Volume 2: Knocking on Heaven's Door Chapter 69 Stanford University
Otilia stared at Tommy Hawke with her beautiful eyes: "Stanford University, Tommy, you want to choose Stanford University? I don't deny that it is an excellent university, but it... If you like to study computer science, you can choose the University of Chicago."
With her help, the boy across from her selected eleven universities and submitted applications. Although Harvard University and Yale University rejected Tommy without any surprise, Ottilia felt that Tommy could have chosen the University of Chicago, the University , Los Angeles, New York University, and even Cornell University, which she considered a garbage university. These universities all sent admission letters to Tommy.
"Stanford University has offered me a full scholarship, so I don't have to worry about tuition and living expenses. The scholarship from the University of Chicago is not full." Tommy sat opposite Ottilia with a smile and explained the reasons why he decided to choose Stanford University.
He also knew the reason why Ottilia tried to persuade him to change his decision. Stanford University in the 1980s was barely a prestigious school, but it was really just barely, far from becoming a top school on par with Harvard and Yale as it has become in later generations.
In the eyes of Americans in the 1980s, there are only two universities that are truly top-notch in the United States: Harvard and Yale. They are probably the Shaolin and Wudang of the university world, and their status has already reached perfection.
Next on the list are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, famous branches of the University of California, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, etc. They may occasionally rank in the top three or even at the top, but compared to Harvard and Yale, they always have some obvious shortcomings or other lack of resources.
Then there are the famous junk universities that Ottilia mentioned, including Cornell University, Brown University, Dartmouth University, etc. Although they are listed as Ivy League schools along with Harvard, they are weaker than Columbia University and Princeton University. Some emerging universities that are not listed in the Ivy League have already surpassed them in certain majors .
Stanford is what Otilia calls an emerging university that ranks behind Cornell University and other prestigious universities that are not ambitious enough, but is constantly trying to surpass the old prestigious universities.
However, although it is known that Stanford University is gradually gaining momentum, the university's foundation and faculty strength cannot be surpassed overnight. In Ottilia's opinion, Stanford University currently does not have much advantage in faculty strength compared with the universities just mentioned.
However, Tommy Hawke chose Stanford University not because of its faculty, nor did he consider how many Nobel Prize winners the university had.
In his previous life, he had applied to Stanford University and set Stanford University as his dream school. Unfortunately, and realistically, Stanford University did not issue him an admission letter, and he ultimately had to go to Boston University as a backup.
But he had learned about the university he wanted to study at in his previous life, so he was clear about the current state of Stanford University. Compared with those old famous universities, it did lack the foundation and faculty, but it also had new thinking that those old famous universities did not have.
In 1951, Stanford University proposed a symbiotic system of business and scientific research and founded the famous Stanford Industrial Park, which later became Silicon Valley.
Stanford University encourages students to start businesses on campus, provides cheap rent, and can even open the school's laboratories to student-run companies and provide school equipment for innovation. At Stanford University, you can continue to absorb nutrition while pursuing your dreams. You can be a teacher's student in class, or you can start a business after class and hire teachers to join your company to work for you and build your career. You can take a leave of absence to start a business, or you can continue studying after you have achieved success.
This kind of symbiotic educational philosophy of business and scientific research is the reason why Stanford, from an unknown regional university in the 1960s, barely made it into the top 30 by relying on microelectronics and physics, and then relied on the Silicon Valley wave in the 1980s to surpass countless old and famous universities in just forty years and become on par with Harvard and Yale.
Silicon Valley, which has been established for more than 20 years, has become famous all over the world because of the rise of the software and Internet industries. It often seems like a blowout, with dozens or even hundreds of multi-millionaires emerging in a month. Most of these newly wealthy people come from Stanford University. After the company makes money, the students will give back to their alma mater with astronomical donations. Stanford University will then use these donations to expand its faculty, increase teaching equipment, and support a new batch of students.
The school was founded 120 years ago, and had a little fame in the first 80 years.
In the following forty years, 85 Nobel Prize winners and alumni founded companies with a total market value of more than $3 trillion and created 5.5 million jobs.
The successful experience of establishing a summer camp was the main reason why Stanford University was willing to give Tommy Hawke an admission notice. In his application letter, Tommy admitted that he would rather try starting a business and put the courses he learned in school into practice through the entrepreneurial process. The letter also stated that he was the first generation of college students in his family.
Stanford University and the University of Southern California both have a habit. With the same grades and resume, they prefer to admit the first generation, that is, the first person in the family to be admitted to college. The reason is that the first generation may be more resilient than others.
"Even if it's not a full scholarship, the money you earn is enough to pay for your tuition." Otilia said with some sadness, "Stanford University is in California, which is a bit too far away. It's a pity that Brown University didn't give you an admission notice. Otherwise, you could study in Providence like Dennis and Pam. I can drive to Providence after get off work and make an appointment to watch a movie with you guys."
The summer camp had a total income of $350,000. After deducting the $140,000 that the school took as educational funds without paying taxes, the remaining $210,000 was subject to various taxes totaling 44%, leaving $116,000, which was divided equally between Dennis and Pam, with each receiving $38,900.
Yes, in the end I only got 38,900 yuan .
Tommy Hawke did not enjoy the benefits of low-income people after traveling through time, but as soon as he made some money, he understood why the rich tried every means to avoid taxes or exempt them. This was the result of the Reagan administration's continuous introduction of tax reduction and exemption policies in order to revitalize society. Before that, in the first two years after the end of World War II, it was said that wealthy Americans even enjoyed personal income tax benefits of up to 94%.
Taxes in the United States are a typical practice of robbing the rich to help the poor. The higher your income, the higher the taxes you have to pay. They are divided into federal taxes, state taxes, and city taxes, and are collected at every level. In short, the more money you make, the more money the government takes away that belongs to you.
This is also the reason why after lucky Americans win the lottery, the prize money they receive after tax is often not even half of the winning amount.
Tommy Hawke looked at Otilia and smiled, "Are you sure you want to invite Dennis and Pam to watch the movie with you?"
"No." Otilia laughed and shook her head. "Let them concentrate on their studies at Rhode Island Community College. My God, my resume for applying to a community college says that I helped a Nobel Prize winner complete his thesis. Just thinking about it makes me feel sad for that resume."
Tommy Hawke picked up his acceptance letter, stood up and said with a smile: "Ms. Farrell, thank you very much for your help these days. I am grateful to you and have some inappropriate thoughts about you. So, if one day you are ready to find a man to marry, remember to call me first to ask. Maybe I will have the time and enough money by then."
"You're too young. I actually like mature men." Ottilia smiled and stood up, reaching out to hug Tommy gently: "Go spend the most wonderful four years of your life."
"I'll let you see my mature side as soon as possible." Tommy let go of Ottilia and turned to walk out of the office.
