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Stanford University or University of Cambridge?

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Reply 20
Have a look at the regions, decide whether you want to be in the UK or America, have a tour of the institutions. If this isn't possible, there may be some online interactive ones.

Please ignore posts which state "this uni is better than that one". This really drives my head in. Just choose one which you feel most comfortable in. That is how you make a decision on where you want to go. Not based on rankings or alumni awards and such.
Original post by Okorange
I have a nagging feeling that OP doesn't have any of these offers and is just trolling. Someone actually looking to make a decision would not be provoking debate, but would be asking for advice....


Haahaha no. I am just leaning towards Cambridge due to my research on the two.
Original post by programmer<3
Haahaha no. I am just leaning towards Cambridge due to my research on the two.


So there we have it, you came in with preconceived notions, just pick Cambridge, its not a bad school, simple as that.
I don't understand why anyone would choose a top UK university a top US one if they want to go into academia, and that cost is not a factor.

America is where the research money is at.
Original post by clh_hilary
I don't understand why anyone would choose a top UK university a top US one if they want to go into academia, and that cost is not a factor.

America is where the research money is at.


As I said, I can always do my grad from the US. In the undergrad, Cambridge's UROP is stronger than Stanford's undergraduate research opportunities.
Original post by programmer<3
As I said, I can always do my grad from the US. In the undergrad, Cambridge's UROP is stronger than Stanford's undergraduate research opportunities.


In terms of what? They are probably more research assistant positions at Stanford but I'm not sure.

Also, the thing is it's a lot easier to continue at Stanford then to switch from Cambridge to Stanford, and vice-versa.
Original post by clh_hilary
In terms of what? They are probably more research assistant positions at Stanford but I'm not sure.

Also, the thing is it's a lot easier to continue at Stanford then to switch from Cambridge to Stanford, and vice-versa.


Cambridge to Stanford is indeed tougher than vice versa. But Cambridge to MIT is pretty easy because of the Cambridge-MIT institute establishment.
Original post by Okorange
So there we have it, you came in with preconceived notions, just pick Cambridge, its not a bad school, simple as that.


I did come onto this thread with a bias towards Cambridge. That's because I wanted to see if somebody could remove my bias with strong points in favor of stanford. But the points as of now have been:
1) US supposedly has more research money.
2) Silicon valley provides more opportunities for work than Silicon fen.
3) Stanford has a more relaxed environment.

Nobody has talked about rigor and quality of undergrad education at the two places, the quality of student body, the strengths of teaching styles, the courses, the environments, the prestige, the ease of shift from one to another after undergrad.

PS. "Pick Cambridge, its not a bad school" -- as I said, if I were to choose on prestige and reputation, I would have chosen Cambridge without caring to discuss the pros and cons of both.
(edited 8 years ago)
Literally everyone here has asked you to do your own research and find out whether you'd like the environment and the country and teaching style. We can't do your homework for you especially since very few of us are in your situation. You've asked for our opinion and we've given it.

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Original post by sellerofdreams
Literally everyone here has asked you to do your own research and find out whether you'd like the environment and the country and teaching style. We can't do your homework for you especially since very few of us are in your situation. You've asked for our opinion and we've given it.

Posted from TSR Mobile


I am sorry if I've been troublesome. But as I said, I did my homework. I just wanted to get people's opinions backed up by proper substance. I am looking foe opinions which I missed in my research. Like something about Stanford which could make me choose it over Cambridge.
Original post by programmer<3
I did come onto this thread with a bias towards Cambridge. That's because I wanted to see if somebody could remove my bias with strong points in favor of stanford. But the points as of now have been:
1) US supposedly has more research money.
2) Silicon valley provides more opportunities for work than Silicon fen.
3) Stanford has a more relaxed environment.

Nobody has talked about rigor and quality of undergrad education at the two places, the quality of student body, the strengths of teaching styles, the courses, the environments, the prestige, the ease of shift from one to another after undergrad.

PS. "Pick Cambridge, its not a bad school" -- as I said, if I were to choose on prestige and reputation, I would have chosen Cambridge without caring to discuss the pros and cons of both.


Why don't you go to collegeconfidential and ask the question over there? I highly doubt any Stanford undergrads are on this forum, go there and ask this question, get some opinions. None of us can really tell you the rigor of Stanford's curriculum because we haven't done it.
Original post by programmer<3
Hey all,

I have an unconditional offer from University of Cambridge and an offer from Stanford University. I wish to pursue Computer Science and Mathematics. I am from an asian country so both the universities will be international for me. It would be great if you guys could provide your opinions as to which one to choose. I do not wish to work after undergraduate. I will continue with education. So working environment isn't a factor for me. Do give reasons for the university you suggest.

Thank you.


