to all the colleges i've loved before: stanford

June 1, 2024

i freaking love stanford.

first of all: their symsys major. there has NEVER existed a more perfect major for me. it's a perfect blend of all my interests: linguistics, philosophy, CS, cogsci... it's as though the creators of the symsys major had me in mind when they created it back in 1985.

beyond just being interdisciplinary, stanford is STANFORD, the school with so many international ties whose name is recognized worldwide. i'm not applying to stanford solely for the name brand, of course, but it's nice to know that my family back in China will know the school just from me invoking the name: 斯坦福。just for the record, it's a pretty terrible phonetic translation, but Stanford's ethos is ingrained into those three characters - so what can i say?

also, i have to mention their english department. stanford seriously takes being interdisciplinary to a whole new level. the digital humanities is so incredibly cool and it's the kind of thing i can really envision myself doing.

my prognosis is complete. i am utterly obssessed with stanford.

so why am i ranting about my love for Stanford on the internet instead of getting ready to apply? well, you see, there's just one catch:

i'm NEVER getting into stanford.

i mean, aside from the fact that i'm a pretty average applicant, i don't know if i would truly fit into the crowd of ambitious entrepreneurs at Stanford. i mean, part of their appeal is the major spirit of innovation on campus, but would i, a homebody in my intellectual cage, really be able to collaborate with these people who venture outsidethe world of ideas?

i'd like to think i could give it a shot.

xoxo, jaiden