<p>Reed doesn't have grade inflation ( avg GPA is 2.8- ) but a higher % of grads earn Phds than almost any school in the country, so I would say from that , that grad schools are looking at more than numbers for acceptance</p>
<p>How about Yale or Williams?</p>
<p>Well, perhaps you're correct, emeralkity4, but who said that the average Reed student goes on to graduate school? I do agree with you that graduate schools look at more than numbers, and that Reed students do well at graduate placement, but the statistics you presented don't necessarily represent that.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, perhaps you're correct, emeralkity4, but who said that the average Reed student goes on to graduate school? I do agree with you that graduate schools look at more than numbers, and that Reed students do well at graduate placement, but the statistics you presented don't necessarily represent that.
[/quote]
Based on a national survey of graduating seniors at 34 private, liberal arts colleges, and over 10,500 responses, 2005 Reed College graduates are</p>
<p><em>44% more likely to be very satisfied with their undergraduate education than the national average
51% more likely to say they definitely would attend the same institution again
*23% more likely to be very satisfied with their instruction in the arts and humanities
*22% more likely to be very satisfied with their instruction in mathematics and the sciences
*17% more likely to be very satisfied with their instruction in the social sciences
*</em>Almost three times as likely to say they will pursue a doctoral degree**</p>
<p>And here's more detailed info on PhD productivity and where most Reed students go for graduate school.
<a href="http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html</a>
<a href="http://web.reed.edu/ir/success.html%5B/url%5D">http://web.reed.edu/ir/success.html</a></p>
<p>thanks pavel- I don't know about the average student- at a school that is a lot smaller than my daughters high school, is there really an average student?
But I think that saying that Reed has a large percentage of graduates who receive Phds-it also seems that it wouldn't be much of a leap to imagine a large percentage of students at least attempting grad school at some point- that kind of what Reed is about-what with the qual and the senior thesis and all. To give students the preparation to go on to further study.
An aquaintance for example who is a neuropysch prof said that compared to Reed, medical school was easy- that may be hyperbole, but it does attract a lot of students who pride themselves on spending 24/7 of finals week in the library ( no they don't go back to their dorms to shower or sleep- and no I wouldn't recommend taking that approach)</p>
<p>I'm not questioning the high percentage of PhDs coming out of Reed, or much about it. I am saying that the 2.8 student probably is not going on for the PhD, as opposed to the students gaining higher GPAs, although perhaps more Reed students with lower GPAs will compared to other schools. That last part isn't important at the moment, the first part is. Do you understand?</p>
<p>college of william & mary wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo</p>
<p>reed, caltech, st. john's college, swarthmore, chicago, davidson</p>
<p>From what I've heard...</p>
<p>MIT, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore & CalTech make the top of the list.</p>
<p>MIT, CalTech, Swarthmore, and the University of Chicago are the hardest from what I’ve heard. Certain specialized programs are also difficult, notably Carnegie Mellon,UC Berkley and Stanford engineering, and Wharton and Ross’ (U Michigan Business) programs. In their own way though the military academies, particularly the VMI and the three federal academies, are most grueling as they’re extremely physically and psychologically taxing.</p>
<p>Are the “Ivys” not considered difficult?</p>
<p>I’m surprised Georgia Tech hasn’t been mentioned (or at least, I haven’t seen it mentioned). While I can’t find any more recent figures, the 2008 four-year graduation rate was set at 31%. Ouch.</p>
<p>I’m surprised someone pulled up a 4+ year old thread to post.</p>
<p>if I were to rate schools based on difficulty (10 being the hardest):</p>
<p>9.9 Caltech
9.3 MIT
9.0 Princeton
8.5 Chicago
8.3 Cornell / Swarthmore
8.0 Harvard / Columbia / Yale
7.8 Upenn / Dartmouth / Johns Hopkins / Duke
7.7 Stanford / Northwestern
7.4 Williams
7.3 Amherst
7.2 Brown</p>
<p>Not sure about WUSTL</p>
<p>I’d say St. Johns and Deep Springs.</p>
<p>WashU St. Louis (pre-med). For grade deflation: Princeton, Uchicago, MIT.</p>
<p>Georgetown School of Foreign Service for the following reasons:</p>
<p>1) a very crowded curriculum with virtually no free electives until the sixth semester in residence.
2) A student body with SAT capability among the top three to five undergraduate schools in the nation. (maybe even higher).
3) Virtually the only school with 1400+ SATs that demands students complete 5 course per term instead of 4. (This applies to Georgetown in general as well).
4) The pressure of having to attend classes with former heads of state, U.S. Senators or cabinet members. An SFS student does not want to look foolish in front of an Albright, Uribe, Hagel, Tenet, Aznar etc. These are people used to being briefed by the best and brightest and don’t suffer fools gladly.
5) The pressure of having to pass a degree making or breaking language fluency exam that can only be attempted once a student is at the literature class (fourth year college if one starts a language from scratch) level of a foreign language. Failure to pass this test means no degree even if all the other requirements (40 classes, specific courses etc.) are met.</p>
<p>And with respect to Georgetown SFS, the presure of living up to the legacy of an alumni base that includes Heads of State, a U.S. President and the leaders of everything from the American Intelligence Community to the AFL-CIO as well as dozens of ambassadors from this nation and others.</p>
<p>9.6 Caltech / MIT
9.0 Princeton
8.5 Chicago
8.0 Harvard / Columbia / Yale / Cornell
7.8 Upenn / Dartmouth / Duke
7.7 Stanford / Northwestern / Johns Hopkins / WUSTL
7.4 Williams
7.3 Amherst
6.5 Brown</p>
<p>vienna man,</p>
<p>I have no doubt SFS provides one of the best curriculum in “international studies”. But for the points you mentioned, none of that necessarily proves SFS is the most academically challenging for the following reasons.</p>
<p>1) Most engineering schools have similarly “crowded” curriculum. Also, I don’t see how more electives necessarily mean easier schedule unless you suggest everyone is lazy and would pick the easiest class when the opportunity is there.
2) The <em>admitted</em> SAT range for SFS was 1360-1560. I can easily name more than 5 schools with higher ENROLLED stats. Examples: HYP, Pomona, Harvey Mudd, MIT…etc. Besides, higher SAT ranges don’t necesssarily mean more academically challenging.
3) I’d think 5 classes are normal for semester schools. Comparing with schools with four courses seems to set the bar too low. At Northwestern, the normal load for engineering school is 4. The thermodynamics in one quarter covers the same materials as thermodynamics in semester system.
4) I don’t see how having classes with former heads of state, U.S. Senators or cabinet members is more intense and challenging than having classes with professors who actually have PhDs. Many U.S. Senators are not necessarily academic heavy-weights. I bet if I pull the SAT average of all those in the House/Senate, the average is probably no more than 1350.
5) This one isn’t a really a big deal for most that are interested in <em>Foreign</em> Services. Also, based on the formats described at [SFS</a> Language Proficiency - Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) - Georgetown University](<a href=“http://bsfs.georgetown.edu/academics/core/73341.html#FormatOfExam]SFS”>http://bsfs.georgetown.edu/academics/core/73341.html#FormatOfExam) , it looks like this is more like passing an advanced ESL class. Having taken ESL myself, I wouldn’t call that “literature class”. You don’t read Howards End, Light in August, or Mrs Dalloway…for any ESL class.</p>