If you kid is studying at Williams/Amherst/Pomona/Swarthmore/Wellesley/Bowdoin now,

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your input. It's somewhat relieving to know it's the case for many of your kids. I'll still keep an eye on her. She is not a recruited athlete but does have a work study job. BTW she is used to having hard STEM classes but probably never had a hard time with reading and writing, although she got 5's on all AP's including Eng, Lit, Psych, APUSH, Gov. I guess real colleges courses are harder than AP's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a big three private high school and then one of those colleges. The big three was way harder in terms of workload and time management.

I worked hard in college. I probably studied, I don't know, maybe eight hours a day, more during exams. But time management was not an issue because I only had four classes and I was neither work study nor an athlete. So I had PLENTY of time to get work done. And I got WAY more sleep than in high school.

I feel like there is something miss here from what you are saying. Did your daughter go to a high school where she only had a couple hours of homework a night? Or did her high school not prepare her well for college level week? Or is she an athlete or have a work study job? She should have plenty of time to get her work done and still sleep 7 to 8 hours a night.

You studied 8 hours a day? What was your major?

[Anonymous]

I had a colossal reading load in college but learned to read parts closely / skim others / not read parts at all, and I notice that my kid (freshman at a SLAC) doesn’t have those gears yet. It’s a crucial skill in the humanities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are their experiences like? I have one at one of these schools and she has been extremely busy with assignments and stuff. She was a self-driven, top student in high school with excellent academic records. She hasn't decided on her major yet. This semester she selected a course in philosophy, economics, environmental studies, and a seminar course. What she didn't expect is the amount of reading and writing required for each class. She sleeps maybe 6 hours a night or less during the week. She studies on weekends. She reads while doing laundry. She made quite a few friends, likes many of her teachers, enjoys campus events and a campus job. Her grades are fine, but she has to work so very, very hard I have to watch out for burnout. What are your kids' experience like? Any thoughts or advice? Thanks.

Isn’t that normal though? I’m the selective / skimming poster above and even so I spent about eight hours a day in the library on Sat and Sun. That was pretty normal among my friends.

[Anonymous]

Mine is at Swarthmore. It's intense, and she and her friends spend a lot of time studying. She has a handle on the work and can find time to do things she enjoys, although she often has a hard time convincing others to take a break and do something fun. It's definitely not a place where there is much pressure to socialize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a big three private high school and then one of those colleges. The big three was way harder in terms of workload and time management.

I worked hard in college. I probably studied, I don't know, maybe eight hours a day, more during exams. But time management was not an issue because I only had four classes and I was neither work study nor an athlete. So I had PLENTY of time to get work done. And I got WAY more sleep than in high school.

I feel like there is something miss here from what you are saying. Did your daughter go to a high school where she only had a couple hours of homework a night? Or did her high school not prepare her well for college level week? Or is she an athlete or have a work study job? She should have plenty of time to get her work done and still sleep 7 to 8 hours a night.

You studied 8 hours a day? What was your major?

History, with a lot of Econ as well. Tons of writing and I liked to write good papers so I spent a lot of time on them.

College: A few hours for class, seven hours for sleep, plus eight hours of studying/writing papers, etc. still leaves a good five hours for bathing, eating, socializing, exercising, etc. Which is a heck of a lot more free time I had for all that in high school.

High school was six hours of sleep, eight hours of class with brief breaks like lunch factored in, mandatory sports after school, other extra currics at night or on weekends, and an expected 3 to 4 hours of homework a night. I had zero free time and was sleep deprived in high school. College was a friggin vacation in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are their experiences like? I have one at one of these schools and she has been extremely busy with assignments and stuff. She was a self-driven, top student in high school with excellent academic records. She hasn't decided on her major yet. This semester she selected a course in philosophy, economics, environmental studies, and a seminar course. What she didn't expect is the amount of reading and writing required for each class. She sleeps maybe 6 hours a night or less during the week. She studies on weekends. She reads while doing laundry. She made quite a few friends, likes many of her teachers, enjoys campus events and a campus job. Her grades are fine, but she has to work so very, very hard I have to watch out for burnout. What are your kids' experience like? Any thoughts or advice? Thanks.

