Whats the most academically challenging school?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I know it depends on the major but still overall there is no denying that some school just grade more harshly than others...</p>

<p>Cornell, MIT are the usual suspects of course bout what about others??</p>

<p>Apparently Case Western has the 2nd hardest workload after MIT!</p>

2

<p>I heard Caltech is really hard.</p>

3

<p>cornell, mit, caltech, u of chicago, penn</p>

4

<p>Caltech, MIT, chicago. Enough said.</p>

5

<p>Cornell's reputation for grade inflation is greatly exaggerated. While Cornell may have been deflated in the past, I think the evidence now shows that, far from being grade deflated nowadays, Cornell is actually among the most grade inflated schools in the world.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/10436%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/10436&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As a point of comparison:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/harvard.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gradeinflation.com/harvard.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/princeton.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gradeinflation.com/princeton.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/columbia.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gradeinflation.com/columbia.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

6

<p>Caltech, MIT, Smwarthmore, Chicago, Haverford are definitely some of the tougher universities.</p>

7

<p>Carnegie Mellon, Washington University pre-med, Johns Hopkins</p>

8

<p>sakky - the question didn't ask about grade deflation. Also, grade deflation and academic challenge aren't closely related as people think. For instance, compare a 3.3 average gpa at a school like Cornell or MIT to an average gpa of 3.0 at a random 4th tier state school. Can you assume that the state school is much more challenging due to the lower average gpa? No. Regardless of the average gpa, i would loooove to see a random state school student survive an intro bio or physics class. </p>

<p>my picks: Cornell, Caltech, MIT, UChicago</p>

9

<p>Wake Forest a.k.a. "Work Forest" is a toughie many don't know about. Not quite the same level as Caltech, but tougher than many of the other top 25 schools.</p>

10

<p>Reed College.</p>

11

<p>UChicago, Reed, Olin, Cooper Union, Caltech</p>

12

<p>St. John's College</p>

13

<p>Case Western?
Babson?
Brandeis?</p>

14

<p>Arizona;)</p>

<p>Chicago gets my vote.</p>

15

<p>By rep Case, Swat, Chicago, Reed, and Cal Tech are mentioned very often in publications as having students with very heavy workloads.</p>

16

<p>Two of my son's top choices are Swat and U Chicago. It's a good thing he likes to work. ;)</p>

<p>For pre-meds, Brandeis and U Rochester can also be tough.</p>

<p>We have friends who report that Carnegie Mellon is no picnic.</p>

17

<p>CalTech and Harvard, hands down. it'll pay off in the future, though... i think.</p>

18

<p>Jo.InC., I've heard Harvard has massive grade inflation, and is not highly rigorous. I may be wrong though.</p>

<p>Some other not as well known schools that are among the most academically challenging include Harvey Mudd, Cooper Union, F.W. Olin and Reed.</p>

19

<p>how massive? </p>

<p>where's Cooper Union? i've never heard of it.</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
sakky - the question didn't ask about grade deflation.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It doesn't? Then explain the OP's quote of "...there is no denying that some school just grade more harshly than others...". Doesn't that inherently have to do with grade deflation? You tell me. </p>

<p>
[quote]
For instance, compare a 3.3 average gpa at a school like Cornell or MIT to an average gpa of 3.0 at a random 4th tier state school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>MIT has an average GPA of 3.3/4? That's news to me. That's also news to many other people at MIT. Would you care to substantiate this claim?</p>