are Dartmouth and Brown easier than WASP schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams and Swarthmore are known to be the biggest grinds, followed by Amherst and Dartmouth. Brown and Pomona are fabulous schools, but are not known for grind culture in the same way.

Brown is known as the least rigorous Ivy — for a reason. Pomona is just as rigorous as Amherst, if not more. Not sure what you are smoking. The most rigorous of the lot is Swat.

This is based on online chatter without direct knowledge. Brown does not have +/- which helps gpa. Given the open curriculum you will not be in class with others that do not want to be there. The engagement is very high and the grades will be hard earned. Mine came from top HS/very top of class and very much humbled by the peers. They are one of many now.

Given that Amherst has an open curriculum and WSP hardly have substantial general education requirements, this is a very useless distinguisher.

I was responding to the “least rigorous” comment, not making any larger claims on schools I have zero familiarity with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It fully depends on what you do as a major. I don't think a Pomona Physics major is much different from a Brown Physics major, but a Brown math major will do more work than a Pomona linguistics major.

A Pomona math major will do more work than a Brown math major, I can assure you.

This is so not true. Brown’s undergraduate applied math is generally ranked #2 or 3 and pure math 5 or 6. Pomona has one math program and it isn’t even in the top 25. Brown placed 8th in the Putnam Math Competition last year. Pomona was not even the top 25. A quick perusal of the respective course catalogs shows Brown undergraduate courses > 8x that of Pomona. Roughly 1/2 of the pure math concentrators at Brown go on to top 5 Ph.D pure math programs. You are so wildly off base about this it’s laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It fully depends on what you do as a major. I don't think a Pomona Physics major is much different from a Brown Physics major, but a Brown math major will do more work than a Pomona linguistics major.

A Pomona math major will do more work than a Brown math major, I can assure you.

This is so not true. Brown’s undergraduate applied math is generally ranked #2 or 3 and pure math 5 or 6. Pomona has one math program and it isn’t even in the top 25. Brown placed 8th in the Putnam Math Competition last year. Pomona was not even the top 25. A quick perusal of the respective course catalogs shows Brown undergraduate courses > 8x that of Pomona. Roughly 1/2 of the pure math concentrators at Brown go on to top 5 Ph.D pure math programs. You are so wildly off base about this it’s laughable.

A department’s mathematical rigor isn’t based off of Putnam- that would mean Princeton would be much worse than basically all the programs where IMO winners prefer going (aka MIT). Pomona per capita sends more students to PhD programs. I’d love to see a stat on the top 5 PhD pure math thing- it also doesn’t say how many pure math concentrators there are. Typically brown is known for applied math as you stated first.

I don’t even agree with the Other poster, But this is nonsense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't realize "WASP schools" were still a thing in 2025.

What does that even mean? It’s an acronym.

An acronym for what please?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and I’m not sure the P one.

Selective liberal arts colleges

Pomona- the most selective liberal arts college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't realize "WASP schools" were still a thing in 2025.

What does that even mean? It’s an acronym.

An acronym for what please?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and I’m not sure the P one.

Selective liberal arts colleges

Pomona- the most selective liberal arts college.

With a higher yield than WAS…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It fully depends on what you do as a major. I don't think a Pomona Physics major is much different from a Brown Physics major, but a Brown math major will do more work than a Pomona linguistics major.

A Pomona math major will do more work than a Brown math major, I can assure you.

This is so not true. Brown’s undergraduate applied math is generally ranked #2 or 3 and pure math 5 or 6. Pomona has one math program and it isn’t even in the top 25. Brown placed 8th in the Putnam Math Competition last year. Pomona was not even the top 25. A quick perusal of the respective course catalogs shows Brown undergraduate courses > 8x that of Pomona. Roughly 1/2 of the pure math concentrators at Brown go on to top 5 Ph.D pure math programs. You are so wildly off base about this it’s laughable.

This statement is wholly inconsistent with any rational conversation concerning math or, as you like to call “applied math” for pre-professionals, statistics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It fully depends on what you do as a major. I don't think a Pomona Physics major is much different from a Brown Physics major, but a Brown math major will do more work than a Pomona linguistics major.

A Pomona math major will do more work than a Brown math major, I can assure you.

This is so not true. Brown’s undergraduate applied math is generally ranked #2 or 3 and pure math 5 or 6. Pomona has one math program and it isn’t even in the top 25. Brown placed 8th in the Putnam Math Competition last year. Pomona was not even the top 25. A quick perusal of the respective course catalogs shows Brown undergraduate courses > 8x that of Pomona. Roughly 1/2 of the pure math concentrators at Brown go on to top 5 Ph.D pure math programs. You are so wildly off base about this it’s laughable.

This statement is wholly inconsistent with any rational conversation concerning math or, as you like to call “applied math” for pre-professionals, statistics.

I’m also wondering if they went on hyperschedule.io and checked for math at Scripps, Pomona, Mudd, CMC, CGU (have to go to their catalog) and Pitzer where Pomona students are able to take math courses.

[Anonymous]

Brown was a breeze for my kid who graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2021 with a humanities double concentration. Maybe the pandemic played a role, no core curriculum helped a lot as they were deeply interested in every course they took - and never had to take more than 4 in a semester to meet graduation requirements

Had a great experience and got great grades (and had meaningful relationships with profs that wrote LORs) that led to a fantastic grad school result but it was an easy lift for 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It fully depends on what you do as a major. I don't think a Pomona Physics major is much different from a Brown Physics major, but a Brown math major will do more work than a Pomona linguistics major.

A Pomona math major will do more work than a Brown math major, I can assure you.

