The 10 "toughest" schools according to Princeton Review......


GSUperTiger

GSUperTiger

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http://gtalumni.org/buzzwords/article8.html

http://encarta.msn.com/collegeArticles/NeverStopStudying.asp


For some single-minded types, college
means one thing and one thing only:
studying. Although it may be tough at
times, the rewards can be tremendous.
The following schools attract students
whose noses stay pretty much glued to
the grindstone.

1. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology

How intense is an MIT education? ?Say
you like Pez candy,? posits one MIT
undergrad. ?MIT, then, is like being
forced to eat 13,109 Pez candies.?
Indeed, ?the workload is heavy...? ?If
you understand what does and does not
help you learn, life here becomes much
more manageable.? Material ?is taught
extremely fast. It takes a few weeks to
get used to, but it makes everything so
much more interesting and motivating.?

2. United States Coast Guard
Academy

The ?small classes? here are ?very
demanding? though some subject
matter?like core class requirements in
Nautical Science?borders on
?vocational.? During the regular school
year, ?you choose a major? and ?take
the classes you are told to take."

3. California Institute of Technology

A ?suicidal (yet effective) workload...?
?The freshman academic load is
bearable, almost easy, but it gets harder
every year. Students are encouraged to
do homework in groups, which makes the
most difficult homework sets much more
bearable.? The school works hard to help
students deal with the academic
pressure. First-year classes are
Pass/Fail...

4. Georgia Institute of Technology

A ?damn hard? public school that is
always ?very demanding? and ?at times
very humbling.? ?Make no mistake;
unless you?re Albert Einstein, Georgia
Tech can be very intimidating,? warns an
aerospace engineering major. ?This is a
school that challenges any ?straight A?
student a high school can spit out,? and
a historically low--but
improving--percentage of first-year
students never graduate.

5. Rice University

?Rice provides an intense academic
atmosphere that revived the love of
learning that high school had sucked out
of me.? Says another, ?My introductory
honors chemistry class is taught by a
Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. Where
else are freshmen taught by Nobel Prize
winners??

6. Carnegie Mellon University

In nearly all areas, the workload is
extremely tough; explains one student,
?I study more than I eat and sleep. I
actually feel guilty if I go a day without
studying (including Saturdays and
holidays).?

7. United States Naval Academy

The U.S. Naval Academy offers a great
education at a great price?it?s free.
Midshipmen have one of the ?toughest
academic programs around...? ?Tough
but rewarding? is how one midshipman
sums up his experience here. ?If you?ve
never been challenged by academics,
get ready for a surprise.? Midshipmen
must handle a demanding courseload
along with naval officer training, and
academically they find that ?it?s a
challenge to do well on top of all the
military responsibilities.?

8. Swarthmore College

A Swarthmore education is definitely not
for the weak of heart. Commenting on
the legendary workload here, one
undergrad explains: ?At times I feel like I
signed up for married life with the
Marquis de Sade?work enjoys beating
me down every night..." Concurs
another, ?First you think they [that is,
the faculty] are out to get you. Then
you think they?re out to get everybody.
Finally you realize they?re just too
damned smart..."

9. Grinnell College

?No one competes? at ?intense? Grinnell
College, ?a small liberal arts school? with
no core curriculum and ?a high level of
academic freedom.? Of course, nobody
really has time to compete, thanks to
the ?rigorous academics? and
?depressing academic workload? here
(Grinnellians normally clock about four
hours of studying every day). Indeed,
Grinnell is definitely an ?academic
pressure cooker,? complete with ?tons of
work,? but ?after all the pain and
frustration, it?s rewarding,? a senior
assures us.

10. Amherst College

Small classes, great professors, as much
academic freedom as students are willing
to grab, and a beautiful campus; no
wonder students say, ?I could not, in my
wildest dreams, imagine an environment
better suited for a young adult to grow
intellectually than Amherst College.?
Excellent professors dedicated to
undergraduate teaching lie at the heart
of the Amherst experience.
 

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I am not surprised by MIT, GT :eek: or the Naval Academy. But what happened to West Point and the Air Force Academy?

