What’s Sarah Lawrence College?

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Sarah Lawrence College is a small liberal arts institution in New York known for its strengths in the arts and humanities. Its academic system is self-directed, with no required courses and no grades given. Students receive written evaluations and complete conference work in addition to coursework. Famous alums include Yoko Ono and Vera Wang.

Sarah Lawrence College is a small liberal arts institution located in Bronxville, New York, just north of New York City. The college was originally a women’s school, but is now co-ed. The distribution of students, however, still has a significantly larger female population than males. Sarah Lawrence College is known for its strengths in the arts and humanities. Famous college alums include Meredith Monk, Yoko Ono, Barbara Walters, Grace Paley and Vera Wang.

Sarah Lawrence’s academic system is comprised of a placement and self-directed study system. The term “don” is borrowed from Oxford tradition and is used to describe academic advisors on campus. Students receive gifts in the first year, according to the course of study they intend to follow. In the first year of college, the student meets twice a week and takes a course with the instructor. After the first year, students meet with their gifts at least once a semester to discuss coursework and academic progress. If a student finds that he or she connects particularly well with another faculty member, he or she may request to exchange donations.

The course structure at Sarah Lawrence College is very flexible to allow for a self-designed academic plan. There are no required courses; Sarah Lawrence College does not offer introductory courses, but offers courses appropriate for beginners in each discipline. Although each student must complete a total of 120 credits to graduate, the requirements regarding the distribution of credits on subjects offered by the college are quite lax.

Sarah Lawrence College does not provide grades to students. At the end of each semester, students receive a written evaluation from each of their professors. Such assessments discuss the student’s course work and progress, as well as the student’s final project, or – in Sarah Lawrence’s terms – “conference work”. Conference work refers to work that a student completes in addition to course work. Near the beginning of each semester, students choose a topic to study related to the work they are doing in class. A student on a Victorian literature course, for example, might study the history of illness in the Bronte family. Students meet regularly with their professors to discuss the progress of their work at the conference. A completed lecture project might result in a long article, artwork or song, or presentation to the class.




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