4-30-09: Stanford: Set on Stanford, big tuition and all

It’s decision time for the Class of 2013. Stanford rolled out the cardinal carpet for the Class of 2013 during Admit Weekend 2009, but until their May 1 commitment deadline, the decision is in the ProFros’ hands.

With the failing economy on everyone’s minds, the administration made a concerted effort to underscore its commitment to financial aid for families during Admit Weekend, but for many ProFros, the economy, while an underlying concern, was not the primary basis for their college decisions.

Scott Thao, a ProFro from Fresno, CA has decided unequivocally on accepting Stanford. The economy was little more than a footnote for Thao, who was happy with the financial aid package Stanford provided. His decision was based on Stanford’s unique atmosphere.

“The people are amazing and there’s so much to do!” he said. “You have every small little niche, and there are tons of people who share the same interests.”

Thao was attracted to Stanford for its wide range of academic opportunities, and the academic expos reaffirmed his commitment to explore all that Stanford has to offer.

“Academically, I kind of wanted to play around a little bit. I’m almost 100 percent sure that I want to dorm in SLE,” he said.

Thao does admit, however, that his parents are pressuring him to pursue a financially-viable career path, but that’s not stopping him from following his passions.

“I don’t know what I want to major in yet, but I’m being obligated by my parents to choose a major that’s amazing, because an annual income is apparently all that matters to them, but not really to me,” he explained. “Happiness is one thing as well, and it’s a major contribution. I don’t know what I want to major in yet, but I’m almost sure that I want to double minor in visual arts and creative writing, which are two of my passions.”

Like Thao, Kapil Yedidi, a ProFro from the Sacramento area, said that financially, Stanford’s price tag is a concern, but not a major problem.

“It’s kind of a struggle, I guess, but the financial aid definitely helps,” Yedidi said.

But the economy was not on the forefront of Yedidi’s mind during Admit Weekend. Prior to Admit Weekend, Yedidi’s academic trajectory was fairly well defined. He was initially drawn to Stanford for its computer science program, but after touring the academic expos, he saw his horizons expanding.

“I was thinking a lot about doing computer science before I came here, but over the academic expos, I saw STS [Science, Technology, and Society], which has a lot more of what I want, which is liberal arts. I’m thinking about that.”

Yedidi, too, is feeling the heat from his parents.

“My parents want me to do something that makes decent money, I guess, like engineering, or computer science,” he said. “But because I’m interested in those things to begin with, they’ve never pressured me to become a doctor.

“They would probably not want me to do something like Spanish or something,” he conceded.

Schu Yi Zhou, a 2013 admit from Boston, MA based her decision to come to Stanford primarily on academics.

“I decided more on academics, I must say,” she said. “Before I was deciding between a few schools, and I just don’t think the focus on undergraduate education is comparable to that of Stanford. So I really appreciate that and everything that I’m going to go through, I really look forward to it.”

Admit Weekend provided Zhou with the opportunity to indulge her many academic interests, and like many of her fellow ProFros, the academic expos were a place of realization for her.

“I found out here that I’m a complete fuzzy and I want to do classics and philosophy,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m going to change my mind, maybe I will, but it’s something that I definitely want to fall back on.”

Zhou felt that all the emphasis on financial success she received from her family was less a testament to the financial crisis than to the culture in which she grew up.

“I don’t think it’s as much about the economy as it is about culture,” she said. “I definitely think that my parents do want me to become successful and do measure parts of success in money, but they say that I should make enough to take care of myself and if I have some left over, that I should take care of them, too.”

“Now that I’m leaving for college, I’m actually putting this into perspective and I guess, if I could, I would love to take care of them, because they’ve really made so many sacrifices for me,” she added.

While the economy failed to distract students from the smorgasbord of cultural, academic and student expos and workshops, administrators did their best to underscore Stanford’s commitment to its financial aid programs.

Karen Cooper, director of Financial Aid, fielded questions regarding financial aid from parents and students during Admit Weekend, and noted that Stanford’s aid package is definitely a determining factor in many students’ decisions this year.

“The one thing that has felt different this year is for me to emphasize the fact that the undergraduate financial aid program is one of the core values of the University and we’ve actually increased the budget despite budget cuts in other areas,” she said in an interview with The Daily.

In terms of scholarship funds, $102 million was earmarked for the 2008-09 budget, and $110 million is slated for next year’s Financial Aid program.

“And if it turns out that we need more than that because family needs were greater than anticipated, then we will do our best to find resources to meet those additional needs,” Cooper said.

Stanford’s generous financial aid has cushioned many from the shock of the economic crisis, but for some families, it still isn’t enough.

“I met a few students who were struggling over Stanford versus their state school because of the lower cost of attending the other school,” Dean of Freshman Julie Lythcott-Haims ‘89 wrote in an email to The Daily. “I also ran into a few parents who said their ProFro needed to convince them to pay for Stanford, but I hear this sort of thing every year and didn’t observe a marked increase in such attitudes this year.”

Shawn Abbott, director of Admission, agreed, conceding that the economy will undoubtedly have some impact.

“Many of our financial aid officers remarked that the families they met with this year were incredibly appreciative of the packages they have receivedmore so than in previous years,” he wrote in an email to The Daily. “Of course, there are plenty of families appealing their packages, but in general, families have been appreciative of what we have been able to offer thus far.”

However, Abbott admitted that despite the aid, Stanford is not cheap.

“There is no question that the price tag of a Stanford education will involve some level of sacrifice for any family.”

Still, ProFros like Brandon Skerda from Denver, CO, are willing to bear the cost, viewing Stanford’s opportunities as unparalleled.

“When Stanford offers all of these amazing opportunities, it’s just hard to turn down,” he said.

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