@Shoboemom: Any LAC or major university worth its salt will make demands on students, demands to read, research, write and explore an academic topic - they will impose a degree of rigor in the study they call for. I have heard it commonly reported that for every hour in class, three hours outside class on reading, papers and the like is required to succeed. If you have 15 - 16 hours of classes, this amounts to 60 - 64 hours of work per week. Spread over six days, that is 10 - 10.5 hours per week with a day to rest, and at Oxford that is without the need for commuting further than across a quad for study, food, sleep and extra curriculars. Many students do stay up late, even all night. At 60 + years of page, I certainly remember doing so when in college.
Also, while there are schools that offer a very free form educational structure, with no grades, and very student directed study, most do not. Some that did, e.g., UC Santa Cruz, gave it up. I suspect this is because grades do provide motivation for many and a way to assess achievement. They give a school gravitas with grad schools and employers. Nevertheless, Emory and other schools do offer pass/fail to a limited degree to encourage student exploration into areas they might be interested in but feel insecure about.
Oxford also requires a certain breadth of study to assure students are exposed to a variety of areas of study. Thus, it is well argued that a science student has reason to know a bit about history, how to research and write a paper. A pre-business student, such as my son, can also benefit from exposure to astronomy or some other science. If all a student studies is a very narrow area of current interest to the student, the student ignores possible areas of interest they haven’t even considered. Of course, a narrow area of study is what is pursued in many English universities. American higher education seems more committed to facilitating student growth through a broader exposure to areas of inquiry.
There necessarily are a certain number of students at Emory and Oxford that are gunning for grades. As you appreciate, that is needed for grad school, it is needed to get into the business school for one’s junior year. But, schools like Emory and its Oxford campus are searching through their admissions processes for students that are interested in learning and likely to contribute to that goal and other values the school embraces for the whole academic/student community. As you suggest, a student would be less likely to be exposed to a grade hungry pursuit of academics in courses not frequented by pre-professional students. But, I suggest you overstate the degree to which an Oxford student would feel burdened by such peer students. And the most academically proficient students - those with the highest grades - will be those that want to learn the material, for the sake of learning, to consider different ways the things they learn relate to their world and related learning.
I have understood an IB course of instruction is indeed rigorous. I suspect that is part of why your daughter was offered merit money. If Oxford admissions staff think that much of her, I suggest she likely has not only the ability to succeed academically without destroying herself, but while still having a rich college experience outside of academics. Indeed, Oxford generally requires that student’s live no campus out of an understanding that the education experience is about a lot more than taking classes, doing papers and performing on tests. It is about living in the college environment, being exposed to people from all over the world, to say nothing of the U.S., and exploring a variety of interests beyond one’s classes with these new found classmates.
But, to get more input, I suggest a call to the Oxford admissions office, by your daughter, not you. The tour guides are Oxford students, and many of the admissions counselors are former Oxford students. They will understand the concerns you express and can best advise your daughter concerning those concerns.
