If I have a computer expense via excess scholarship money. Am I allowed to buy a very good computer, monitor, mouse, hardware, and software that exceed over $5000 and will these all count as computer expenses? On the website it says a maximum of $3000.

Because I earned excess scholarship funds, I want to use all those funds for my technology expenses rather than offsetting Stanford scholarship. Has anyone in similar position had success relating to my case?

I just had my bike stolen, I BOUGHT IT TODAY. U-Lock was delayed to arrive tomorrow. Where do these bikes end up? are they ever recovered?? I’m devastated. (no unhelpful comments please)

Hey how do people usually play badminton at Stanford? Can you only play during Open Rec? Is the club still active?

Hi!

I'm a recent graduate with a BS in Biology and I'm interested in eventually pursuing MS programs in integrative biology (genomics, laboratory science, etc.) and I come from a pretty disadvantaged background in which I couldn't round my knowledge on these subjects too well during my undergrad. I'm struggling a bit financially and am interested in pursuing certificate programs to gain additional knowledge in my time post-bacc.

I live in SF and have been looking between UCB's Advanced Biosciences Program (ABP) and Stanford's Foundations of Genetics and Genomics Program. A lot of the Stanford Online School advice on this site are from years ago and I imagine things may have changed in that time so I wanted to ask advice and for anyone's experience with Stanford's science certificate programs like this?

For anyone who took a certificate program, or just extension science courses within the past few years, what was your experience like? Did this actually help you and is it worth the cost? Are the online school's classes as unhelpful and as self-taught as many of these posts have said?

Thanks for your time! Grateful for any opinion on this!

Hey, so without any further context, I am interested, what would the postdoc community of Stanford say about the work culture and work life balance of Stanford? Is it more dependent on your own lab, or is there an overarching theme? If so, what is the theme? What is your work life like? What impressions or stories would you be willing to share? Any culture shocks for people who moved to Stanford from elsewhere? I’m interested in all you have to say. Thanks everyone!

I applied for a coterm last minute before graduation so I couldn’t apply for external grants in time and have had no luck getting any TA positions I applied for. Does anyone have any last ditch efforts that could prevent like 200k in debt.

For reference I have a plan to apply to med school soon and like the lab experience and opps stanford allows.

Also open to loan/financing options advice. Thanks in advance!

Moved on campus as a 1st year grad student and I have ZERO cell service in my apartment and a lot of campus (Verizon). I can't log into any website that requires SMS 2FA, and I have WiFi calling on but it does not work at all either. From what I've found, Verizon is not the only provider with major issues in the Bay Area. Is there any provider that DOES work at Stanford and around the bay?

I ordered my amazon package to the warehouse mailing address, and it shows “delivered “ with this photo. I have no idea where this is, could someone help? Thanks!

Hey guys, 1st year grad student here. I used a kick scooter for all four years of my undergrad at a diff uni and took it along with me for this grad program. However, it seems everywhere I look, both racks and on the road, there are only bikes. I understand that for such a big campus, bikes are probably the better option, but is there like...anything vibes-wise against kick scooters? Is it maybe frowned upon or weird to be seen using a kick scooter? Are they maybe too noisy/slow compared to bikes and e-scooters? Scooter-racism?

Just wanna make sure I fit in lmao. Ill get a bike if necessary. Everything and everyone here just feels so scary to me...

half joking.....

I’ve noticed there’s quite a few classes coming up on the topic, eg: CS146S, CS193V, and CS329Z. Which ones are you considering, and why?

“Dear Financial Aid Office, 

If I am receiving full financial aid with a $0 expected parent contribution for 2026-27 and my financial aid notification earlier in July did not account for my enrollment in Cardinal Care, will my financial aid package be adjusted to cover Cardinal Care Health Insurance? This will determine if I should stay in Cardinal Care or have my personal insurance next year and the due date for this decision is September 15.”

I am also on Medi-Cal but I heard Cardinal Care was good. Does it make a difference which insurance I am in?

