The Most Rigorous Schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I go to Bard, which is supposively pretty rigorous. Which schools are the most rigorous. I'm actually interested in transfering to a more rigorous school...how does Bard stack up against them?</p>

<p>I'm thinking the most rigorous are:</p>

<p>Reed
MIT
Cal Tech
UChicago</p>

2

<p>The Princeton Review rates schools on Academic rigor on a scale of 100 and this is available on line. Here is the link to an example:
<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023599&ltid=1&intbucketid=[/url]”>http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/profiles/academics.asp?listing=1023599&ltid=1&intbucketid=&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>swarthmore is hardcore</p>

<p>btw that rhymes!</p>

4

<p>My feeling is that you can make almost any school rigorous for you, but what sets the schools that have been mentioned so far is that the minimum amount of work you can get away with is still very high compared to other schools. Chicago does not have any “gut” courses-- even the courses that sound pretty easy, like Core Bio and Drama 101, are legitimately challenging classes (even though I would hesitate to call either difficult).</p>

<p>My impression is that at other schools, one can take mostly easy classes if he or she wants to. That doesn’t mean, though, that you wouldn’t be able to find classes that are super-challenging, perhaps even more challenging than some of the classes at the “rigorous” schools.</p>

5

<p>I wouldn’t take the princetonreview results to be very reliable. Some of the rating is based on self-reporting from students. Neither the data from self-reporting, nor the sampling (which is voluntary), add up to good research.</p>

<p>BUT, I do think princetonreview is useful for making very broad cuts. A school with a 99 rating is likely to be more rigorous than a school with an 89 rating, for instance. The difference between a 99 and 95, though, is probably an illusion.</p>

6

<p>Cornell University</p>

7

<p>Cal Tech (but then again engineering/hard science programs in general are tough)
Reed
St John’s
Chicago
Sweatmore
BMC</p>

8

<p>I’d say it depends on the major. In any event…
Columbia University (Columbia College)
U of Chicago
Georgia Tech
Worcester Polytechnic Institute</p>

9

<p>I don’t know about WPI…I have friends there and frankley they aren’t very smart and they say the workload is fine.</p>

10

<p>^Could you tell me a bit more about WPI ? I was planning on applying there ..</p>

11

<p>I agree with Tarhunt – PR tends to be pretty unreliable.</p>

<p>This has been posted many times, but in different forms. The most grade-deflated schools will be the most rigorous. These are notorious for that (in no specific order):</p>

<p>Swarthmore
Chicago
Reed
Berkeley
Caltech
Cornell
MIT</p>

12

<p>20Legend: They all like it at WPI. One is a football recruit, so I’m sure his experience is a bit different than most, but my other friends there say the work isn’t too bad and they like the people.</p>

13

<p>Curiously Mlevine07, you didn’t say a word about the unique academic terms (not semesters, not quarters) at WPI. That’s a glaring omission since we’re discussing workload at the school.</p>

14

<p>How about the least rigorous schools but with some prestige?</p>

15

<p>Your original list is good, MLEVINE07, and I think that Swarthmore and Cornell would be good additions. Johns Hopkins also sounds like a good choice for you. However, be aware that many top schools do not have space for many transfer students. When making up your list, also look at how many transfers they tend to take.</p>

16

<p>My friends at WPI say that the unique terms haven’t made too much of a difference.</p>

<p>OneMom: Yes, I realise how tough these schools are to transfer too. Right now my list of “applying to” schools doesn’t include any of the ones mentioned…I’m applying to Wesleyan, Vassar, Tufts, and Brandies…with a possiblity of a few others. I’m thinking of Cornell, seeing as it has a decent admission rate.</p>

17

<p>

. .</p>

18

<p>Cooper Union, but only for engineering and architecture, not sure about art though.</p>

19

<p>warblers,
Does this mean that those with high scores are harder places to get an A? Do you think that much has changed since the survey was done as so many of these schools have greatly upgraded the quality of their student bodies?</p>

20

<p>hawkette:</p>

<p>Can’t speak for warblers but, Boalt had a cut off point where they awarded two extra tenths of a point and a cutoff where they subtracted two tenths of a point from GPA. I assume that the higher the number, the tougher to get an A.</p>