I remember going to the Rice library and seeing people with the serious RED EYE! :eek: Anyway, yours truly maybe teaching a few classes. And yours truly will not treat his students that bad.:rolleyes: Trust me.
 
If these institutions are that rigorous is the content of the courses lost ? If one is under pressure wouldn't tend to overide the retention of the subject ?:eek: :eek:
I am thrilled that its all over
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Limefree, I would say no. I know people (Black people) that graduated from MIT, Rice, and Carnegie Mellon University and they are some of the most brilliant people I know. Being in a room with them puts you on your Ps and Qs because they talk about things regarding society, politics, and world issues for hours. My mother used to always tell me that you remember what you want to remember. A lot of people that purposely attend these types of institutions are on another level. They what the challenge and they retain the information they learn for years on end. I think some people attend college because they are expected to go and get a degree so that they are more competitive in the workforce. And some go to college to attain a world of knowledge. To each his own.
 
I wouldn't say that those individuals are on "another level" merely because they speak of world issues and have retained information from college. Plenty of HBCU graduates as well as those who attended other colleges have done the same thing. Knowledge is the responsibility of the individual, not their alma mater. It is up to the person to find their own challenge.
 
Originally posted by BILBREW
I wouldn't say that those individuals are on "another level" merely because they speak of world issues and have retained information from college. Plenty of HBCU graduates as well as those who attended other colleges have done the same thing. Knowledge is the responsibility of the individual, not their alma mater. It is up to the person to find their own challenge.
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Hey Bilbrew, this is what I said:

"A lot of people that purposely attend these types of institutions are on another level."

Which means that I did not say that ALL people that attended these types of schools were on that "other level", and it also means that I did not say that an HBCU graduate could not be on that level. I have had many conversations with Ivy ledgers, HBCUers, Public schoolers, Private schoolers, etc? and they are all very different in many different ways. I have meet very stupid people that attend MIT and very intelligent people that attend TSU. Your institution of higher learning is your personal choice. However, it?s been my personal experience that a person that chooses to attend Wharton School of Business instead of Texas A&M University School of Business usually has a different motive.
 
If these institutions are that rigorous is the content of the courses lost ? If one is under pressure wouldn't tend to overide the retention of the subject ?
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I am wondering that too Lime. I mean if all you are doing is trying to pass some test then how is that preparing you for the "real world?"
 
limefree, I would say yes to your questions. It is one thing to be challenged in a class. It is another thing to be given so much work to where one does just enough to get by in a class. To be given too much work can hinder a student's learning as well as too little work. I say this as a former student, a former teaching assistant and possibly a future professor.
 
My Daughter said after graduating from AAMU, MITand Yale were no challenge to her. I was shocked at her statement, so I asked. She said Dad they have everything a student need right at your finger tip. So you don't have to waste time looking for information.
 
Originally posted by MightyDog
My Daughter said after graduating from AAMU, MITand Yale were no challenge to her. I was shocked at her statement, so I asked. She said Dad they have everything a student need right at your finger tip. So you don't have to waste time looking for information.
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MD, a lot of HBCU grads will say that an MIT or a Yale is not that much of a challenge after finishing from an HBCU. Sure, there will be an adjustment period because one is going ot a different school. But a well prepared person usually can do the work in grad school.
 
Originally posted by BILBREW
...Knowledge is the responsibility of the individual, not their alma mater. It is up to the person to find their own challenge.
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AMEN!!!!!!!!!! Preach on Brotha! Once an individual bows down to the god of Knowledge (having a desire to learn) he will become very knowledgeable. Reading, especially books of substance, is the key people!!!! Our kids need to Read, Read, Read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I always read with great curiousity these "statistics" that determine which schools are the toughest in terms of academics. I know that there are and always will be those institutions which are considered the pinnacle of academia, but the value of a college education is an individual assessment. What one gains (or does not gain) from a college experience is unique from person to person. What many don't understand is that college is more than just studying, taking notes and exams. The college experience teaches you how to interact with others in a social and intellectual setting. I wouldn't imagine that students at any of the aformentioned schools have "mastered" that any better than any of us who represent the ten institutions that make up this forum.
 
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