Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA Video Review

Stanford University, one of the most highly regarded universities in the world, sits on an 8,000-acre campus in Palo Alto and just 37 miles southeast of San Francisco. Stanford's undergraduate program is ranked fourth among national universities in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges report.

In addition to top programs in business and the sciences, Stanford's engineering program ranks #2nd in the nation. The university also boasts the #1 position for its environmental and materials engineering programs and offers several distinguished programs in the humanities and social sciences, including history, political science, economics, psychology and creative writing.

Stanford currently has over 90 research centers and a community of scholars that includes 16 Nobel laureates, four Pulitzer Prize winners and 24 MacArthur Fellows. The university's research has been influential in the development of the MRI, the global positioning system, the first heart transplant, the IQ test and much more.

The university awards bachelor's, master's, professional and doctorate degrees through its seven schools and colleges. Nearly one-quarter of students major in social sciences, and other popular majors include engineering, interdisciplinary studies, biology, and psychology.

Stanford is one of the 'most selective' universities in the nation with an 11 percent acceptance rate. Typical incoming freshmen have a grade point average of 4.0 and submit SAT test scores between 1,340 and 1,540. Stanford also emphasizes close interaction with faculty, with a student-to-faculty ratio of just 6:1.

-statistics compiled by U.S. News and World Report in its annual list 'America's Best Colleges.'