Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were on a tour of Swarthmore and the student tour guide told us that they call a B at Swarthmore "an A anywhere else"

So many schools say that and it's always self-important bull crap.

The average GPA of Swarthmore graduates in 2013 was 3.56. I'm sure it's only increased since then as grade inflation has become more rampant. A's are no harder to come by at Swarthmore than at Bucknell.

https://www.gradeinflation.com/Swarthmore.html

Uh, 2013?

Swathmore doesn't even tell students their GPAs.

https://swarthmorephoenix.com/2024/03/28/its-time-for-swarthmore-to-tell-us-our-gpas/

Did you even read the article you cited? They don't include GPA on semester grade reports, but they certainly give grades, and students are free to calculate their GPA. The school even provides a calculator on their website to do so.

According to the link I provided, the median Swarthmore GPA at graduation rose from around 2.8 in the 1980s to almost 3.6 in 2013. Are you implying it has trended back the other way in the last decade? Any evidence to support this claim? ("Tour guides say a B here is an A everywhere else" doesn't count as evidence.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+2. Everything I’ve read recently suggests that UChicago is no longer cut throat pressure cooker?

Chicago has changed a lot in recent years, so it's not the pressure cooker it was, and a lot of alumni are upset about it. It was part of the charm - where fun goes to die and somehow you survive.

I think these days Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Berkeley are the worst - mostly because they are all very good at STEM but absolutely garbage at managing human beings, particularly 18-22 year olds. Very stressful schools for those students in already difficult majors.

Chicago grads sound a bit insufferable. Surprised they can work with us meager fools with how highly they must think of themselves.

They are not insufferable but the essay prompts ensure they are a bit weird.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+2. Everything I’ve read recently suggests that UChicago is no longer cut throat pressure cooker?

Chicago has changed a lot in recent years, so it's not the pressure cooker it was, and a lot of alumni are upset about it. It was part of the charm - where fun goes to die and somehow you survive.

I think these days Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Berkeley are the worst - mostly because they are all very good at STEM but absolutely garbage at managing human beings, particularly 18-22 year olds. Very stressful schools for those students in already difficult majors.

Chicago grads sound a bit insufferable. Surprised they can work with us meager fools with how highly they must think of themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+2. Everything I’ve read recently suggests that UChicago is no longer cut throat pressure cooker?

Chicago has changed a lot in recent years, so it's not the pressure cooker it was, and a lot of alumni are upset about it. It was part of the charm - where fun goes to die and somehow you survive.

I think these days Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Berkeley are the worst - mostly because they are all very good at STEM but absolutely garbage at managing human beings, particularly 18-22 year olds. Very stressful schools for those students in already difficult majors.

+1

Anonymous wrote:+2. Everything I’ve read recently suggests that UChicago is no longer cut throat pressure cooker?

Chicago has changed a lot in recent years, so it's not the pressure cooker it was, and a lot of alumni are upset about it. It was part of the charm - where fun goes to die and somehow you survive.

I think these days Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Berkeley are the worst - mostly because they are all very good at STEM but absolutely garbage at managing human beings, particularly 18-22 year olds. Very stressful schools for those students in already difficult majors.

We removed Cornell from our list. When we toured, we casually spoke with some young women in a cafe and asked about the academic environment. They said that econ and engineer majors work 90-100 hours a week. But they said if you are in the ILR school and some other majors, there is better balance. One of the girls was pre-vet so she said the work is pretty intense. They were not unhappy, but seemed like a tough place. And depending on your preferences, studying in a remote location with months of cold, cloudy days may not be good.

Anonymous wrote:Pressure Cooker = Harvey Mudd.

not...really. The GPAs suck at Mudd and students are used to getting steamrolled by their majors. Great start for a phd program though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were on a tour of Swarthmore and the student tour guide told us that they call a B at Swarthmore "an A anywhere else"

So many schools say that and it's always self-important bull crap.

The average GPA of Swarthmore graduates in 2013 was 3.56. I'm sure it's only increased since then as grade inflation has become more rampant. A's are no harder to come by at Swarthmore than at Bucknell.

https://www.gradeinflation.com/Swarthmore.html

Maybe, but I think the more telling was the tour guide’s obvious stress around their grades

We visited other similar LACs and did not get that vibe

The others are selling you a different product, but it is all the same. Some colleges just pretend to be chill to attract a student body (looking at you Pomona), and others are just not as self-obsessed with being described as rigorous as Swarthmore is.

+2. Everything I’ve read recently suggests that UChicago is no longer cut throat pressure cooker?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bucknell, Virginia Tech, Davidson

All of the colleges listed here surprise me.

+1 seems like misinformation

Anonymous wrote:Columbia
Penn
UC Berkeley
Cornell
JHU (if premed)
CMU

Remove Penn, add UChicago

Cal
Cornell
Cmu
Uchicago

Omg Cornell. Especially CS/Math, regardless of whether in engineering or arts and sciences. Too many awesome opptys that the kids want to do all together and all at once, with little advising on how to balance it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were on a tour of Swarthmore and the student tour guide told us that they call a B at Swarthmore "an A anywhere else"

So many schools say that and it's always self-important bull crap.

The average GPA of Swarthmore graduates in 2013 was 3.56. I'm sure it's only increased since then as grade inflation has become more rampant. A's are no harder to come by at Swarthmore than at Bucknell.

https://www.gradeinflation.com/Swarthmore.html

Uh, 2013?

Swathmore doesn't even tell students their GPAs.

https://swarthmorephoenix.com/2024/03/28/its-time-for-swarthmore-to-tell-us-our-gpas/

Is Swarthmore cutthroat or collaborative? I’ve heard it described as both. Does it depend on your major?