I've been at Stanford for about two and a half months. Now that I've been here for a while, I think I have a better perspective on my choice of schools.
When I got here, I was pretty reserved about my computer science experience, because I was afraid that I was behind, because I was not a computer science undergrad and did not take computer science classes. I am happy to report that it turns out that my level of knowledge is just fine. I passed as many of the comprehensive exams as most of the Ph.D. students. So my fears about not being able to survive were unfounded.
As for fencing, Stanford is good and bad for me. It's good because there are many fencers here who are better than me, some of them much better than me, so I can learn from them. But it's bad because the club format is pretty much ``show up and bout'', so if I want to do drills, etc., I have to organize them for myself. There's a weekly one-hour group lesson by the varsity team's assistant coach, but it costs me $20. (Yow!)
Socially, Stanford was a mistake. It took me years at Michigan State to make a few good friends, and it was only in the last few months before leaving that I made any progress toward really meeting any women. Now everything is erased. I am starting to despair.