Please rearrange this list (WSJ 2020) according to general academic rigor of schools? I understand that all of these schools are academically rigorous and often things vary for different majors, yet kindly indulge me with your opinion of which schools are academically most challenging. Think of it as which school would be most unsuitable for “special case” admits like Aunt Becky’s daughter.
Of course it depends on the major, the classes and the professors. No one has enough intimate knowledge of each of those schools to even average those factors.
I’m not endorsing this list, just asking for a rearrangement of these 20 schools according to general perception of rigor, if anyone is interesting to play. You are most welcome to ignore or object.
Depends upon the particular major as well as upon quality of classmates. My best guess is that CalTech, MIT, Princeton & Chicago would among the most academically rigorous of this list of 20 schools.
I’d definitely put Cal Tech, MIT, and U Chicago in the top rank. Beyond that I don’t know enough to say. Back when I was at Wash U there were definitely a few “Aunt Becky’s daughter” types, mostly undergrad business majors (also plenty of really smart people so don’t let that scare you off, plus that was 30 years ago, but it would have been possible to graduate without being the most diligent student).
Why rearrange? Why not look at this group as a collection of academically rigorous colleges? Who wins anything if folks agree X is tougher than Y, based on their experience- or worse, some guess? Few on CC can offer any comparison.
My kids didn’t attend any of those and I still feel their education was highly rigorous, comparable to what those offer. And, working for a tippy top, I can tell you plenty of kids slide by, find the easier courses, settle for B or C grades, wander through the 4 years.
I agree with @momofsenior1 . I’d throw Columbia up there too. I’ve heard that UChicago has “lightened” up in the last decade, but no back up info. I can’t begin to start with the others—maybe UPenn a bit more rigorous than the rest.
Neither of these is my alma mater, but nice try. There is no answer to your question and, I dare say, you are looking at it the wrong way. Don’t look at it by what a school can “provide” the student. The student is not a passive recipient of rigor. It’s a two-way experience. Student A at University of South Carolina can have a more rigorous experience than Student B at Columbia.
Perhaps the only “general” ranking of minimum rigor/difficulty can be based on core or GE requirements, both in volume and rigor of such, since they are common to all students. Even then, some students may find some types of GE requirements more difficult than others, so the ranking may vary from one student to another. But a first approximation:
Caltech
MIT, Chicago, Columbia, any others with heavy core or GE requirements
all others somewhere in here
Amherst, Brown (no GE requirements)
I knew three people who did undergrad at MIT, and either graduate school or law school at Harvard. All three agree that MIT is significantly more difficult than Harvard academically.
I have degrees from MIT and Stanford. I would put them quite close to each other. The quarter system at Stanford will go a lot better if you never let yourself fall behind in any class – the end of the quarter comes up quickly. However, in terms of overall academic rigor I don’t think there is much difference. There is probably a larger difference between specific professors and specific classes within either school than between schools. If I had to choose I would put MIT as more academically tough than Stanford, but not by much.
Comparing undergrad courses to grad/professional courses is apples and oranges. Even comparing a “typical” MIT undergrad course to a “typical” Harvard undergrad course can’t be done (or at least is not meaningful). Having taken undergrad courses at both Harvard and MIT, I don’t think there is much difference in rigor of the courses, or the workload but there is a difference, IMO, in the ability to get an A in the course.