I’ve read reporting that high school students on average don’t read as much as they used to, and thus in college they can’t handle the volume of reading in humanities classes that was normal in the past. I also wonder if the continuing test-optional policy at W&L is leading to more students getting in who are (sorry to sound elitist) intellectually mediocre and underprepared, possibly leading W&L faculty to lower standards.
On the other hand I’m assuming that AI-based plagiarism is far less of a problem than at most universities these days. It’s a huge frustration for college faculty at many places currently.
I actually think there is a decent argument to make that the SAT and ACT are not really particularly good indicators of high-level reading/writing ability.
So, TO or not, I would hope colleges looking for good readers/writers are looking for other indicators.
Your question is fair and I don’t know the answer but and I personally tend to believe your hypothesis - but then you could ask the same of schools even higher ranked, if using US News.
To me, and I’ll disagree with @NiceUnparticularMan here, but with rampant grade inflation (in HS), the test is a differentiator.
There’s correlations between ACT/SAT test numbers and income. So if by 'intellectually mediocre and underprepared" you mean less wealthy --then maybe. (This is intentionally snarky — so please keep reading)
More seriously — many high quality schools are test optional and have been test optional for years. Examples: Brandeis Mount Holyoke, St Olaf, Union College, Lafayette College (through 2029), Bucknell (for 2025-2026), Skidmore, Macalester, Bryn Mawr, Scripps, Vassar, Bowdoin
So unless you are suggesting that ALL of these schools have as you put it “intellectually mediocre and underprepared students” – I don’t agree with your rationale
I won’t disagree with the income argument and one can argue the test can be learned and higher income = more prep (both my kids got professional prep) - and I understand schools want diversity and I’m ok with that - but I do personally believe that schools are maybe letting kids in that don’t necessarily have the academic chops of others (and as private schools it’s their choice) and that perhaps some are being given “assistance” grade wise to get through - but no different than other kids. I think grade inflation is happening very heavily.
I don’t understand this statement. Like most colleges and universities, the faculty is addressing AI in multiple ways. Some are incorporating into the curriculum in some fashion to teach responsible use of AI (and prepare students for professional life where it may be used). Some may have essay assignments during class time that previously would have been homework assignments. I don’t expect it is any different than elsewhere.
As for the first statement, this could apply to any school with a TO policy (long term or covid-related) so I’m not sure why it is singling out W&L. Just like any selective LAC where a bunch of “top 10%” high schoolers suddenly find themselves as just another fish in the sea (or pond), there may initially be a bit of imposter syndrome and anxiety from unhealthy comparisons. Most students settle in and appreciate the intellectual stimulation of being surrounded by a campus of academically minded students.
If the OP can make their question specific to W&L, I will try to answer. Otherwise this is just another post for the already over-discussed topic of TO.
Please stay on topic to what is the current state of academics at W&L, not TO in general, nor the article already being discussed in another thread about HS students doing less reading. TIA
Most universities unlike W&L have mild to moderate penalties for proven plagiarism (e.g. you just fail the assignment). And now faculty are getting swamped with ‘essays’ straight from ChatGPT that students are passing off as their own work. On university faculty online forums there is a ton of frustration over it. I was guessing that it’s far less of a problem at W&L for faculty since the consequences of proven plagiarism are so much more severe.
I am also still curious about the first part of my original question, as to whether W&L faculty are reducing their reading assignments (there has been reporting of this happening even at ‘elite’ institutions such as Columbia University).
The Honor Code is unchanged and enforced. In the few instances of academic dishonesty I’ve heard of over the three years I’ve had a student there, all but one resulted in the offending students voluntarily withdrawing to avoid going through the process with the Honor Council. The one instance I heard of going to the Council ended up with the student being dismissed.
I’ve not heard anything to indicate faculty are reducing the academic workload in any manner from years past. I recently attended parents weekend and talked to many of my student’s friends. They were complaining about the reading, essays and homework they were trying to balance with spending time with their parents. There was no adjustment in expectations for parents weekend than any other weekend. I also overheard some amusing conversation between the humanities kids and STEM kids on what was worse… the volume of reading and writing in humanities or the time-consuming math/science/lab work in STEM. The end result was if you enjoy your major you don’t really mind the workload (too much…haha).
Rounding ? I just took from the 23/24 CDs. Added % of SAT and ACT. If there was a fraction maybe I’m off 1%. I took schools in us News higher ranked. I didn’t check all.
And if one doesn’t spend time around current students, follow the school newsletter or student-run publications. W&L continues to set records for nationally competitive fellowship awards, and student recipients attribute their success to the intensive guidance and support offered by university staff and faculty. Hardly the results of “underprepared or mediocre” students.
I am not sure about that, but its probably true in the new DSAT. There was something to be said about getting through those passages reasonably well. Reading comprehension is important. My kid regularly has to get through 300-400 pages a week. Processing speed does matter.
I’m admit my question about reading load is hard for anyone but the faculty themselves to answer. Few others would have a long enough frame of reference. I’ve heard several seasoned professors at various institutions say their assigned reading is substantially less compared to their same course 20+ years ago. One of those guys was at a place at least somewhat similar to W&L. And I can see how a student’s workload in a class can still seem like a lot when combined with all their other courses, even if it might be 30-40% less than the previous generation. And I can hope that W&L has maintained a culture of rigor to a greater degree than other places.
If you’re asking for W&L’s curriculum trends over 20 years, I agree this is not the appropriate forum. I believe that’s what led to some confusion in the focus of the answers you’re getting on a site populated by parents and students.
What do you really want to know that we can reasonably answer? Do you have a student considering W&L? There are posters here, like myself, with current students who will do our best to answer questions.
As an aside, I would hope that W&L (and any school) is constantly evaluating and adjusting curriculum to incorporate current research, theories, technologies, etc. while studying and respecting the historical foundations of the topic. Academia should not be static. I would not be thrilled if my kid sat through the exact same class with the exact same teaching methods as her uncle 30 years ago or grandfather 50+ years ago. As long as the rigor is there and results support the goals of the course, I trust the faculty to develop curriculum that works best for today’s students.
In fact there has been something of a movement to do less reading in terms of volume, but spend more time really analyzing texts as a group. This isn’t about coddling, people have just learned that real world facility with texts is best developed that way.
But some professors will complain about any such change. Because some people will complain about change in pretty much any context.
I mean, I don’t know what I can saw about W&L specifically except to say that they’re a well-regarded LAC.
I don’t want to wade into all the specifics of the other stuff here on this thread, but I will note that there’s a lot of “Kids these days!!” in some of the comments here, and working with students at the turn of their 20s for multiple decades leads me to believe that students of that age now are pretty much like they were early in my career—yeah, covid made things weird for a while, but most cohorts you can point to something disruptive they went through, at least locally—and in fact they’re pretty much like you were at that age, almost certainly. Sic semper erat et sic semper erit and all that, and claiming otherwise requires very strong evidence otherwise—and I haven’t seen said strong evidence myself.