Colleges With Brutal Workload

College Search & Selection
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<p>In high school I am very bored and discontent with my education and often life in general simply because of the lack of challenges. I feel like my grades actually suffer because it's hard to motivate myself to work in classes that are not very challenging. I don't even think I'm arrogant by saying this because many of my friends (who are also among the better students in my class) agree. My high school is just overall not very challenging.</p>

<p>Foolhardy though it my sound, I am looking for a college that is the complete opposite of this. I want a college where I will be forced to work very hard in order to succeed, the harder the better. I have a genuine desire to learn and I am tired of the easiest of my work and the resulting apathy holding me back.</p>

<p>Who has suggestions for what colleges are the hardest? My GPA is around 3.7/4.3 and my SAT score is 2290 so high Ivies would probably be bad suggestions but I am open to most selective colleges. I like the idea of Swarthmore and U of Chicago both those both seem like moderate reaches. I need either a good number of reaches or a few more attainable options, or preferably both.</p>

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<p>The first schools that come to mind are Swarthmore and Hopkins.</p>

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<p>Agreed about Swat. Check out this list for more ideas
</p>

<p>[The</a> Most GRUELING Colleges (PHOTOS)](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>The Most GRUELING Colleges (PHOTOS) | HuffPost College)</p>

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<p>if your high school is truly not very challenging and your competition is weak, you probably will be in for a rude awakening at any highly selective school that is serious about undergraduate education. Which means you might be unprepared as opposed to others who are coming from highly competitive and challenging high schools. Which means, be careful for what you wish for.</p>

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<p>Hey, if he thinks he’s up for the challenge then why not give him what he wants?</p>

<p>Princeton Review List - Students Study The Most</p>

<ol>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Reed</li>
<li>Franklin W. Olin College Of Engineering</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
<li>UChicago</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Davidson</li>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Coast Guard Academy</li>
<li>West Point</li>
<li>Cooper Union</li>
<li>Bryn Mawr</li>
<li>Sweet Briar</li>
<li>Carleton</li>
<li>Harvey Mudd</li>
<li>Holy Cross</li>
<li>Grinnell</li>
</ol>

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<p>Georgetown SFS which 1) requires 5 classes per term 2) requires completion of separate political geography and language proficiency qualifications 3) grants little latititude in electives-with 18 prescribed classes it probably has the most crowded calendar of any elite school and 4) has a student body that is among the very brightest in the nation, is certainly a candidate for a “brutal workload” list. This is not to mention the pressure of having to show up prepared for a class run by a past head of state or cabinet member.</p>

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<p>Cornell Engineering</p>

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<p>The Service Academies with an average of 20 credit units per semester as well as mandatory fun like intramural sports and weekend inspections.</p>

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<p>Sweet Briar = students who study the most? Interesting set of stereotypes.</p>

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<p>You will find challenge at any college with a good ranking, and luckily, you have the scores and grades to get in. Some schools with a reputation for difficulty are Cornell, Wake Forest, Berkeley, Chicago, Swarthmore, Reed, UNC, Hopkins, and University of Michigan. At any well ranked college, everyone will be equal to the top group at many high schools, so it will automatically be quite competitive. Good luck on finding the right place!</p>

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<p>I agree about Cornell Engineering. Very intense but almost all students succeed.</p>

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<p>I agree about the Service academies. If he truly wants to ‘work very hard, the harder the better’, a few wake up calls at West point at 5 am followed by a plebe dress down by a superior officer, some scrubbing of dirty stairwells with a toothbrush, a little morning marching, all before Calculus and Physics starts at 8 am will satisfy his craving and yearning for some hard work and challenges.</p>

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<p>Grape1, congratulations on your decision and your goals. Don’t let anyone talk you out of this; it will pay off years down the road.</p>

<p>The schools mentioned above are all good suggestions. A school that is easier to get admitted to than some of those would be Case Western Reserve U. Case considers itself a peer to UChicago and MIT, and offers a wide range of majors.</p>

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<p>

Agree 100%.</p>

<p>College is a wake up call for many good students who skated by in high school with minimum effort. It’s a humbling experience to be suddenly surrounded by several thousand people as smart as you are (or smarter).</p>

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<p>Swarthmore is definitely very intense.</p>

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<p>I have heard several students feel like the workloads and intensity at Reed and Harvey Mudd to be extreme.</p>

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<p>Harvey Mudd is a great suggestion.</p>

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<p>Look at Davidson and Wake Forest. I’ve been hearing similar things about Vanderbilt, but that school’s strong social scene may not be what you’re looking for. </p>

<p>Also, I agree with others that you could be in for a rude awakening when you hit the selective schools. Lots of very bright people and virtually all are capable of doing A work or else they would not have gotten in in the first place, but many of them fail to do it. Also, profs often not inclined to offer lots of high grades. Surprise-you actually have to work to get an A at some of these places.</p>

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<p>First of all OP, RELAX! You will be plenty challenged in college no matter where you go, if you seek out tough courses and professors. My kid is at Fordham. Fordham is the tale of two cities. There are slacker programs and slacker kids (mostly long islanders and a few from Connecticut and New Jersey) who can polish their apples and get their good grades on EASY classes from easy professors, add/drop madness avoiding hard professors and classes. But my kid took the harder path with a select group of honors programs kids and works extremely hard every semester taking the toughest professors who are notoriously stingy on giving out A’s and even B+'s. </p>

<p>Some Ivy schools are reputed to be tough to get in but not very tough once you are there, taking three courses a semester and a lot of free time. Cornell Engineering is not one of those programs.</p>

<p>Be careful what you wish for, however. College is more than being in a cubicle in the library for four years. Those kids are often nerdy, make few friends, and have an almost anti social personality and in the end DONT GET THE JOBS (and have to end up chasing a PhD somewhere to hopefully end up teaching). Why? They don’t get along well with people in the office and aren’t team players. Got it?</p>

<p>Some schools have reputations (which you have to decide for yourself is either true/false after a visit, and if it fits you or not) of being hyper and frenzied places. William and Mary and WashU StL are classics for this. Not laid back. The kids we met at BOTH schools were indeed all looking very frenzied, hyper and at WashU all they talked about (jacked up on caffeine, was being a triple major in this or that, as if that makes them better people? No. Sorry, it doesnt.) </p>

<p>Wake is often called WORK Forest. Work load is rough, but its not overwhelming. They have fun too. </p>

<p>Its all about balance. And finally, you want to be at the top of the heep, not the middle or bottom. So pick a school where you are more likely to be challenged and REWARDED for hard work and get the honors, while being BALANCED, joining clubs, having some fun and learning to get along with people and doing something for society.</p>

<p>I can’t stand high school kids who are all about themselves and their awards, none of which have anything to do with community service, giving back to help others, and just being well rounded kids. I much prefer a kid with a lower gpa/sat, but a BETTER personality, not so narcissistic and who is anxious to make a difference in society by helping others as much as helping themselves. </p>

<p>But every person is different and some gravitate towards schools that are nerd city and some gravitate to schools that more about the social scene or athletic events. </p>

<p>I like being like the three bears: the one in the middle is the best!</p>

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<p>“Those kids are often nerdy, make few friends, and have an almost anti social personality and in the end DONT GET THE JOBS (and have to end up chasing a PhD somewhere to hopefully end up teaching).”</p>

<p>I really hope that you’re not implying that every person who “chases” a PhD was a nerdy, anti-social loser who had to resort to grad school after failure in the job market.</p>