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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]To me, there are two kinds of intensity - academic intensity, and intensity that permeates the entire college experience.

In helping DC build their list, we’ve been assuming the academics will be intense at any T20 school (and at many others, too.)

These schools enroll super bright kids, so expect the professors to move at a fast pace, assign a lot of reading/work between classes, and demand a high level of performance in discussions and on exams. As they should. Kids at these schools have proven they can handle the academic challenge (and hopefully most truly want it!)

Our questions are all about how that expected academic intensity affects the rest of the college experience at different schools.

[b]How much does the academic intensity bleed out of the classrooms/libraries into the rest of kids’ lives? [/b]

[b]Over time, does it tend to weigh kids down and dampen their appetite and energy for FUN clubs and activities (balanced lives), socializing (relationships), and just plain chilling out (rest/mental health)? Or do kids tend to aspire to a work hard/play hard approach? Kids look to their peers for direction - which way to the peer pressure/campus culture point? [/b]

I ask this as a Duke alum who graduated in the late 90s. Yes, the academics were tough. My friends and I worked a lot harder than we did in high school, and there were certainly points where the academic load weighed heavily on us!

But the overall vibe at Duke then was not to dwell (or worse, brag … ugh) on how hard we were grinding. We all knew that we were there for the academics, and we were 100% engaged. But there was no pride or swagger in the stress or the grind.

Instead, we were always trying to make time for the FUN stuff - the basketball games, parties, gym, concerts and shows on campus, clubs etc. Life outside the work.

[b]A generation later, my kid is looking for something similar. Academics that are genuinely intense and challenging, but in an environment that promotes balance and release from that intensity. [/b]

We assume this exists. Would love to hear positive examples from T10 and T50 schools. [/quote]

Thanks to those above who weighed in about what it's like at Vanderbilt and Duke these days. And the PP who described her daughter's current freshman experience at Cornell.

Any other recent insights about how the intense academics affect overall life at other schools?

Maybe at Northwestern? Princeton? How about T50 schools like Lehigh, Wake Forest? And maybe smaller schools like Davidson and Lafayette?

All of these have D1 athletics and seem to attract a lot of sporty kids who want to play club and intramurals. But otherwise, beyond academics, what's the vibe of campus life?[/quote]

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