If you honestly got an offer from Stanford CS, pack your things and go!
You'd be crazy to turn it down. Stanford CS is arguably the best in the world -- even MIT and Berkeley CS would agree that Stanford offers a lot of advantages and opportunities for CS. Silicon Valley is just right at the campus' backyard -- they built it and they owned it. It's a super amazing very rich school which accepts only 5% of the applicants.Stanford is the most selective college in the US, beating out all Ivy League institutions. So, go there and never look back.


http://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-most-competitive-college-in-america-2015-4

http://www.examiner.com/article/stanford-remains-the-most-selective-college-the-country
To all those saying to go to Stanford, looking at this from a cost/benefit point of view:

The benefit of going to Stanford over Cambridge is basically negligible, there is no way you will be denied opportunities because you chose Cambridge over Stanford.

Considering the above, I truly believe that the additional fees for studying in the US as an international are not worth paying, when you have the opportunity to pay just £9000 a year and still go to a university just as good.

Education is an investment, and you should aim to get the best return possible. Cambridge will provide the best return in this case.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Mr. Roxas
If you honestly got an offer from Stanford CS, pack your things and go!
You'd be crazy to turn it down. Stanford CS is arguably the best in the world -- even MIT and Berkeley CS would agree that Stanford offers a lot of advantages and opportunities for CS. Silicon Valley is just right at the campus' backyard -- they built it and they owned it. It's a super amazing very rich school which accepts only 5% of the applicants.Stanford is the most selective college in the US, beating out all Ivy League institutions. So, go there and never look back.


http://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-most-competitive-college-in-america-2015-4

http://www.examiner.com/article/stanford-remains-the-most-selective-college-the-country


Apart from the silicon valley point, nothing else holds much meaning.
"Stanford is the most selective and has 5% acceptance rate" -- this is because every other person applies to Stanford, however bad their profile may be. Stanford lays no stress on taking the most academically able kids. So student body is not necessarily the best.

As the poster above me says, I don't see any advantage of taking stanford over Cambridge. In fact, Cambridge holds higher enployer reputation. As for silicon valley, I still dont understand how the presence of valley will in any way affect my undergraduate education. Is it just a cool sounding thing that I studied CS from an institute in silicon valley? Stanford is very rich and so is Cambridge. Despite its wealth, Stanford isnt need blind to internationals...
Original post by Bloxorus
To all those saying to go to Stanford, looking at this from a cost/benefit point of view:

The benefit of going to Stanford over Cambridge is basically negligible, there is no way you will be denied opportunities because you chose Cambridge over Stanford.

Considering the above, I truly believe that the additional fees for studying in the US as an international are not worth paying, when you have the opportunity to pay just £9000 a year and still go to a university just as good.

Education is an investment, and you should aim to get the best return possible. Cambridge will provide the best return in this case.


OP will be paying international fees at Cambridge, and depending on OP family's income they may be able to get financial aid, Stanford is pretty generous any family making less than 110,000 pounds or 180k USD +/- number of dependents usually gets at least part of their tuition deducted.

programmer<3 if you truly hold an offer from Stanford wouldn't need blind not matter anymore as you have an offer? Need blind only means they don't look at your parents financial income when they are looking at your application. If you have an offer this shouldn't matter...
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Okorange
OP will be paying international fees at Cambridge, and depending on OP family's income they may be able to get financial aid, Stanford is pretty generous any family making less than 110,000 pounds or 180k USD +/- number of dependents usually gets at least part of their tuition deducted.

programmer<3 if you truly hold an offer from Stanford wouldn't need blind not matter anymore as you have an offer? Need blind only means they don't look at your parents financial income when they are looking at your application. If you have an offer this shouldn't matter...


You didnt get me. Applying to Stanford for aid as an international student greatly diminishes the chances of getting in. So I didnt apply. At Cambridge, Cambridge trust does provide aid to internationals through its trust scholarships and aid packages. I can afford stanford but not very comfortably. And whats the point of paying so much to Stanford when it doesnt provide anything more than Cambridge, in fact maybe lesser prestige (at least in my home country).
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by programmer<3
Apart from the silicon valley point, nothing else holds much meaning.

Are you kidding me? Have you been to Stanford, SV and SF? It would have helped you understand more about the school if you visited California before you applied.

SV is THE hub of tech and IT in the whole universe. There's nothing anything close to it.
There's a high entrepreneurial spirit at Stanford, something that is obviously absent at Cambridge. Stanford is a very rich school -- very well-funded and well maintained. Students there are encouraged to invent, create, collaborate with each other and launch what they came up with. There's always seed money for high prospect projects coming from the school. This is something that Cambridge -- or any uni in the UK -- could afford to do. Cambridge doesn't have the resources, talent and funds to compete with Stanford in this area.
So, if you're serious about CS, there's no place for it that's better than Stanford. Not MIT. Not Berkeley.




