<p>Thank you for your post. This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for: well reasoned, well supported, and well expressed enthusiasm. And that is what I have found, as well, in several earlier posts in this thread. No, I wasn't trying to reduce this to a "shouting contest." I guess I was just feeling a bit frustrated by what seemed like the comparative reticence of the Amherst folks and so, in response, was trying to draw people out a bit and prompt more posts such as your own. </p>
<p>Obviously, there's no substitute for first-hand experience, which is what we'll have when we visit in a couple weeks. In the meantime, though, we're hundreds of miles away, in the Midwest, and words such as yours are all that we have to go on.</p>
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minorities self-segregate more readily than at Amherst
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<p>I don't disagree that self-segration is an issue at Williams (and many other schools). But, on a comparative basis, how do you reconcile less self-segration at Amherst when they have racial theme dorms? It seems to me that theme dorms are the ultimate expression of self-segregation.</p>
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Swarthmore: grade deflation
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<p>I don't think there's much statistical support for that notion, although the belief probably works to Swarthmore's benefit in terms of self-selection. There has certainly been no grade deflation at Swarthmore. The school's own administration acknowledges grade inflation. In 1997, the mean GPA at Swarthmore was 3.24 and at Williams it was 3.32. That difference seems pretty small. For all I know, the numbers would be the same if it were for first semester freshman year being pass/fail at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I don't perceive any real difference in my daughter's workload at Swarthmore than when I was at Williams 30+ years ago. I can't imagine that Amherst is any different. These schools are supposed to be challenging. She has specfically told me several times that she doesn't find the freshman workload to be "overwhelming" and the only sleep deprivation she's encountered is when she stayed up 'til dawn playing poker. If there is any difference academically in the three schools, it would only be that a slightly higher percentage of students at Swat may be really into their classes, perhaps the result of that self-selection issue in admissions scaring off some folk.</p>
<p>Both of your objections are to issues that were voiced to me by prospective students who visited the campus and talked to students on those campuses. Those are the conditions those students perceived as of 2005. </p>
<p>The consensus among students I've spoken to is that Williams's ethnic groups self-segregate to a greater extent than Amherst's, despite Amherst's theme houses - and plenty of ethnicities do not live in theme housing. No freshmen live in ethnic theme housing.</p>
<p>I think grade deflation exists at Swat - it's addressed in articles in the student paper, for example. The oppressive amount of schoolwork at swat and sleep deprivation is general opinion, and is mentioned by Swat students, found in guidebooks, etc. It's the general consensus... do you have any proof that these sources are wrong?</p>
<p>I wasn't disagreeing about the ad hoc segregation. I think Amherst and Swat have been more aggressive in their diversity efforts than Williams. Williams is trying to shake up their housing system and it seem to be motivated by the administration's view that the college is too factionalized. I was just asking about the theme housing out of curiousity.</p>
<p>Definitely no grade deflation at Swarthmore. There have been numerous schools newspaper articles about that. There has been some grade inflation, but it is very hard to quantify because the students in the honors program weren't given grades before 1997.</p>
<p>My sense of workload is that there is a lot more difference between a Physics major and a Psych major at Amherst or Swarthmore than between kids in the same majors with the same courseloads at the two schools. You can run yourself ragged with a double major in two tough departments or you can take it a little easier. There are both kinds just about everywhere. I'd bet that you know some Amherst kids who live in the library or work late the night before a paper is due! I think the Swat students kind of like the myth of backbreaking workloads. They've only been singing that song for about 50 years.</p>