<p>Stanford is a fine school. What bothered me so much about this post is that instead of just adding Stanford to the list the poster had to phrase it like this, to say they were surprised not to see Stanford in the list of answers.</p>
<p>The implication is that when the question about hard working schools is asked, which is a very broad question, Stanford should immediately leap to the forefront of everyone’s minds. We shouldn’t immediately think of our own alma maters, we shouldn’t wonder if the original question is even a valid one, we should immediately think Stanford. Hard working school, the answer has to be Stanford.</p>
<p>None of these schools on the quarter system require anyone to take four classes every semester. Most allow you to slack off to 3 classes three or four times over the course of 4 years. Also while the Air Force Academy may have hard working people, the SAT level is not above 1350.
I think Vienna Man has keyed us in on where people are working the hardest with the most competing talent around them.</p>
<p>IbClass06-I just love a person who argues with facts or logic. Since neither are apparent in your post #23, is it personal experience by which you are judging class load and difficulty at Georgetown? </p>
<p>I do have personal expereince and can directly compare the Ivy League grad school I attended with Georgetown, and know what my Ivy classmater’s experiences were at virtually every top institution.</p>
<p>vienna, I have no experience with Georgetown and hence have neither the desire nor the expertise to judge course difficulty there. </p>
<p>My point was that courseload alone is not a good indicator. In fact, I’m not really sure there is a good measure of difficulty. Besides the obvious problem that nobody has attended enough colleges to be able to accurately compare, difficulty can vary wildly depending on one’s major.</p>
<p>I will agree with your general point and let things rest at that. Unless one can be in every classroom everywhere, you will never truly know with metphysical certitude.</p>
Just so you know, this really isn’t a high standard. Most science classes anywhere (and certainly at top schools), purposely design problem sets so that they need to be done in groups.</p>
<p>That was certainly the case with chemistry classes at Brown (though not so with lower level math).</p>
<p>Note to IBClass-It is not “normal” (implying “desirable” or “really nice” or a that it is a matter of choice) to take five classes per term at Georgetown. It is the minimum requirement to move through the curriculum. If you look at the catalog for SFS, for instance, it states that graduation is based on completing the “40 classes in the curriculum.”</p>
<p>I remember walking by Stanford dorms on a Thursday night. It was dead quiet. I asked my friend, a Stanford grad student, are you guys in exams? Nope. Thursday night, and the kids were studying. I was impressed. There really was a serious and academic vibe on campus, contrary to what I, as a Cal student, would have wanted to see.</p>
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Penn State.
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned UMiami.
Can you really not sense my sarcasm here? I’m mentioning the biggest party schools known to man.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Quarter system (with 4 classes per quarter, as opposed to places like Dartmouth where they take 3)</p></li>
<li><p>Very strict curving in any mathy/science major</p></li>
<li><p>Extensive distribution requirements (more even than schools ‘famous’ for having a lot, like Chicago and Columbia)</p></li>
</ol>