<p>LOL, great point, Shizz. That's the precise reason why I've chosen not to reply. I may be indignant about the cracks about Brown, but for all I know, it could very well be true. After all, I haven't even registered for classes yet.</p>
<p>The question was courseload, right? Columbia students typically take five courses a semester. I don't know about all the other Ivies, but I believe that Harvard and others on the semester system usually take four.</p>
<p>As for the grade inflation issue, saying Columbia gives A+s, while true, is somewhat misleading. Columbia has addressed grade inflation in several ways: The transcripts include information on how many As are given in a course. The number of students who graduate with honors is set, I believe at 25%, though I may be wrong on that specific percentage. But these are ways that grad schools and employers can put a student's performance into context.</p>
<p>There is really no way to compare how difficult a course at one college is versus a course at another. Every place has some majors and some courses that are easier or harder than others.</p>
<p>this is not a ranking, just pieces of info that could affect courseload</p>
<p>Yale-36 classes needed to graduate
Brown- 30 classes needed to graduate and no distribution requirements, and the ability to take all classes pass/fail
Columbia-The Core
Harvard-It has the bootleg Core Curriculum (and by bootleg, i mean they call it a core curriculum, but you have a bunch of choices)</p>
<p>A bit part of this should be courseload. Yale requires 36 courses, which I think is the most of the Ivies. This means you have to take 5 courses for at least 4 of your 8 semesters, and 5 course semesters are not easy. </p>
<p>Also, consider senior essay/thesis requirements, course distribution requirements, core requirements, etc.</p>
<p>Cornell-by far the hardest
Columbia (all those classics)
Yale
Penn (Wharton)
Dartmouth
Princeton
Harvard
Brown</p>
<p>Everything i've heard from students/alums & read, says that Cornell is the hardest, Dartmouth is up there, and Yale & Brown are much easier.</p>
<p>I know that there are statistics about the amount of kids who graduate from each school with Honors. Based on those stats:</p>
<p>Hardest-->Easiest
1) Cornell- 19%
2) Columbia- 25%
3) Dartmouth- 40%
4) Brown- 42%
5) Princeton- 44%
6) Yale- 51%
7) Harvard- 91%</p>
<p>Penn was the only Ivy unlisted in this report, but I believe it is fair to assume it would fall between 3-6 in that list.</p>
<p>The honors thing is meaningless. Honors requirements differ at each college, and one must concede that the student body at HYP is probably a little more ambitious than that at Cornell. </p>
<p>The hardest courseloads probably require at Columbia, Yale and Cornell. Columbia's core is much more rigorous and comprehensive than at the other schools, so their first two years are probably more difficult than at the other Ivies. Yale's requirement of 36 classes mean students will be taking more courses.</p>
<p>Hardest course load is a relative thing having many vairiables including depending on what a student is majoring in. Students on the Pre-med track will have to take Bio, Chem, O-Chem, Physics, Calc which are probably not cake walks at any school. Students majoring in Hard Sciences, math and Engineering may state they have a harder course loan than other majoiring in other disciplines.</p>
<p>Dartmouth needs 35 courses to graduate. Quarter system -10 weeks. Must be in residence Freshman & Senior year, sophmore summer. (3 courses per quarter majority of students attend F,W,S terms.</p>
<p>No core courses but mandatory First Year Seminar requirement, foreign language requirement (to be met before end of sophmore year), 3 phys ed requirements to be met before end of sophmore year. and distribution requirements in 13 areas:</p>
<p>Art
Literature
western Culture
non-western Culture
Culture & Identity
PHR- Philosophical or Historical Analyisis or Religion
TMV- Systems and traditions of thought, meaning and values
International or comparative studies<br>
SOC (2) Social Analysis
QDS- Quantative and deduction sciences
SCI- natural sciences (non lab component)
SLA- Natural Sciences (Lab component)
TAS -tech or applied science</p>
<p>Transcript reflects grade and average grade for course.</p>
<p>I just had to get in on this conversation. Well being a Cornell grad, I have to say that i felt like it was a rough ride. A LOT of late nighters. (I had a roommate who slept in the library consistently, maybe slept in his own bed twice a week, and he was only an IRL (International and Labor Relations). I was a Communication Major, which gets a bad rap from Ms. Coulter, but i can assure you, we did more work than a lot of the other class I attended.</p>
<p>I’m sure other schools feel the same way. but we have a motto at CU. “Cornell… Where doing your best is never good enough, since 1865” or something along those lines… There is a 5,000+ CU only facebook group about that. </p>
<p>I’m sure other schools are tough, but there was never a moment that you weren’t worrying about a pre-lim or paper. Except when you were smashed, and with 60+ frats/sororities, that happened a lot.</p>
<p>I don’t think Brown can really fairly be ranked with the others because there is no official “course load.” Nobody will make you take hard classes if you don’t want to. If you are looking for an academic challenge however, I’m sure Brown can be just as academically strenuous as any other school.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard though, Princeton > Cornell > Columbia > all the others when it comes to difficulty. Princeton is the only ivy (although maybe Cornell too) that grades on a curve and has a cap on A range grades, meaning competition can be fierce. Also, seniors are required to complete a thesis in order to graduate, which is a pretty hardcore requirement.</p>
<p>BUMP</p>
<p>Love this discussion!</p>
<p>Bumppppppppppp</p>
<p>A thesis is also a requirement for graduation at a large amount of LACs.</p>
<p>I don’t understand this discussion. It is a fact that the ivies do not provide the most rigorous course load; rather, they build reputations based on massive networking and what their graduates do with that networking. The grade inflation is horrific at Harvard and Yale (other ivies as well, but those two in specific) and too many of their undergraduate courses are taught by TAs.</p>
<p>From Hardest to easiest
- Cornell (very, very rigorous coursewro
- Princeton (serious grade deflation)
- Columbia
- Penn
- Yale
- Harvard
- Dartmouth
- Brown</p>