<p>I was just browsing the core curriculum for Columbia, and saw that a swimming test and two semesters of phys.ed are required. I was just wondering why a school in Manhattan would make a swimming test mandatory (and whether everyone actually takes it). Thanks!</p>
<p>You can find this tradition at a lot of colleges. Some people say it comes from WW2 when young men had to be able to swim or something. Bottom line is, don't worry about it and yes, you can take lessons for free if you don't know how to swim.</p>
<p>Manhattan is an island. Assuming for argument's sake that the swimming test has some relation to being able to survive in the locality in which you attend college, It would make more sense to have a swimming test at Columbia than at Notre Dame or something.</p>
<p>I have heard that a large portion of the senior class takes this swimming test together, in a sort of not-serious, last-minute group experience that can include water wings, fins, fun noodles, etc., and that everybody passes. Does anyone in fact know if this is true (this has become an item of contention in our household, since I refuse to discuss any graduation arrangements until the swimming test requirement is met)? My child and I have been arguing about this for years. (I went to a different school,which also had a swimming requirement, and a test which everybody took very early on, in freshman orientation, IIRC.)</p>
<p>Yes, I guess that knowing how to swim would be beneficial if you are on an island...but it just seems a little outdated or unneccesary, since some people can go there entire life without ever needing to swim. I thought that maybe there was some reason traditionally, and that the school just kept it in order to honor the core.</p>
<p>The tradition behind it is that it has been done for lots and lots of years....what more do you need?</p>
<p>Ivyalum--don't know about the water wings etc, but my son, who is starting his senior year, expects to do the mass test with everyone else towards the end of the year. I know he can swim and have not stressed about it; I figure if he goes there, he's clever enough to get this done and graduate.</p>
<p>well, i think harvard does it because one of the president's son or something drowned when the titanic went down because he could not swim. </p>
<p>and you won't be swimming in the hudson river so be happy</p>