Williams vs. Swarthmore vs. Brown

interesteddad
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:41:39 +0000

On the specific topic of pass/fail courses.

Swarthmore’s entire first semester is pass/fail for all courses and all students. The theory is two-fold: to give new college students a chance to get their sea legs and to break excessive grade-obsession (“Teacher, teacher, is this going to be on the test?”). After the first semester, Swarthmore students can opt to take up to three more courses during college on a pass/fail basis.

Williams just approved, for the first time, a modified pass/fail option. They call it something like “Guadino Grades” or whatever. You can read about it in the current issue of the Williams Record:

[Faculty approve Gaudino option for five-year trial : The Williams Record](The Williams Record – The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887)

It sounds somewhat convoluted, so I wouldn’t try to characterize or summarize the specifics.