Anonymous wrote:Lately, I've been hearing my kid talk about the pressure in their high school and not wanting a cutthroat environment in college. Is it school dependent or more major dependent? What kind of school would you look for a good balance or education and time for sports, hobbies and friends? If your kid is smart, but doesn't want to grind, grind, grind at the expense of everything else, what kid of school would you target?

The answer is both. Every engineering major grinds and works really hard. By the end of sophomore year, there aren't any slacker engineering students anywhere. They've all been weeded out. Same in pre-med. Grades matter for med school, and classes like freshman chemistry are designed to weed out the less committed and the less bright students. So, correspondingly, both majors will be a trifle stressful.

That being said, there are some schools - like Carnegie Mellon - that are notorious for being hyper-stressful and unpleasant. And there are some schools - like Rice - that are well-known for creating a balanced environment for their students. A quick glance at a list of happiest colleges shows that there are very few on the East Coast. Go south or go west.

Anonymous wrote:A big ten school- Work hard, play hard. I have one at Michigan and one at UMD

The phrase "work hard, play hard" is not used in a discussion of balance. It is used more commonly with say working in investment banking where you work 14 hours a day, then go out to clubs where you blow your $$$s, get home at 3am and do it all the next morning.

Anonymous wrote:Anywhere where your student is not "reaching."

I attended what many think of as a safety school. I was in the honors program (which came with merit money) and easily kept up with the academic work, so I was able to be involved in lots of things and have a job at the same time.

This implies that everyone is like you. Not the reality. People come in all different make ups.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any big state university. Michigan, UCLA, UNC etc. Yes a portion of the kids are high achievers but there is a portion who are not, too (or who weren’t as well prepared, etc). Vs any college like Wash U, Georgetown, etc will be virtually all high achievers.

UCLA acceptance rate is 10% and the average freshman GPA on entering is 4.6

there's no one attending UCLA who is not well prepared.

as one who went to a CA public HS, and know people who went to UCLA. I can assure you there are people not as prepared for college level academics as you might assume there, particularly in certain subjects. It is a large group of people and not all seek challenging majors.

Anonymous wrote:Lately, I've been hearing my kid talk about the pressure in their high school and not wanting a cutthroat environment in college. Is it school dependent or more major dependent? What kind of school would you look for a good balance or education and time for sports, hobbies and friends? If your kid is smart, but doesn't want to grind, grind, grind at the expense of everything else, what kid of school would you target?

More major dependent, but CMU (Carnegie Mellon) is a grind for all.

Top SLACs, Ivies or any school where the name on the degree is what matters

Anywhere where your student is not "reaching."

I attended what many think of as a safety school. I was in the honors program (which came with merit money) and easily kept up with the academic work, so I was able to be involved in lots of things and have a job at the same time.

Anonymous wrote:Any big state university. Michigan, UCLA, UNC etc. Yes a portion of the kids are high achievers but there is a portion who are not, too (or who weren’t as well prepared, etc). Vs any college like Wash U, Georgetown, etc will be virtually all high achievers.

UCLA acceptance rate is 10% and the average freshman GPA on entering is 4.6

there's no one attending UCLA who is not well prepared.

Honors program at a big state school that's not generally targeted by East Coast grinders.

Any big state university. Michigan, UCLA, UNC etc. Yes a portion of the kids are high achievers but there is a portion who are not, too (or who weren’t as well prepared, etc). Vs any college like Wash U, Georgetown, etc will be virtually all high achievers.

Honestly, I think most schools outside the top 25 or so. Even some within. My best friend went to Cornell and had a VERY balanced experience. They are notorious for mental health issues, but it wasn't my friend's experience at all. (And I know many other people who were similar.)

Any place that ranks below 100

A big ten school- Work hard, play hard. I have one at Michigan and one at UMD

Georgetown

Lately, I've been hearing my kid talk about the pressure in their high school and not wanting a cutthroat environment in college. Is it school dependent or more major dependent? What kind of school would you look for a good balance or education and time for sports, hobbies and friends? If your kid is smart, but doesn't want to grind, grind, grind at the expense of everything else, what kid of school would you target?