<p>I'm just curious what is with some ivy league schools and requiring that students take a swimming test? Is it actually difficult to pass this? Most people can swim, but how tough is there "swimming test" (as in do you need to be qualified to be at least on your high school team or something, or can you just know how to float on water).</p>
<p>Strange, I'd never heard of that before.</p>
<p>I know Harvard requires a swimming test. I believe it was because some founder of a building or the college itself had a son who drowned...? Anyway, why would they make the swimming test so hard that you have to be qualified to be on your high school team to pass?? Doesn't that even sound a little ridiculous to YOU? So anyway, from what I remember, at Harvard they just make you swim 50m freestyle. Not too hard. Might have some additional requirements but I don't remember.</p>
<p>Cornell's swim test: 75 meters (3 laps), any stroke (or mixture of strokes--including dog paddle!), no time limit; enter pool feet-first...the requirement is a throw-back to WWII...if a student fails, said student is required to take two semesters of swimming (PE class)...kind of archaic, but no harm, no foul...</p>
<p>MIT's is similar -- I think two laps and treading water for a few minutes.</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/swimtest.asp%5DSnopes%5B/url">http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/swimtest.asp]Snopes[/url</a>] doesn't give much of a reason for the swim tests, but does say that the "benefactor's son drowning" story isn't true.</p>
<p>Dartmouth has an untimed swim test. Easy-peasy and it's not like you get kicked out if you can't do it--you just have to take some swim classes.</p>
<p>Oh gotcha, so it's just a legend. Sorry. Was told that during my tour, so don't blame me.</p>
<p>I am beginning to think that the snopes website is an urban legend itself for knocking down every cool urban legend. They should have a PE requirement at college anyways, those classes were my favorites.</p>
<p>I'm guessing it's just a remnant from the days when physical education classes were in the required curriculum at many (most?) colleges.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oh gotcha, so it's just a legend. Sorry. Was told that during my tour, so don't blame me.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha, to be honest, the only reason I knew it was on Snopes was that I was trying to find out if the story was true about MIT -- they tell the same one here, too.</p>
<p>Columbia has a swimming test too. But not for engineers "because they can build a boat or something"</p>
<p>The tour guide at Columbia claimed that the swim test requirement was instated during the Revolutionary War, because of the fear that students might need to cross the Hudson River if the British attacked. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's a good story.</p>
<p>MITs test is the equvelent of swiming the charles river from bank to bank.
(thank you Olin prof who we stole from being a lifer at MIT)</p>
<p>UChicago has a swimming proficiency test, I thought. I know nothing specific about it, though.</p>
<p>Yeah, UChicago does have a required swimming test. If you fail it, you have to take some swimming class or something. I just remember seeing that in my acceptance packet.</p>