Stanford University - Local Atmosphere

B-

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Quick Stats

Fun Local Trivia		Stanford's campus is a whopping 8,180 acres, only a third of which is heavily developed. Prior to becoming a university, Stanford's land was a stock farm used for breeding horses; hence Stanford's nickname, "The Farm." In addition to 25,000 trees, a lake, and 670 buildings, Stanford's campus is also home to its very own 49-megawatt power plant. Stanford contains a winding network of underground steam tunnels. Most of the openings have been sealed off, but it is a popular undergrad pastime to find the few unsealed manholes and explore the system illegally at night. Stanford's land contains SLAC, a two-mile, linear accelerator operated by Stanford for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Notable Natives		Robert Frost – American poet Sidney Howard – American playwright, screenwriter Jerry Garcia – American musician, Grateful Dead Allen Ginsberg – American poet Teri Hatcher – Actress from "Desperate Housewives" William Randolph Hearst – American newspaper magnate Steve Jobs – Co-founder and CFO of Apple, Inc. Ken Kesey – American author Jack London – American author, "Call of the Wild" George Lucas – "Star Wars" creator, producer, screenwriter Alicia Silverstone – Actress known for "Clueless" John Steinbeck – American writer; "The Grapes of Wrath," "East of Eden" Jerry Yang – Co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo!
Local Slang		Frisco: A shortened word for San Francisco; locals neither say, nor approve of this phrase Hella: "Very" or "really," as in, "These pants are hella tight."
Points of Interest		Arastradero Preserve Cantor Arts Center Castro Street Digital DNA Half Moon Bay HP Garage Matadero Creek Palo Alto Art Center Palo Alto City Hall Santa Cruz boardwalk

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

Students' feelings about Palo Alto range from neutral to unsatisfied. It’s a yuppie town with restaurants and activities to match. Students are happy with the food offerings and the safety of Palo Alto, but they don’t think of it as a college town. Campus is large and isolated, so you either need access to a car or the patience to endure public transportation in order to explore. Still, if you manage to get out of the bubble, the Bay Area has a lot to offer. There’s San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Jose, as well as many beautiful nature preserves. People also venture to Tahoe or Yosemite National Park.

As freshmen, most students are happy with the local atmosphere. Going into Palo Alto is a special treat reserved for a couple times a month. You’ll be happy eating most of your meals in the dining hall and finding your fun at campus events. Plus, the standard freshman experience involves trips to San Francisco, Tahoe, Yosemite, Half Moon Bay, and other areas. Despite the natural beauty and pristine cities of the Bay Area, many agree that the region is currently experiencing a downturn. Any time of day, you will notice huge amounts of traffic. The region is so nice that everyone wants to be here. There were plans to make BART (the region’s subway system) come all the way down and around the Bay. This would do wonders to help the traffic problems, but in Silicon Valley, and especially around Palo Alto, local pressure has prevented these developments.

Stanford Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Local Atmosphere at Stanford University

rachencao

'15

Computer Science

B+

Stanford Bubble

There's a lot of stuff to do on campus - there's even a shopping center. Going to Palo Alto or Mountain View is usually done once or twice a month or so, and students usually stay on campus.

Dec 30, 2011

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Local Atmosphere at Stanford University

frankdg

'14

Psychology

B

Small Town Adventures

Palo Alto is a small town with a limited number of college age venues. The restaurants range from mildly affordable to quite pricey. Overall boring town but very safe

Aug 22, 2011

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Local Atmosphere at Stanford University

victorbsv

'15

Mathematics

A+

Great Campus Life

Palo Alto has a lot to offer, but students generally prefer staying on campus since there is so much to do, and Palo Alto can be a bit overpriced. The campus is like a mini metropolis. If people get bored of the same activities though, they prefer heading over to San Francisco and all of its cultural offerings. Stanford can be a bit like a bubble if you let it be, you can easily forget about the outside world with all that is happening on campus.

Aug 15, 2011

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Facts

Shopping Centers		Hillsdale Shopping Center San Antonio Shopping Center Stanford Shopping Center Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Mall
Major Sports Teams		Golden State Warriors: NBA Oakland Athleticss: MLB Oakland Raiders: NFL San Francisco 49ers: NFL San Francisco Giants: MLB San Jose Earthquakes: Major League Soccer San Jose Sharks: NHL
City Web Sites		www.ci.sf.ca.us www.city.palo-alto.ca.us
Distances to Nearest Major Cities		Los Angeles: : 6 hours San Francisco: : 1 hour San Jose, Calif.: : 30 minutes
Did You Know?

Movie TheatersWhat's This?

Aquarius Movie Theater
430 Emerson St.
Palo Alto
(650) 266-9260

Century Cinemas 16
1500 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View
(650) 961-3828

CineArts @ Palo Alto Square
3000 El Camino Real Bldg #6 at Page Mill Rd.
Palo Alto
(650) 493-0128

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Most Recent Student Author

College Prowler guides are in the hands of students throughout the entire process. Because you can't make student-written guides without the students, we have students at each campus who write, edit, and survey their peers for every guide that we publish. Thanks to our most recent student author at Stanford

Name: Alexandria Butler

Hometown: St. Louis, MO

Major: Communications, Spanish

see all student author bios > Become a student author to help update the guide for this school

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