<p>wake forest? really?</p>
<p>^^^ yes i have heard wake forest is actually one of the hardest schools in the country in terms of GPA. the average GPA at many of the schools being discussed here as "academic" is actually quite high. In fact, UChicago has an average GPA of right around a B+</p>
<p>So I guess the distinction is some schools have a more 'academic' slant (like uchicago) while lacking grade deflation, while others have a more 'social' slant (like wake forest where ~80-90% of students are greek) while having large amounts of grade deflation, so it really depends which question is being asked.</p>
<p>
[quote]
elsijfdl
how is chicago a dismal environment?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i go to northwestern, where i find friendliness on the street, availability of parties, general willingness to socialize, and an ability to do 'school' during the week and forget about it on the weekends are all more readily present here than at university of chicago. in my experience, uchicago is somewhat of an intense environment even outside of the classroom, and i am also particularly not fond of the gritty location it is in, which in my opinion adds to the motif.</p>
<p>i should be fair by saying that those of a particular personal leaning find university of chicago a stimulating, engrossing, and rapturous place to study for four years of college.</p>
<p>Berkeley has a reputation for this, though I don't think it's completely true.</p>
<p>yeah, my friend went to a good public school and came out with like a 4.8 or something, but in berkeley he is managing a 3.3. But it might be the fact that he goes out a lot and does "things".</p>
<p>oh man wake forest. it's scary to hear this from WF, since i'm applying there</p>
<p>Well, my friend came back from Swarthmore (triple majoring in Mathematics and Statistics, Economics, and Music) and said that A LOT of people there are double/tripling majoring...</p>
<p>wow
damn, i know that a lot of people there do double major</p>
<p>well it seems swatties can manage tough courseloads.</p>
<p>Berkeley is a party. A hard one, but a party nonetheless.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Berkeley is a party. A hard one, but a party nonetheless.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>...? Not sure I agree with that one. =p</p>
<p>Holy Cross and Work [Wake] Forest</p>
<p>reed, chicago</p>
<p>A lot depends on your major/what courses you're takng. I know people at Stanford---the science/math people are struggling for B's, the humanities people flying by with A's. Someone I know is an English major and said no way would they ever survive as a science major there.</p>
<p>I heard stories about Cooper Union... not good.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the science/math people are struggling for B's, the humanities people flying by with A's.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Except that's a stereotype that really isn't true.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Someone I know is an English major and said no way would they ever survive as a science major there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And there are plenty of science majors who wouldn't survive as English majors.</p>
<p>MIT, Caltech, Olin, Cooper Union, and Mudd.</p>
<p>Other schools aren't even on the same level in terms of workload and difficulty.</p>
<p>not a stereotype---I know 11 people at Stanford and this is their combined experience.</p>
<p>Cooper Union... I did my undergrad studies there, and let me tell you... it can be very tough. To put things in perspective, I have been ridiculed and called spoiled for getting 6 to 7 hours of sleep. It's rare for someone to NOT pull an all-nighter at least once and some people do it on a regular basis. And mind you, these are not procrastinators. The last 2 or 3 weeks of every year, I've seen the entire chemical engineering class gather in the computer center to work on their senior projects. I knew one person who didn't leave the building for four days straight....Oh and you can forget about the architecture and art students as well. They're always in their studios working away on their projects. <em>ends rant</em></p>
<p>
[quote]
MIT, Caltech, Olin, Cooper Union, and Mudd.</p>
<p>Other schools aren't even on the same level in terms of workload and difficulty.
[/quote]
That sounds about right to me...</p>
<p>This list below is from Princeton Review. In addition to Wake Forest, I hear that William & Mary is a tough school with real grade deflation. </p>
<p>1 Reed College </p>
<p>2 Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering </p>
<p>3 California Institute of Technology </p>
<p>4 University of Chicago </p>
<p>5 Harvey Mudd College </p>
<p>6 Bennington College </p>
<p>7 Wabash College </p>
<p>8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology </p>
<p>9 Swarthmore College </p>
<p>10 Middlebury College </p>
<p>11 Marlboro College </p>
<p>12 Grinnell College </p>
<p>13 College of the Holy Cross </p>
<p>14 Haverford College </p>
<p>15 Davidson College </p>
<p>16 United States Military Academy </p>
<p>17 Harvard College </p>
<p>18 Carleton College </p>
<p>19 Bryn Mawr College </p>
<p>20 Whitman College</p>