Isn’t that normal though? I’m the selective / skimming poster above and even so I spent about eight hours a day in the library on Sat and Sun. That was pretty normal among my friends.

Yeah, it's normal to study on the weekends in college. If she went to study thinking she'd have the weekends off, this could be a misguided expectations issue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC went to big 3 and finds it super intense. Never a spare moment but also bc an athlete. Life consists of going to classes and practice and studying. Definitely not easier than big 3 as others claim. Workload is just as much if not more. Also not getting much sleep either. Maybe depends on major for those who claim it’s easier.

But she is an athlete. That takes up a lot of time.

Many who went to big three were in school from 8 to 330, then sports, then other activities at nights or on weekends. You get to college and if you aren't work study or an athlete or busy with some other extra currics, you have way more time. It's not so much that the academic standards are lower - they are not. It's that you have more time. That's probably not as true for your daughter since she is an athlete.

Thank you for the perspective. Sometimes it’s hard for me as a non athlete to fully understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a colossal reading load in college but learned to read parts closely / skim others / not read parts at all, and I notice that my kid (freshman at a SLAC) doesn’t have those gears yet. It’s a crucial skill in the humanities.

You are right! I will pass on the advice to her. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a colossal reading load in college but learned to read parts closely / skim others / not read parts at all, and I notice that my kid (freshman at a SLAC) doesn’t have those gears yet. It’s a crucial skill in the humanities.

This. Also, my DC who's an English/Poli Sci major has learned to make sure at least one class every semester is less reading-heavy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC went to big 3 and finds it super intense. Never a spare moment but also bc an athlete. Life consists of going to classes and practice and studying. Definitely not easier than big 3 as others claim. Workload is just as much if not more. Also not getting much sleep either. Maybe depends on major for those who claim it’s easier.

Did your recruited athlete take the most rigorous path at the Big 3? At our Big 3, those top rigor classes are a TON more work....those kids are generally not finding college expectations to be a hard adjustment.

Of course - being an athlete at Big 3 or at these schools is a huge time commitment. I'd expect their social life to be the sport. It's not surprising that any college athlete will be spending time just doing class/study/sport/eat/sleep.... that's why so many eventually choose to stop playing the sport. Especially if they aren't getting playing time.

[Anonymous]

It’s funny how much college athletes are overscheduled while pro athletes are for all intents and purposes underscheduled

Pro’s have literally 3/4 of the day to play video games or BS around

College practices are longer

College sport admin stuff/team building stuff takes more hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely the case at swarthmore

💯

My sister had a same experience at swat

She decided grades weren’t worth it so was happy wit chillaxing towards a 2.8

Swat alums hooked her up with a great job and she’s doing great professionally as a young professional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like to shove a stick up the a$$ of every poster who says they worked harder at their “big 3” than they did at an elite college. Do they really think that public school kids at elite colleges just waltzed in after not doing shit in high school? Those kids worked equally hard if not harder, taking a dozen AP classes or more in order to stand out among the hundreds of kids in their class. They didn’t have the benefit of a (ridiculously named) “Big 3” to back up their applications so they hard to work harder.

Just STFU already. You’re not special. You’re privileged. There’s a difference.

Chip, meet shoulder.

No chip. Just setting the record straight. It’s just so ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like to shove a stick up the a$$ of every poster who says they worked harder at their “big 3” than they did at an elite college. Do they really think that public school kids at elite colleges just waltzed in after not doing shit in high school? Those kids worked equally hard if not harder, taking a dozen AP classes or more in order to stand out among the hundreds of kids in their class. They didn’t have the benefit of a (ridiculously named) “Big 3” to back up their applications so they hard to work harder.

Just STFU already. You’re not special. You’re privileged. There’s a difference.

Chip, meet shoulder.

No chip. Just setting the record straight. It’s just so ridiculous.

There’s a chip. You need to settle down. NP.