Welcome to the Freshman Page

Welcome, Class of 2016. Bookmark this page. It will guide you through your first year at Stanford. The information will be updated regularly to provide you the information you most need to know at that point in time.

Important Dates and Deadlines

Make note of these important deadlines and events.

• Refer to the Approaching Stanford Schedule for Freshmen for a more complete list of major mailings, emails, and required actions for incoming freshmen.
• Go to the Stanford Academic Calendar, 2012-13 for a full list of academic dates and deadlines.

What You Need to Know Now

The Approaching Stanford Process Formally Launches on Monday, May 14, 2012

The process will kick-off with the first mailing, which is mailed on Monday, May 14 to the current mailing address that you had listed in Axess on Friday, May 4 (when we began printing the mailing labels).  It may take up to one week from May 14 for this mailing to arrive at domestic addresses, and up to two weeks for this mailing to arrive at international addresses. In the meantime, you are welcome to review the major publications including in this mailing in PDF format; these are posted below in the Publications and PDFs section.

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Featured FAQs

I'm an international student (or have an international mailing address) and am concerned about how promptly I'll be receiving my mailings.  How are you sending them?

For international addresses, our mail house will use a courier service to deliver your hard copy mailings if a courier service is available in your region and your mailing address does not contain a P.O. Box.  (Regular mail must be used for delivery to P.O. Box addresses.)  If two weeks have passed from the scheduled mailing date and you still have not received your package, please send an email to frosh@stanford.edu and we'll help you locate your package using the tracking information (if a courier service was used).  In the meantime, you can review important publications in PDF format by following the links in the Publication and PDF section.

Go here to review the full list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

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Publications and PDFs

For your convenience, listed below are electronic versions of Approaching Stanford-related publications.

Components of the First Approaching Stanford Mailing:

• Approaching Stanford: A Handbook for Entering Students (full version)
• Approaching Stanford Schedule for Freshmen
• Thinking Matters and SLE Course Catalog

Click on the links below to view specific chapters of the Approaching Stanford handbook:

• "Welcome to Stanford University," "Approaching Approaching Stanford," "Welcome to the Stanford Family," "Stanford, Past and Present," and "Approaching Your Forms" (pages 1-18)
• "Approaching Your Liberal Education" (pages 19-42)
• "Approaching Your Campus Community" (pages 43-56)
• "Approaching Life on the Farm" (pages 57-82)

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Undergraduate Advising & Research

Undergraduate Advising and Research welcomes and integrates freshmen and transfers into the Stanford family by coordinating the Approaching Stanford process and New Student Orientation, and provides programs throughout the academic year. It does so by addressing students' individual transitional needs, connecting students to resources and opportunities, and cultivating an understanding of Stanford's history and traditions. Incoming freshmen may contact us at (650) 72-FROSH or frosh@stanford.edu

For the Class of 2015

Now that your freshman year is drawing to a close, we encourage you to bookmark the Sophomore Page to keep up-to-date with the resources, opportunities, and events specific to your second year on the Farm.

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