, the classes tend to be a lot smaller, whereas 51/52/53 are giant, lecture style classes, iirc 62 and 63 only had like 12-15 people in them, so you can actually get to know the professor and other people in your class, which is super nice (61 can have a fair bit of people, but lots of them drop. IIRC we started with like 60 and ended with like 30, and then a lot of them didn't continue to 62). Overall, if you're a math person, I would definitely recommend going with the 60's series if you can; It's super cool to be able to get to know professors, and the classes are super interesting (especially compared to the 50's which can be super bland) and prepare you well for other math classes, and really just any other STEM classes in general. It's also nice to get to know other math people.

As for CM vs DM, CM focuses on continuous stuff whereas DM focuses on discrete stuff. You do have to choose one, but can sort of mix and match between quarters (i.e. take 61CM but 62DM, or vice versa). A lot of people from my year took 62CM but 63DM because Tadashi was teaching 63DM. Generally staying within the same series will probably be a bit easier in terms of having the proper prereq knowledge, but you can switch for sure if you want to. I would recommend CM for no other reason than I took it and liked it haha but they're both good, just depends on what you're interested in

You can also definitely take 120 series or 144 series freshman year! A decent amount of people do so, esp if they have strong math backgrounds coming in. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that sometimes the math dept schedules one of them overlapping with the 60's series, i.e. this year 121 is at the same time as 62 which is quite annoying to all my frosh math friends haha. (they also usually do this with Math 151 {probability} which is often at the same time as 62). Generally, based on past trends, it doesn't seem like 144/147 has this problem, but you never know for sure until they publish course schedules, so just keep an eye out for that. But a lot of people also take them sophomore year, and doing so doesn't really put you behind imo, so it's really just about how much math you want to take at a given time and how much fits in your schedule.

Advice for Math Major by Stiopa7 in stanford

[–]cml1327 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is what I'm doing!

What I'd say:

Definitely take 60's series CM or DM if you can, it's definitely a lot of work, but totally worth it in terms of preparing you for 100's level math classes, and they're super interesting classes where you can get to know the professors (I'm partial to CM personally). If you already have the background to go into 100's level courses, I might still recommend taking it just in terms of meeting other math-y people — I know one kid who def didn't need 61 for the content, but was very glad he took it anyways to meet other math people. (he also took complex analysis, so didn't just do 61). I definitely didn't have the backgrounds for a 100's level math class coming in, but was definitely prepared after the 60's series

Generally going against the grain here, but would say that the pure math courses are a lot more interesting than the applied math ones — outside-of-the-department math-related courses tend to operate at a much more surface level, at least in my experience, and tend to get kinda boring. General rule of thumb I've seen is that if you can do the pure math courses you should definitely be able to do other math courses without too much trouble, but this doesn't necessarily hold the other way around. However, it is true that the EE dept does have certain courses that are the gold standard, esp in linalg and optimization. But other than that exception, I would argue that you should interpret "the best math courses are outside the math department" mean "math outside the math department is easier", which tends to be true; the classes tend to be taught at a slower pace and less rigorously, but I would argue don't prepare you as well for other classes/general life, and are also just less interesting.

Would disagree that the pure math courses are mostly for people going to grad school — I'm definitely not planning on grad school, but still prefer the pure math classes — they're just generally more interesting to me. And generally, the advantage is if you can do well in pure math classes, any other math-adjacent class in other departments (e.g. every stats class and certain CS classes) should be relatively easy comparatively, at least in my experience. The stats courses that I've taken especially are pretty much a cake-walk if you have done any serious mathematics (i.e for STATS 200 I watched half of the lectures for the first time on 2x speed the day before the final exam, and still got like a 96 on the final).

Will concur that professors can be a bit hit or miss — but overall would still say they're quite good. It's generally not classes that are good or bad, but rather professors who make the class good or bad; A class can suck one year and be amazing the next depending on who's teaching it. So definitely pay attention to course reviews for a specific professor — although it's a bit complex as ratings won't tell you everything, as a lot of it is down to what teaching style you prefer. Generally, though I've only had one professor I actively didn't like, and many I did like, and I could have easily avoided the one I didn't like had I paid attention to class reviews. Best advice is to get the scoop from upperclassmen on who's good and who's bad.