This is so not true. Brown’s undergraduate applied math is generally ranked #2 or 3 and pure math 5 or 6. Pomona has one math program and it isn’t even in the top 25. Brown placed 8th in the Putnam Math Competition last year. Pomona was not even the top 25. A quick perusal of the respective course catalogs shows Brown undergraduate courses > 8x that of Pomona. Roughly 1/2 of the pure math concentrators at Brown go on to top 5 Ph.D pure math programs. You are so wildly off base about this it’s laughable.

A department’s mathematical rigor isn’t based off of Putnam- that would mean Princeton would be much worse than basically all the programs where IMO winners prefer going (aka MIT). Pomona per capita sends more students to PhD programs. I’d love to see a stat on the top 5 PhD pure math thing- it also doesn’t say how many pure math concentrators there are. Typically brown is known for applied math as you stated first.

I don’t even agree with the Other poster, But this is nonsense

Princeton actually is much worse than other schools for STEM and particularly for math. Putnam Competition is starting to reflect that. Retaining TO has really hurt their ability to attract the best STEM students. Talk to Princeton professors. Like Harvard, Princeton now offers remedial math. Its heritage as a destination for the best mathematicians and physicists has declined quite a bit, too. Princeton is much more preprofessional than say MIT, Caltech, Cornell, Brown and Columbia. Princeton has a lot of recruited lacrosse types who dabble in a few low level math courses vs. the others cited above which have a higher quotient of truly brilliant folks who go on to get PhDs. Talk to faculty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It fully depends on what you do as a major. I don't think a Pomona Physics major is much different from a Brown Physics major, but a Brown math major will do more work than a Pomona linguistics major.

A Pomona math major will do more work than a Brown math major, I can assure you.

This is so not true. Brown’s undergraduate applied math is generally ranked #2 or 3 and pure math 5 or 6. Pomona has one math program and it isn’t even in the top 25. Brown placed 8th in the Putnam Math Competition last year. Pomona was not even the top 25. A quick perusal of the respective course catalogs shows Brown undergraduate courses > 8x that of Pomona. Roughly 1/2 of the pure math concentrators at Brown go on to top 5 Ph.D pure math programs. You are so wildly off base about this it’s laughable.

A department’s mathematical rigor isn’t based off of Putnam- that would mean Princeton would be much worse than basically all the programs where IMO winners prefer going (aka MIT). Pomona per capita sends more students to PhD programs. I’d love to see a stat on the top 5 PhD pure math thing- it also doesn’t say how many pure math concentrators there are. Typically brown is known for applied math as you stated first.

I don’t even agree with the Other poster, But this is nonsense

Princeton actually is much worse than other schools for STEM and particularly for math. Putnam Competition is starting to reflect that. Retaining TO has really hurt their ability to attract the best STEM students. Talk to Princeton professors. Like Harvard, Princeton now offers remedial math. Its heritage as a destination for the best mathematicians and physicists has declined quite a bit, too. Princeton is much more preprofessional than say MIT, Caltech, Cornell, Brown and Columbia. Princeton has a lot of recruited lacrosse types who dabble in a few low level math courses vs. the others cited above which have a higher quotient of truly brilliant folks who go on to get PhDs. Talk to faculty.

Princeton is doing great. I don't know why you blabbered a bunch of lies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brown was a breeze for my kid who graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2021 with a humanities double concentration. Maybe the pandemic played a role, no core curriculum helped a lot as they were deeply interested in every course they took - and never had to take more than 4 in a semester to meet graduation requirements

Had a great experience and got great grades (and had meaningful relationships with profs that wrote LORs) that led to a fantastic grad school result but it was an easy lift for 4 years.

My current premed is in a grind and is absolutely challenged and the competition is stiff. The person they are dating is a humanities major with goal of law school. They seem to be having less grade stress in comparison, but I’ve heard the reading requirements are enormous and lots and lots of writing. Both happy with relationships with profs, so hoping for those same strong LOR and results. Congrats to yours!

[Anonymous]

going back to the question, look at your naviance

Brown and Swat love our HS. As long as you have a 3.85, you're good. ED is better at Brown.

Dartmouth takes zero kids unless an athletic recruit We've had multiple get into HYPSM and rejected from Dartmouth over the last 5 years. I think they favor high schools over others more than any other college (except for many Chicago).

Williams takes just the top. ED not a help

Pomona took no one, then they took a couple, now they take plenty. According to college counselor at the high school: they didnt know us or how to read our transcript, and now they do.

Amherst not too hard, but they like a story

[Anonymous]

Has OP replied with they’re asking? I’m unclear if they’re asking about rigor or admissions and the responses are all over the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't realize "WASP schools" were still a thing in 2025.

What does that even mean? It’s an acronym.

An acronym for what please?

Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and I’m not sure the P one.

Selective liberal arts colleges

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:going back to the question, look at your naviance

Brown and Swat love our HS. As long as you have a 3.85, you're good. ED is better at Brown.

Dartmouth takes zero kids unless an athletic recruit We've had multiple get into HYPSM and rejected from Dartmouth over the last 5 years. I think they favor high schools over others more than any other college (except for many Chicago).

Williams takes just the top. ED not a help

Pomona took no one, then they took a couple, now they take plenty. According to college counselor at the high school: they didnt know us or how to read our transcript, and now they do.

Amherst not too hard, but they like a story

In our ENTIRE county last year, public schools only got 1 kid in at Brown, 1 Dartmouth, 0 Princeton, 4 Harvard (athletes), 1 Yale, 2 Penn, 7 Cornell, 3 MIT, 2 Duke, 1 Caltech, 3 Hopkins, 4 Chicago, 2 NW, 1 Stanford.

Think about that, close to 2,000 Seniors.

It's why the arguments on this Board are so insane. Your kid is not getting in, so putting down these schools and the kids that do is completely ludicrous.