Sarah Lawrence College
- Academics

Powerful but isolated.

Sarah Lawrence is not for everyone. I spent a year there as a visiting student and fell in love with parts, and could not stand other parts.

In general, what makes SLC so special is also what makes it difficult for the average student. SLC is a place of directed learning, where you as a student must challenge yourself. Much as with Hampshire, you get out what you put in. In my visiting sophomore year was expected to do graduate level work because I presented myself to the professor in a way that allowed him to push me that far. Other students did not engage with their class materials, and received fine marks, but that doens't really matter at SLC.

In effect, when you graduate, you will have a letter of recommendation from every class you took. If you do well, that means you will have as many as 24 personal reviews and assessments of your ability as a student. This is invaluable when applying to graduate school, but can also shoot you in the foot. At a state school, if you slack off and get a B, no one knows. At SLC if you slack off it will be on your permanent record in the review. Alternatively, if you struggle and push and get a C-, the professor will probably write a glowing review of how you tried your best.

Without any majors, SLC can be very socially isolating. The conference system means as much as 50% of the work you do for a class must be individual, no study groups, no homework sessions.

I loved my time there. But it is not for everyone.

Fantastic in theory....

I transferred into SLC expecting it to be something fantastic.

In many ways I came to SLC expecting never to have to think about colleges again. From everything I read, from everything I saw, it appeared to be exactly what I had always wanted, small class sizes, individual projects, conference work, it was all there in theory. During fall semester I took a fantastic class by a new professor, thinking I would love every moment of it. I loved conference work, I loved meeting with my professor, I loved the open-ended nature of conference work. Everyone says 'at SLC you can do your conference work on anything' and that is true. You can, you are able to, if self directed enough, to do your conference paper on any topic you chose, as long as you can convince the professor of it's relevance. What they fail to tell you is your professor, genius though she or he may be, is not an expert on every topic. For someone like me who knows with a fair degree of certainty what they want to do post-graduation, this is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is every class can contain your favorite subject, the curse being the professor is not an expert on the topic. This was my largest concern upon transferring, the ability to explore environmental studies in both breath and depth. Prior to transferring, I asked specifically about the expansion on environmental studies at SLC, and was told the mellon grant money should filter in throughout the 2010-2011 school year, with a major expansion of the department to be completed over the summer. This, quite simply, has not happened. Maybe the information was miscommunicated, maybe the administrator I spoke to was misinformed, but regardless, I am left in a difficult place.

This spring, I found myself in two classes I did not really want to be in. They were well taught, and interesting, however I found myself slipping. If it had not been for the most fantastic internship imaginable, spring semester would have been unbearable.

Part of what makes SLC such a special place resides off campus. The immediate access to the city opens up six million possibilities that simply are not available at other institutions. I would not have traded these opportunities for anything. I will miss the city greatly.

In the end, it comes down to academics. While I love the educational philosophy of Sarah Lawrence, I found myself struggling to find classes that I was not only interested in, but genuinely excited by. I took two fantastic classes, and four mediocre classes. I have looked through the course catalogue for this upcoming year, and can say with certainty that I simply cannot explore my love of environmental studies in the directions I want, nor to the extent I want, at Sarah Lawrence. I am simply tired of hitting roadblock after roadblock with the administration. Departments don't talk to each other. Administrators don't talk to each other. Sometimes it seems they re-invent the wheel every nine months.

Rigorous and Rewarding Writing Program.

I'm going to be majoring in Liberal Arts, but my focus is writing right now. The writing courses are pretty intense, but it's definitely worth it. It's a lot of work, but it helps you learn what you excel at and what you need to work on. Professors are very dedicated to students and their ideas. The school's only a half an hour away (by train) from Manhattan, so it offers tons of internships there. I don't think I need to elaborate on how brilliant it is to have an internship in Manhattan.