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Congratulations on getting accepted into Stanford! It is no small accomplishment and we are happy to welcome you to campus this coming week for Admit Weekend. I know many of you are celebrities in your high schools and hometowns right now, both because of this accomplishment and your prior achievements that led to your acceptance at Stanford.
Assuming you plan on attending this institution (seriously, who wants to spend four years in Cambridge or Berkeley?), I want to use this space of our publication to encourage all of you to get involved in extracurricular activities once you enroll this fall. I know from personal experience that belonging to an organization makes life more interesting and makes you more involved in the Stanford experience. Furthermore, it is a great way to make friends and build relationships with distinguished people. It is much easier to engage others at parties while discussing one’s involvement in a school newspaper/club sport/play/etc. than it is to talk about your GPA. Almost no other students at Stanford will ever be impressed by your grades or your SAT scores (don’t even bring them up). I don’t mean to discourage the scholarly process—it is necessary but not sufficient for a successful college experience. We have enough smart people, and you were not selected solely because you are intelligent. Creativity and leadership potential, in addition to academic intelligence, are what got you here—if you want to only crunch numbers and not talk to anyone for four years, the Berkeley School of Engineering is only a 40-minute drive away.
Having made my pitch to get involved in student activities, for those of you who have interests in politics and journalism, I recommend joining The Stanford Review next September. While Stanford is a great place to receive an education, The Review serves as a balancing force against what is an overwhelming bias in favor of liberal politics that abounds both in academia and in Northern California. Founded in 1987 after plans for Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Library to be built on campus were shattered by a group of liberal activists, The Review has been fighting for libertarian and conservative thought ever since. Over time, we have built relationships with the Hoover Institution and an impressive alumni network.
There are extra benefits from working with a newspaper that has the resources of The Review. For example, every week we host a speaker series with a Hoover fellow.
Working on behalf of the publication, writers have been able to meet multiple secretaries of state (Condoleezza Rice spoke with us for our previous issue), United States senators, colonels, and various high-ranking current and former political officials. We also make an impact on local politics—one of our writers was just elected into the student body senate as a frosh.
If you’re interested, or want to hear more about how great Stanford is without any liberal bias or the espresso-fueled enthusiasm of an Admit Weekend Hoho, I encourage you to come introduce yourself to us at the Activities Fair. Moreover, read through our issues (published every other Friday) and continue to follow us along at stanfordreview.org. Get ready and excited; soon this will be your school… and The Review will be your newspaper.
Best,
Brian
