<p>I would like to ask about SLE at Stanford. I was trying to look through the pages on Stanford website, but it seems that many of the pages are works in progress, so I was wondering if current students who have gone through or are currently taking SLE share some of your experiences?</p>
<p>I am a Science student, and have been focussing primarily on Science in high school, but I want to have a more balanced liberal arts education in college to see what I have been missing out. But I'm not sure how well I can cope with it. How heavy is the workload and readings like? I was looking through the syllabus, and it seems that you need to finish reading half a book(!!!) on some weeks? How much of your time do you spend on SLE? Also, I am an aspiring CS major, and I am planning to get my bachelors degree in 3 years and take a master's degree or coterm in the 4th year. Do you think it is possible for me to do so if I take SLE?</p>
<p>SLE takes up 2 class spaces per quarter. Plenty of science students, including CS majors, were in SLE. It’s true that the workload is supposed to be heavy and there’s a lot of reading, but I’ve heard many times that SLE is over-united. If you’re looking to finish your degree early, SLE might actually help with that - getting rid of PWR 1 and PWR 2, plus the humanities and EC requirements. This may or may not be the case in the upcoming year, since Stanford is redoing its undergrad curriculum (supposedly fewer requirements, so SLE might not confer the advantage that it could have before).</p>
<p>Take this with a grain of salt - SLEople (haha) should chime in on its current difficulty.</p>
<p>My D is in SLE and has really enjoyed it. Is it tough - yes! Is it a LOT of reading and writing - Yes!. Would my D select it again if she had it all to do over again - Yes!</p>
<p>SLE takes up 9-10 credits per term out of a normal 15-18 credits. So it accounts for two classes out a normal load of 3-4 classes. </p>
<p>I can’t comment on how CS might fit into this schedule but for my Undeclared Major D, SLE is working out very well.</p>
<p>SLE and IHUM are two different ways for students to have an introductory curriculum freshman year; SLE is a more intensive version of IHUM and has a single standard curriculum, whereas IHUM had a choice of classes. Thinking Matters is replacing IHUM. It has a greater variety of disciplines to choose from, focuses on foundational issues, etc. and you take it for one quarter (rather than 3 as in the case of IHUM and SLE). SLE will still be intact for the students who want that intensive humanities sequence.</p>
<p>I am curious as to how SLE affects social lives. Does it hinder one’s ability to join greek life or be very sociable on weekends and meet friends outside of SLE?</p>
<p>Dapotatoman, my D is in SLE this year and has developed a broad network of friends; some from SLE, some from the clubs that she has joined, some from the SPOT trip that she participated in prior to school starting and some random kids she has met on campus. She also participates in weekend greek parties, etc. so has PLENTY of social opportunities. Most of her SLE dorm (including her) are going on a bus trip to Disneyland this weekend. She actually has too many social opportunties!</p>
<p>lemonade, the program is nominally selective, but in practice just about everyone who wants to participate has been admitted. (The one exception has been some athletes, because their practices may conflict with the SLE schedule.) This fall Stanford is rolling out a new program to replace IHUM, which may result in more students electing SLE. However, the university has often said that it intends to make sure SLE can always keep up with freshman demand, because it has been a very successful program. Everyone I’ve met who took SLE enthusiastically endorses it and would do it again.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that Stanford is trying to increase SLE participation from 100 students to 300. I haven’t heard of anyone before applying for SLE but not getting in.</p>
<p>dapotatoman, definitely not. In fact, I had quite a few SLE friends even though I wasn’t in SLE. And a great SLEople end up in fraternities/sororities, and are very sociable on weekends (the time when most people are able to socialize more).</p>
<p>Is it an application? I just thought you ranked it higher on your freshman housing preference list. </p>
<p>I don’t know where, but I’ve heard of some not getting in. Which wouldn’t be surprising, since it’s rising in popularity.</p>
<p>With IHUM gone, SLE enrollment might decrease. One prior plus for SLE was more “efficient” than taking 3 IHUM, 2 PWR, and 1 Humanities GER. Now that it’s 1 thinking matters class instead of 3 IHUM, that advantage is now a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a separate application. And I think Senior is right - the cost/benefit for SLE will change so it may impact the number of students who are interested.</p>
<p>I was actually notified yesterday that I had not gotten into SLE, which is sort of disappointing. Does anyone how the selection process works (by lottery or by our qualifications)? I’ll try to see if I can petition them for a change.</p>