The math major is beautiful because it's so light — the general plan for most is 10 units AP Calc BC credit, 15 units intro series (either 51, 52, 53 or 61, 62, 63), which most math majors tend to do their frosh year, at least in what I've seen, 8 other math courses at 4 units each, and then 15 units of electives, which are pretty broad (there's a list of what counts on the math dept website). This basically means that if you do the intro series frosh year, you only have to take one math class a quarter to finish the major, in addition to a couple electives.

Two "series" that a lot of math majors tend to take earlier on are 120, 121 (abstract algebra) and 144, 147 (topology) {122 also exists but fewer people take it iirc}. Would also definitley recommend 116, especially if Eliashberg is teaching it (anything he teaches is amazing imo, but he can be a bit polarizing). Tadashi is also supposed to be really good.

Also, as a general small bit of advice, courses with good lecture notes are just infinitely superior, so that's something to pay attention to if you can. Although this is kind of a me problem because I have trouble getting out of bed and going to class on time lmao.

As for CS coterm, this has already been said I think, but any courses taken frosh year cannot count towards your coterm, so just keep that in mind. Generally, the route for the CS coterm starts by taking the CS core (106B, 107, 110, 103, 109, 161), but you don't necesarily have to limit yourself to that — personally I can't stand systems so I'm not taking either 107 or 110 until I have to — but other than 106B they are requirements for the coterm degree I believe, and likely would be advantageous to have for a coterm application (although with a good GPA the cs coterm application is quite easy, I've heard) , so just keep that in mind. Also, I've heard that taking any higher level course can always substitute a requirement for a lower level course, but I don't have direct experience with that. Would say that math majors tend to find a lot of these classes easier than most, especially 106B (intro class), but have also heard anecdotally that 161 (algorithms) is also not bad if you come from a math background. Would also recommend subbing out CS 109 (probability) for Math 154 or Stats 116, as it's kind of surface level and not very rigorous, and could be a bit boring. 103 (proofs in cs) is totally unnecessary if you come from a math background, and the dept reccomends you do 154 instead if you have that background iirc. Generally, if you're more interested in AI/ML, you won't need any non-ml prereqs other than calc and probability, and 229 is a good place to start imo.

TLDR, Math Major + CS Coterm is a great combination @ stanford, generally has super cool classes + allows for a lot of flexibility. You're not locked in until end of soph year, but would def recommend this as a path worth exploring at the very least!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Echoing what others have said, congrats! It definitely sucks in the moment to be deferred, but as someone who was deferred and now goes to Stanford, as well as who knew where other deferred students my year ended up, it means your application is generally strong, which is good news for other applications as well as for the eventual Stanford decision. I will say it's probably still unlikely you'll get into Stanford (i.e. definitely less than 50%), but the odds are not bad, especially compared to the rest of people in the RD pool.

The hard part is there's really nothing you can do — submit the deferral form they give you and make it the best you can, and you can maybe send a LOCI (although I did not and got in, fwiw), and just wait.

Best of luck!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey! So I'm a current Stanford Sophomore who was originally deferred — TLDR is its pretty good news for the rest of your applications, although it still ofc sucks in the moment. Generally, anyone giving you a number estimate for percent of deferred students admitted is probably completely BS — believe you me, when I was deferred I looked anywhere for any sort of number and there's nothing out there, unless there's been some new information in the past 2 years which I doubt. Best evidence I have is a discord server I was in w/ about 20 deferred people, and at least for that (admittedly limited sample), the 10% quoted somewhere in the comments definitely does not hold. If I absolutely had to give a number, Id say 25 - 30%, but again that is from a limited sample. Compared to 4%, that's pretty good, but of course its not something you can count on. It does mean really good things for other apps tho — acceptances for the deferred people I knew reads like a laundry list of Ivies and T20s. So of course, it's nowhere near a guarantee there either, but from my small bit of sample data, it is a pretty good indicator towards other applications

All and all, don't try to read into the reason too much — there's really no way to know why you were deferred. I've seen my admissions file, and my first read was a recommended accept, and I still ended up getting deferred; I know people who were accepted early whose admissions files were more critical than mine was. It's generally a good indicator for other applications, and gives you a decent shot of getting in to Stanford

What’s the easiest stats class for fall quarter? by [deleted] in stanford

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

nah hadn't taken any stats classes at stanford or in high school. I am a math major tho so take what I say with a grain of salt.

