<p>@wherezwallace I’ll just say that my son is a frosh at Swat (and I’m an alum, so have “been there”). I honestly think that the “intense” thing is more sold than true. Yeah, everyone buckles down on Sunday night to finish their papers or p-sets, but I never felt that I “couldn’t have fun” and judging from my son’s texts, he is having a ball, balancing the fun (he went to Chinatown with friends last Saturday) and the work (walking his CompSci homework “up the hill” on Sunday night when we talked to him last). Back in my day we liked to “brag” about the intensity, but at least in my experience, it just meant that kids knew they were there to learn, and didn’t go nuts with the partying beyond certain evenings, and had a quota on “free time”. That doesn’t mean fun and free time doesn’t exist. </p>