<p>I have the impression that no school is more rigorous than Swat.
The amount of time spent studying flies off the charts,
from what I’ve been told.</p>
<p>Is Amherst as intense an environment?
Discussions, great debates, lots of reading are what I want,
but is there also time to relax and daydream? </p>
<p>Also, is drinking more prevalent at Amherst?</p>
<p>Many thanks,
Ottoline</p>
<p>You know, work-load reputation are spread through word-of-mouth, and it is a very subjective criteria. It might be that kids at Swat are bigger complainers :)</p>
<p>D has had the most intense years of her life at Amherst. Last semester was about to break her. If it's worse at Swat, I can't imagine. Now, this is a kid who wants to get good grades. Certainly, there are kids there who just want the C's and B's, but if you really want something out of your education, Amherst offers it, and you will have to work for those high grades.</p>
<p>As for drinking, figures are hard to come by, but I saw somewhere that Swat's binge drinking rate is 30%, about as low as colleges get. I don't have a figure for Amherst, but Williams's rate is 45% (about average) and I imagine Amherst would be similar.</p>
<p>Yeah, my guess is whooopa8 is right. Swatties probably are a big bunch of complainers... hehe - part of the reason why I chose it. I think Swatties love the work they do, and truly enjoy staying busy by making great committments to their extracurricular pursuits. As a result, you get 'misery poker' which really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I think Swatties actually enjoy misery poker.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful responses, but I'm still trying to figure out if the
Amherst academic scene is as intense as what I saw at Swat. I also
visited Bryn Mawr, not a wading pond, and someone showed me a
chem textbook that's covered in half the time at Swat. </p>
<p>I don't think Swatties are complaining for the fun of it -- it seems
ultra-demanding to me. One student complained about "tunnel vsision"
and having too little fun. </p>
<p>Are Amherst students smiling or gritting their teeth?</p>
<p>Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Ottoline</p>
<p>If you're worried about whether a school is too academically intense, then it probably is, for you. As I refine my list I'm asking myself the same question. I want a strong academic and intellectual place, but I don't want to spend four years worried about every grade and paper... enough of that in high school.</p>
<p>lol, swat doesn't compare to Reed...</p>
<p>^ I know. But seriously, P-ton, what a SUCK school. There's no way [color=brown]Princeton[/color] compares to Swarthmore. :D</p>
<p>...looking at the user's other posts, i'm pretty sure he doesn't go to princeton</p>
<p>^ That link is broken. Could you please fix it?</p>
<p>Not that this has any influence on your question. But the most intense schools from what I've read and heard are Reed, UChicago, and CalTech.</p>
<p>I am a Swarthmore partisan, so beware of anything I say.</p>
<p>The academics at Swarthmore are very rigorous, but for the most part the students enjoy the work, their fellow students and the school. Does Swarthmore have the most rigorous academics in the country? I don’t know. Is it among the 5 or 6 most rigorous schools in the country? Yes.</p>
<p>Having said that the academics at Amherst are so good that the question of where you should go to school should be made on other factors. This is where you should ask questions about drinking and other life style questions. </p>
<p>From everything I know drinking at Swarthmore is much lower than at most other colleges and universities. I am also sure you will find discussions, great debates, lots of reading and time to relax and daydream?</p>
<p>Actually, I just heard a statistic on drinking at Swarthmore. I was very tired when I heard them... but these are the numbers I remember hearing. </p>
<p>4-8 percent of students drink to get smashed
40 percent drink occasionally
20 percent do not drink </p>
<p>I do not know what happened to the other ~10 percent.</p>
<p>
[quote]
4-8 percent of students drink to get smashed
40 percent drink occasionally
20 percent do not drink</p>
<p>I do not know what happened to the other ~10 percent.
[/quote]
How is the Math departement at Swarthmore?
;)</p>
<p>Rister is hilarious..... :D</p>