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.

I will say the distinctions are getting finer now that it's so g-darn tough to get into any of these schools. The vibes may differ a bit, but all of these schools are chock full of grinders now.

+1

The reality are all the Ivy's ae much easier once you get there than even flagship state schools.

Less classes, less expectation, no real grading, lots of fluff classes.

Ivy students take 10 less classes than students are flagship universities add in some APs and they are taking 15 less classes.

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.

I will say the distinctions are getting finer now that it's so g-darn tough to get into any of these schools. The vibes may differ a bit, but all of these schools are chock full of grinders now.

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.

I have a sophomore at Dartmouth. It's tricky because their quarters are 10 weeks, basically 8.5 to 9 weeks once the exam week, etc. are factored in.
In one of these time blocks they will cover the same material that a semester school covers in 16 weeks so it's particularly rigorous for things like chemistry, physics etc. where a standardized amount of material needs to be taught.

Anonymous wrote:Son at one, best friend at the other.

Very rigorous. My son went to a really rigorous private and was very well-prepared, but he described it as 'high school was 6 hours of school and 2 hours of homework a day; college is 2-3 hours of school and 6 hours of work a day'.

That said, he is really enjoying it.

I'm going to guess WASP schools are very similar. He almost chose one over the Ivy, but liked the mid-size school vs tiny better.

All of them, B and D and WASP, prioritize undergrad learning so you can't go wrong with any of them. Focus on best fit.

This.

This is a nonsensical thread of no value.

Moderator - please delete.

Son at one, best friend at the other.

Very rigorous. My son went to a really rigorous private and was very well-prepared, but he described it as 'high school was 6 hours of school and 2 hours of homework a day; college is 2-3 hours of school and 6 hours of work a day'.

That said, he is really enjoying it.

I'm going to guess WASP schools are very similar. He almost chose one over the Ivy, but liked the mid-size school vs tiny better.

All of them, B and D and WASP, prioritize undergrad learning so you can't go wrong with any of them. Focus on best fit.

Anonymous wrote:Easier to get into? No. Easier work once you’re there? Quite possibly.

+1

Can't speak to Dartmouth, but our friends' sons went to Williams and Brown.

Both are truly brilliant kids. As in off-the-charts brilliant, not just in terms of the GPA/scores, but also their intellectual curiosity, drive, and work ethic. (Our friends are both professors, and the apples didn't fall far from the trees. Exceptional people!)

With that context, our friends were clear that the workload and academic peer pressure were much higher at Williams than at Brown. Even though the son at Brown created a very rigorous, lab-based, multi-disciplined major for himself. (He did really well and landed a great job after graduation.)

Overall, both kids loved the school they chose, and both thrived in their own way. But they had very different academic experieces.

Maybe statistically because of class size but not substantively - Dartmouth and Brown's admitted students generally have stronger profiles.

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth would be easier than wasp for unhooked Umc white, particularly in ED.

False

No way lol. What are you even thinking?

Easier to get into? No. Easier work once you’re there? Quite possibly.

Dartmouth would be easier than wasp for unhooked Umc white, particularly in ED.

asking for a friend