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Another question: Many schools I looked at had student reviews that said they were swamped with work and overstressed... how accurate is that assessment? In particular, Harvey Mudd, Cornell, Swarthmore, CalTech, maybe more. I can work if necessary, but not if it is year around and I can't see daylight.
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<p>This is probably the most difficult issue for high school students to get their arms around because college is SO different. Here a few random points to consider:</p>
<p>a) Unlike high school, you are not in class for eight hours a day. A typical schedule would only be 12 hours of class a week -- only 2 or 3 hours a day on average. Most classes meet three times a week for an hour or two times a week for an hour and a half. A seminar might meet once a week for three hours. There is a LOT of downtime for studying and having fun.</p>
<p>b) I found, and I think many college students find, that the more engaged you are in the classes, the less the work seems like work. There is something to be said for a school where the majority of the students are highly engaged in their academics, unlike high school where the smart kids feel like they are viewed as a "weirdo" minority by the slackers. When the reading is interesting and the professors entertaining, the work doesn't seem like work.</p>
<p>c) If we are talking about elite colleges, there is more variation between students in the workload due to major and course selection than between two similar schools. For example, math/science/engineering majors are demanding at all top schools. That is why you find comments about Harvey Mudd and Caltech being so tough. They don't offer anything but really challenging majors. </p>
<p>d) Many students who say they are "overstressed" have probably done a poor job of balancing their schedules -- doing silly stuff like taking two science courses with labs at the same time or four courses that are all highly writing intensive or taking an extra course. You want to use a little intelligence in picking your schedule each semester so you have some harder courses and some easier courses, some courses that are bit more of a grind and some that are more fun, some professors that lay it on heavy and some that are little easier. In short, almost any college can be as easy or hard as you want to make it.</p>
<p>e) Students have a lot of fun at even the most demanding colleges. My daughter has never said that she finds the workload at Swarthmore to be unbearable, just the opposite. Her description is "It's OK; it hasn't been that bad". She says she has been able to get the reading done and assignments completed nearly 100% of the time so far. The two most striking things she has said over and over are how much fun she has with her friends (campus parties, dinner in Phila, a weekend trip to NYC) and how much she loves her classes. The second one is pretty unusual, as freshmen classes usually aren't the sort of thing everybody "loves". Usually, the fun courses come later.</p>