<p>I am seeking advice about the SLE experience. Could someone who has been enrolled in this program, or is currently enrolled in SLE describe what the experience is like? Could you describe an average day? The courses that are offered? I know that it is offered in one residential setting, and that all meals, courses, and living arrangements are in that setting. What are the advantages of choosing such an experience? What are the disadvantages? Could you still engage in other extracurricular activities? Could you, for example, play an intramural or club sport? Their website seems to be under construction. Any advice is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I’d also like to know.</p>
<p>Yo! I am finishing up SLE, as we speak. </p>
<p>I’ll start from the bottom of your questions. You can certainly play intramural sports, and I suggest you do. Ultimate Frisbee and Soccer were a lot of fun. Same goes for ECs, lots of SLE people do lots and lots and lots of stuff. So, I wouldn’t worry about those aspects. </p>
<p>As for disadvantages, SLE is a very demanding experience. You will have a lot of reading and writing. I mean a lot. It’s good and interesting reading, but it will take lots of work.<br>
SLE can also be a somewhat insular experience. You will get very close with people in SLE and make lots of good friends, but maybe not mingle quite as much with the rest of your class. SLE dorms also party less, though this varies by year apparently. So, there is that.</p>
<p>the advantages are that unlike IHUM people, you will love your classes and reading. It will interest you and engage you and force you to elevate the way you think and write. It’s difficult to put this part in words, but SLE is a totally unique academic experience and one that I think would benefit basically anybody. I can elaborate more on this, but at the moment it is kinda late and I just finished a mid term. </p>
<p>As for the basic day, you will have section from 3:15 to 5:00, dinner until 6, and then lecture til 7, except on tuesday when you have 2 lectures instead of one section and one lecture. Flo Mo is one of the better dining halls, so that is a plus for SLE. </p>
<p>SLE is just one course. As stated above, it breaks into lectures and section. Lectures are what you would expect, except that we get lecturers from the histrory, language, philosophy, classics, etc. departments,so you get to see lots of prof. you wouldn’t otherwise. That said, section is the heart of SLE. You will be with 14 or so other kids, and for about 2 hours, you will just discuss the reading. I can elaborate more on this later, too if people have questions, but it is a great experience. It’s fun to argue with people about the reading and see what everyone else thought. </p>
<p>One final thing: SLE is great becuase you get to know your dorm and the rest of SLE very well and make really close friends. There is no other dorm on campus which is as close and tight knit as the SLE dorms are. People here like ideas (like all of Stanford) but are also willing to discuss them outside of class (which is not always true with other Stanford students). </p>
<p>I’d be happy to say more, but for now I should sleep.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great post Generic, and best of luck with those exams.</p>
<p>thanks for that reply. could you say a little bit about the type of people that do sle? Are they rather socially awkward, more outgoing, more fun, etc? All in all, sle sounds great, I just don’t want to be stuck next year with a group of people who don’t share my same interests or who are too quiet</p>
<p>Can you do a Varsity sport like h/w rowing and do SLE?</p>
<p>HockeyKid, rowing practice is typically in the morning, isn’t it? If so, then it may be compatible with SLE, which operates on a midafternoon-to-early-evening schedule. I think some other sports (such as football) probably have practice and game schedules that make it nearly impossible to participate in SLE.</p>
<p>I am set on doing SLE (if I get into it that is). For those of you who have done it, how many other courses did you take each quarter? Does SLE + Math 50 series + Language sound like a good amount or too much for a freshman (considering I want time to adjust, make new friends, experiment with ECs, etc.). Thanks so much!</p>
<p>^that is essentially what I did this year. It will be a lot of work, but not an overwhelming amount and you will certainly have time for friends and ecs. </p>
<p>most SLE kids take 3ish courses a term, including SLE.</p>
<p>OK cool, thanks for the advice! About how many hours a week would you say you spent outside of class studying?</p>
<p>Oh, and did you do all-frosh or 4-class (within SLE)?</p>
<p>For SLE, it is about 8 hours of reading at my somewhat slow place. There is also paper writing, which takes up varying amounts of time. For all my courses combined, it is probably a little less than 20 for the first five weeks and then ramps up to somewhere between 25-30 as papers, midterms, and finals come.</p>
<p>I did 4 class. I would highly recommend it. There are still plenty of freshman around and having upperclassmen is really great.</p>
<p>Bump! Any one else like to share their experience? I’m starting to fill out my Approaching Stanford forms. I wouldn’t doubt any of SLE’s advantages, but it seems pretty intense, especially since I’m considering a double major. Also, I really would love to be a part of a close-knit community, but not too isolated…does SLE consist of people with different majors and diverse enough interests? Thanks!</p>
<p>I recommend taking SLE if you are a very well-read student from a highly ranked publlic high school or excellent private school where class discussion was encouraged, emphasized and practiced and where you have had strong exposure to “the classics” of history, philosophy and ancient literature. In addition, SLE is most appropriate for students who are already excellent writers. Inquire as to who grades your writing. My essays were assessed by upper classmen who served as program “instructors”, and were weak. I found the experience to be frustrating because the students coming from private schools with rigorous programs floated along while the rest of us from public schools struggled. I would have preferred to have taken introductory freshman studies in a variety of subjects.</p>
<p>Are the SLE students majoring in a Liberal Art or can they major in a science class? Also, what do non-SLE students do since they don’t have to read and write as much?</p>
<p>@chipmunk (haha that sounds funny) I didn’t exactly come from a highly-ranked public school, but I do have solid writing skills and generally enjoy discussions. I hope this not a big issue…</p>
<p>If you do a search on the Stanford forum for SLE and structured liberal education, you’ll see all the past threads in which a lot of your questions will probably be answered (and new ones generated?)</p>
<p>can anyone speak briefly to the difference between all-frosh and four-class for SLE? i know it’s usually said that freshman dorms party more and have more energy, but is that true for SLE as well? what are the advantages of a four-class dorm?</p>