With Admit Weekend beginning tomorrow, perhaps it is proper for me to wax poetic a little about the school I love.

Stanford University is an amazing place. We’re 8,000-some acres, embraced by a bubble of sunshine, camaraderie and talent. The world is different here, in one of the most privileged zip codes in the most privileged country in the world. We sit in our seminar rooms, asked by the Nobel Laureate standing before us to help her tackle the problem she wrote about last week. We live among Olympians, Mensa members and number one overall draft picks. We call Pulitzer Prize winners by their first names.

When you walk onto campus this weekend, you will surely feel the embrace of the famous Stanford bubble. Strangers will cheer for you. People will throw free stuff your way. The Band will start playing in front of MemAud, and you will be escorted away for a weekend full of programming that is supposed to show you what it’s like to be a Stanford student.

Life in the bubble will seem perfect. And for many, it is. But no matter what your parents and college counselors and all your rejected peers may think, Stanford isn’t perfect, at least not for everyone.

First, I should start off by saying that it does rain at Stanford (as it should tomorrow, if the meteorologists are to be trusted). There will be a few full weeks of rain per year — and if you’re from a rainy city like me and expected year-round tanning weather, temper those temperature expectations.

Second, know that the culture you will experience this weekend is probably a small part of the Stanford community. People being hosted in FloMo will probably have a different experience from someone living in Burbank (and its, what, five fuzzies?) for example. Just because your room host isn’t a part of something doesn’t mean it’s not here for you. In fact, it probably is, and the fact that some don’t know of its existence is a testament to how busy and how involved students are at this school.

Third, know that Stanford might not be for you. I’ve only been here 25 weeks, so I still know little about a school that is far too complex to experience fully, even in four years. But I can reflect a little on my experience here so far and urge you to think carefully about your decision to come here.

People are very happy and busy here. Which is to say, people seem happy and busy here. This weekend’s all-smiles attitude isn’t just a show — that’s really the way we are year round. But with that come challenges that you will inevitably confront should you decide to matriculate here; when you are feeling down, you will feel low. And you might feel alone, though you will surely not be, because everyone’s happiness is so pervasive and oppressive that many feel guilty, or wrong, for being sad. That’s the foundation of the sociological condition which bears our name — the Stanford Duck Syndrome — which tells of the average Stanford student: blithely gliding on the surface, paddling furiously for traction underneath.

Finally, know why Stanford culture sets us apart from other comparable schools. You’ll find out early in your first year that Stanford is a lot less rigid, a lot less institutionalized, than a lot of other places. It’ll seem like we’re all outside-the-box thinkers looking for the next big thing. Start-up this. Entrepreneurship that. Changing the way we interact with our world, all while getting rich or saving hungry children. It’s a culture that can be overwhelming, especially if your idea of college is a broad-based time of learning for knowledge’s sake.

In truth, as I look back upon my first year at Stanford I often wonder what it would be like at some of the other schools I was considering. Stanford was an anomaly in my application; I applied mostly to small, liberal arts colleges where everyone knew everyone else’s name, where a rigorous humanities base was not scapegoated but something to be advertised, where the community worried less about advancing the world and more about cultivating their own gardens.

Stanford is not a perfect fit for everyone. It certainly isn’t for me. But that should not take away from how remarkable this school is. Know that there are few places like this in the world. But also know that it can’t possibly be perfect for everyone, and that you’re not alone if, despite the smiles, screams and suffocating happiness of everyone around, you don’t quite feel at home here yet.

 

Still, come to Stanford! But if you want to talk more, email Ed at edngai “at” stanford “dot” edu.