"Stanford is the most selective and has 5% acceptance rate" -- this is because every other person applies to Stanford, however bad their profile may be. Stanford lays no stress on taking the most academically able kids. So student body is not necessarily the best.

Are you kidding me!
I'm beginning to wonder now if you really have been admitted to Stanford. Seriously. It seems you have a twisted knowhow about Stanford admissions and selectivity level.

Of course, not everyone apply to Stanford. It has a self-selective applicant pool -- only applicants who think they have the stats for Stanford do apply, to begin with.
Stanford appears to have more applicants than any Ivy school because it is a powerhouse for every single academic field, not to mention Palo Alto has a rather friendly weather the whole year round. Most people who apply to the Ivies also apply to Stanford. And most students who are attracted to super elite tech schools, such as, MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, CMU or Harvey Mudd, who are not necessarily attracted to some Ivies are attracted to Stanford, too. That's the reason why Stanford has more applicants than any Ivy school. Stanford is virtually top in all major fields from social sciences to humanities, languages to arts, and physical sciences to engineering. There isn't an ivy that can come close to Stanford for having a uniformly superb program across all major fields. Not even Harvard.




As the poster above me says, I don't see any advantage of taking stanford over Cambridge. In fact, Cambridge holds higher enployer reputation.

You've got to be kidding me!
Stanford has now the number one business school in America. It has a very well connected alumni body -- who support one of their own. They have very rich alumni -- many billionaires (which count more than what Oxford and Cambridge combined can come up with) whom a Stanford grad can easily tap for employment or any help.



As for silicon valley, I still dont understand how the presence of valley will in any way affect my undergraduate education. Is it just a cool sounding thing that I studied CS from an institute in silicon valley?


You don't understand.
The big players in the tech industry are in SV. The thriving new players are in there as well. You get early exposure to the real world of IT and tech while you're still a student at Stanford. You'll be rubbing elbows of people who are the "who's who" in the IT world. You get early trainings and internships in one of those many IT firms in SV. You get free consultations with those people. Many SV companies will sign you up even before you earned your degree simply because you are from Stanford.



Stanford is very rich and so is Cambridge. Despite its wealth, Stanford isnt need blind to internationals...

Cambridge is rich but its wealth and resources are nothing comparable to what Stanford has. Stanford has a much bigger endowment fund. It has a more loyal and dedicated alumni who unselfishly donate to the university. For two years running now, it has been able to raise over a billion dollars annually from alumni support. And, you will experience the richness of Stanford the moment you embark on your program, or even by mere standing in the center of the campus while looking at the facilities and the whole environment around you.
The facilities there are new, well-maintained, highly sophisticated and top-class. There's always money for start ups and venture capital. Stanford is the model of what a highly entrepreneurial school is and should be. Even Harvard is now threatened by Stanford's dominance in engineering, tech and IT. Stanford is now able to win in cross-admit battles amongst the top 5 universities in the US. Meaning, if a student is accepted at both Princeton and Stanford, the student is highly likely to enroll in Stanford. There are data that will show you this. The MBA program, for instance, highly favors Stanford over Harvard now. Only 22% of the cross admits enroll in Harvard, all the rest go to Stanford.



You sounded like you prefer Cambridge. But, in all seriousness, I don't know how you'd turn Stanford's offer down for Cambridge. But then again, I doubt if you really got into Stanford, based on the way you questioned and doubted the school and the opportunities the school offers.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by programmer<3
in fact maybe lesser prestige (at least in my home country).


Which country do you come from?

I'm was an international student, too, who attended Warwick (undergrad), Brown (grad) and recently got my MBA from Chicago-Booth.
I applied to Stanford 3x. First for undergrad level, 2nd for my master's, and 3rd for MBA, but denied every single time.
And, frankly speaking, practically almost everyone at Brown and Chicago would have loved to attend Stanford, only that almost every single one at those schools hasn't had any offer from Stanford. I have no basis or proof for this though. But I'm positive almost everyone at my alma mater schools would be willing to swap places with Stanford students.
(edited 8 years ago)
It might be better for him to choose Cambridge, let someone who really wants Stanford go to Stanford. Its better that both are happy, than for one person to go to a school they don't like and another to get rejected from their dream school.

OP doesn't understand how good Stanford is, its prestige in North America and the Pacific rim is off the charts, even here in the UK people recognize how good it is for CS.
You can't definitively say A or B unless you really know what perks you want to have from each University; it's a personal choice. It's exactly like choosing between your two favourite brands that aren't related to each other, you have to introduce variables that would differentiate between them both whether that be starting salaries (which are averaged), academic rigour, which companies grads end up at after 6 months the list goes on.

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