If grinder = perpetually stressed about classes grades and academics, constantly discussing courses even during social downtime, choosing to stay in and study on a lot of weekends, I can tell you that USC (non engineering non stem) is Not that. It is the quintessential work hard play hard school lots of fun and easy for those kids who are probably smart enough to get into a T15 but realized they didn’t need to and didn’t want to work that hard. So, keep it on the list. Add NYU

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brown - grading policy makes it less stressful for the students

Grading policy = you get an A

You clearly have no experience w/ this school. So far off base. Lots of students not getting As. Also, kid needs to be a serious grinder to get in, especially if female. Like 2.5% admit RD for female.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it exist? A school not full of grinders, though they are smart, and can be nerdy, that are social and well-adjusted??

I keep hearing the following names:
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Northwestern
Duke
USC
Rice
UCLA
Michigan

Do you agree? Disagree? What’s missing? What should come off?

USC is not a T25 school.

Wrong. According to USNWR, the University of Southern California is #25.

Anonymous wrote:Brown - grading policy makes it less stressful for the students

Grading policy = you get an A

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if your kid wants to get good grades in college, they will have to do some work. Does that make them a grinder? Depends on the major and ability to handle the load.

NP: I think of grinders as students that treat college like a job (e.g., prestige, ambition, money) and present as pre-professionals. I think that is different than someone who is smart, nerdy, or a geek that earns good grades but loves the topic or loves to learn. Nothing wrong with both, but I see the populations as different.

Your perspective is pretty obnoxious as many kids don’t have much of a safety net after college and they need to be focused on landing a well paying job after graduation. They might be pre-professional out of necessity. Why label them negatively.

Not sure what I wrote you read as negative, especially because I said nothing wrong with being pre-professional. Also, I never use the term grinder but realize that it is a common term that is used negatively.

Forgot to add that when I was in HS, nerd and geek were negative labels!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if your kid wants to get good grades in college, they will have to do some work. Does that make them a grinder? Depends on the major and ability to handle the load.

NP: I think of grinders as students that treat college like a job (e.g., prestige, ambition, money) and present as pre-professionals. I think that is different than someone who is smart, nerdy, or a geek that earns good grades but loves the topic or loves to learn. Nothing wrong with both, but I see the populations as different.

Your perspective is pretty obnoxious as many kids don’t have much of a safety net after college and they need to be focused on landing a well paying job after graduation. They might be pre-professional out of necessity. Why label them negatively.

Not sure what I wrote you read as negative, especially because I said nothing wrong with being pre-professional. Also, I never use the term grinder but realize that it is a common term that is used negatively.

Brown - grading policy makes it less stressful for the students

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if your kid wants to get good grades in college, they will have to do some work. Does that make them a grinder? Depends on the major and ability to handle the load.

NP: I think of grinders as students that treat college like a job (e.g., prestige, ambition, money) and present as pre-professionals. I think that is different than someone who is smart, nerdy, or a geek that earns good grades but loves the topic or loves to learn. Nothing wrong with both, but I see the populations as different.

Your perspective is pretty obnoxious as many kids don’t have much of a safety net after college and they need to be focused on landing a well paying job after graduation. They might be pre-professional out of necessity. Why label them negatively.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if your kid wants to get good grades in college, they will have to do some work. Does that make them a grinder? Depends on the major and ability to handle the load.

NP: I think of grinders as students that treat college like a job (e.g., prestige, ambition, money) and present as pre-professionals. I think that is different than someone who is smart, nerdy, or a geek that earns good grades but loves the topic or loves to learn. Nothing wrong with both, but I see the populations as different.

if the OP's kid has the same definition, then they should avoid "pre-professional" majors and schools that package themselves as "pre-professional" - some are on OP's list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uva

Really? I am curios about it for my rising sophomore

you can grind or not grind depending on your major and whether you want a top GPA.
UVA is very much a work hard, play hard school and there are plenty of nerds, who are social. My DS is somewhat nerdy and he loves it, has found his people (even a whole fraternity of them!).

Anonymous wrote:All of the T30 schools are grinders.

Especially Northwestern and UChicago

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uva

Really? I am curios about it for my rising sophomore

Most UVA students say that UVA is a cake walk, compared to most high schools.

Anonymous wrote:Uva

Really? I am curios about it for my rising sophomore

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if your kid wants to get good grades in college, they will have to do some work. Does that make them a grinder? Depends on the major and ability to handle the load.

NP: I think of grinders as students that treat college like a job (e.g., prestige, ambition, money) and present as pre-professionals. I think that is different than someone who is smart, nerdy, or a geek that earns good grades but loves the topic or loves to learn. Nothing wrong with both, but I see the populations as different.

That’s not what people mean when they say grindy — most of the time.

What you say is the real definition —- but when people say they don’t want a grindy school what they mean they want a school that has a lot of attractive/f-able students.

By your definition a lot of slacs shouldn’t be considered “grindy” but they are considered that under my definition.

Anonymous wrote:All of the T30 schools are grinders.

+1