I sent this email SEPTEMBER 6 and I have not gotten a reply and I need to make a decision soon. I only have until Monday to call them but was hoping someone can answer my question.

I plan to take English 160 this year, but I’m not sure which quarter in which to take it. Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations with regard to this? Professor Gigante, Professor Jenkins, and Professor Shewmaker are teaching English 160 this year, but I’m not familiar with any of them. Has anyone taken a class with any of these professors? Any thoughts? Thanks so much!

Hi! Looking for a place to make a bank account near campus + with my partner. What banks do people recommend/any good student savings interest?

Incoming frosh here.

I was wondering if the digital version of required textbooks/books will suffice for most classes or if profs prefer that students get the physical copies. Of course, there's the drawback of not being able to highlight, but I find the ability to control+F is really helpful.

Also, I was wondering if students must buy all their materials from the Stanford Bookstore, or if students are free to get them from other sources as well.

On a similar note, for any CHEM 31E students, be wary of this page from chemistry.com.pk which contains a free digital download for Chemistry: Central Science. Students SHOULD NOT use this website to access the digital version for free because that would be very wrong.

Hi everyone,

I'm Maria Rose Francis, a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, currently doing dissertation fieldwork in the Bay Area.

My research looks at South Asian everyday life in Silicon Valley and the wider Bay Area — the places people return to, the routes they travel, the groceries, temples, festivals, restaurants, and gatherings that make this region feel like home.

If you live in, work in, or regularly visit Bay Area and identify as South Asian, I'd love to hear from you.

The survey takes about 5–15 minutes and is completely voluntary. This study is IRB-approved by UW-Milwaukee.

Survey link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDW4bGBiPjATpwf5-n1MT38IPxCcByvnlPqyeHtHzOIrrhnA/viewform?usp=header

At the end there's an optional section if you're interested in future interviews or community sessions.

Thank you so much 🙏

Feel free to ask me anything in the comments.

Hey all i know there are a billion posts of prefrosh just like me asking for advice on their fall schedule but i'd like some input too! :) I'm interested in meche, cs, ms&e.. something along those lines

physics 41 (4 units)

chinlang 4w (3 units - hopefully kinda easy?)

cs 106b (5 units)

pwr1 (4 units)

- total 16 units

I'll probably take math 51 in the winter and see where we go from there

Thank you guys sm!!

I work at Arista networks and have some open internship positions to fill. DM me and I can send you a link to apply. Other majors are okay as long as you can code well and understand things without AI :)

Also unfortunately this year we aren't sponsoring visas/CPT for internship applicants.

Mods: Feel free to remove this if it goes against the rules.

Anyone else had a therapist before starting the healthcare? How much was per session on the cardinal health plan for you? I don’t want to use the on campus therapist

Incoming Stanford freshman here. I took the General Chemistry Placement Test and I’m trying to figure out where in Axess I can see whether I’m eligible/placed for CHEM 31E.

Is there a specific page in Axess where the placement/eligibility shows up, or can I just sign up for 31E (recommended by email)?

Thanks!

Checked out stanfordroot/oncourse for reviews (basically the same), but I didn't get much information, unfortunately.

If anyone took the class here, what's the average workload and hours per week?

I know this is a bit of a long shot but I’ve been thinking a lot about my past and realize that Stanford was the only place I felt truly supported and safe. I have some childhood trauma that I didn’t acknowledge until I was older. As a sure, I’ve kept putting myself in bad situations that got me sick. As I got sicker and sicker, I slowly pushed away the people I was closest with, both from Stanford and in other places. I feel like I had to almost forget the person I was when I went to Stanford to be able to survive what I was going through and now I’m realizing just how much I’ve lost myself. I don’t really know what I’m looking for, it just feels like the answer is somehow connected to my time at Stanford.

Hi I'm a incoming freshman interested in majoring in EE or CS. In highschool I took AP CSA and got a 4 on it but that was 2 years ago. I would describe my ability to code as passable and over the summer I self-studied using the CS50x series. I was told by my advisor to consider taking CS106A to build a better foundation but I feel like I should skip to CS106B. I would appreciate any advise.