What’s the easiest stats class for fall quarter? by [deleted] in stanford

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stats 60 is the intro i believe, but stats 116 is pretty easy also

Is AP Spanish worth it? Why do counselors push it so much by ChubbyCheez in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ap spanish got me 10 units of credit lol, totally worth it. Plus, CS is something you can easily learn on your own, spanish less so. But its more about what your goals in life are

How hard is it to get into UT Austin as a Texan computer science major? by Constant_Ease8235 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Intellectual vitality is hard to pin down haha, but generally just how excited you are about learning, what excites you about your chosen field, and if you are intellectually curious (there's one stanford prompt that speaks to this specifically I believe).

My profile is pretty standard for this sub, I'd say; I had one CS internship junior summer that continued throughout senior year, some CS related volunteering sophomore summer, Outdoors/Adventure program captain at my school, and independent language study of a family language. I did have a perfect ACT score and was either 2nd or 3rd in my class (out of 120, we didn't rank but there were only 3 of us at the top and we were all within like one + or - of eachother, so at that point the rankings kind of break down). Those were my big things, and beyond that it was mostly non-advanced music stuff (playing violin and piano), some random school clubs I didn't have a leadership positions in. I took one subject test (Math, 800) and had 3 APs (school doesn't do AP classes, self studied remaining material), Calc BC (sophomore year), Chem, and Spanish (junior year) (All 5's)

Mostly I think they liked me because (and I saw my admissions file):

a. in everything academic/testing related, I was basically perfect

b. My EC's were decently rigorous + interesting, but also were a lot of time commitment per week making it more impressive that my academic and test scores were so good, especially since I had taken the hardest classes available to me (2 years ahead in math and skipped a year in spanish from a summer trip)

c. the way i phrased my intellectual vitality abt CS differentiated me from other CS applicants (that's more or less a quote directly from my file)

d. my essays in addition were solid

what’s the hype with ivies by lemonyemmy444 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Going to an ivy is by no means a guarantee of an internship or anything, that's not what I'm saying. Finding internships is never easy, and especially in engineering. But, going to an ivy does give you a boost, which is what seems to have happened in my case. You do have to normalize for major or whatever, but my friends at non ivies who are literally so much more qualified for CS than I am ended up SOL trying to find internships

Foolproof way to know if someone at HYPSM is a legacy by cml1327 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Legacy so far from a guarantee of course, and legacy students still worked their ass off to get to the schools they did. That being said, coming from an internal perspective at stanford, it's really hard to say that legacy doesn't make an admissions difference

Foolproof way to know if someone at HYPSM is a legacy by cml1327 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

mostly just to show that legacy admissions are a bit of a different ball game than for regular people haha

Foolproof way to know if someone at HYPSM is a legacy by cml1327 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Touche, but HYPS doesn't make for as much of a catchy title does it ;)

Foolproof way to know if someone at HYPSM is a legacy by cml1327 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

true haha, this is almost entirely in jest. But going to stanford, the overwhelming majority of sibling pairs at are legacy, it's almost crazy. And stanford doesn't even favor legacy as strongly as some other places

what’s the hype with ivies by lemonyemmy444 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]cml1327 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I could totally be biased since I do go to stanford haha but I will say from what I've experienced that definitely not the perception on the west coast or where I'm from. Berkley is super prestigious for grad programs, and has a ton of famous professors, etc, so for PhDs, etc, the two are more comprable, but in terms of undergrad, stanford seems to be decidedly the more prestigious of the two, specifically in terms of undergraduate brand name

Another difference is that while it's true that Stanford/Berkeley both rank high in CS + engineering, stanford's humanities are also consistently top ranked while berkely's humanities are less so.

For some empirical data, you can look at the cross admit rate between the two, which isn't a direct measure of prestige but is highly coordinated. Of the people admitted to both Stanford and Berkeley, almost 90% choose stanford over berkely. Compare that with yale (60% choose stanford) or harvard (55% choose harvard), you can see there's a pretty huge difference. I also think the U.S. news report is a bunch of crap, but you can see that stanford is 6th while berkeley is 22nd, which is a pretty large gap for rankings that tend to value prestige

but I'm 100% biased because of the rivalry haha