- Private coeducational liberal arts and science college
- Founded 1926
- 1,370 undergraduate students, 300 postgraduates
- 14% international students from 53 countries
- 9:1 student-faculty ratio
- Good fit = independent, curious, willing to self-advocate, open to trying new things, diverse student body so many different types of student find a home at SLC, lots of faculty support is available
Location
- Historic campus – 44 wooded acres in Bronxville
- Suburban
- Classic college town but close proximity to New York
- 40 minute train ride to Grand Central
- 30-40 minutes to major airports
Academic
- Unique academic program – incredibly individualised
- All students graduate with a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Completely open curriculum and students take a very active role in designing their own curriculum. All students decide their own course 1-1 with a faculty member
- No majors – instead ‘concentrations’. Students can choose to be very specialised, or very broad
- No common educational class requirements – though some distribution requirements. Must take two classes from three out of the four areas.
- 50 disciplines on offer
- Four key areas of study: Creative and Performing Arts, History and the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics
- Students traditionally take three classes at a time – can divide one class into three mini classes to allow for specialisation and diversity
- Most popular concentrations: Biology, Political Science, Creative Writing, Theatre, Film, Environmental Science
- Small seminar classes and 1-on-1 biweekly student-faculty conferences
- 90% of classes are in small, roundtable seminars – classes capped at 15 students
- Lectures only 10% of classes and capped at 45 students
- All classes are taught by professors – no teaching assistants or graduate students.
- Conference projects – students design their own for each class creating a very individualised approach to coursework – engage with learning materials on their own terms
- Established study abroad programmes with China, Cuba, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe
- Year long study abroad programme with Oxford University
- A number of 5 year programmes offer students a chance to earn two degrees: The Art of Teaching, Child Development, Dance/Movement Therapy, and a 3+2 engineering programme with Columbia University (double degree)
- Domestic exchanges with Pitzer College and Spelman College
- Pre-professional advising is available for Pre-Law, Pre-Health, Pre-Education and Pre-Journalism – students can begin planning their path to graduate school from their 1st year.
- Brand new film centre – film is becoming increasingly popular. Very big film alumni – eg. Barbara Walters.
- 70% of students go on to graduate school within 5 years
Admissions
- Holistic admissions
- Accept Common App only
- Has been test optional for over a decade
- Optional writing supplement – recommended to complete it
- Early Decision 1 and Early Action – 1st November
- Early Decision II – 2 January
- Regular Decision – 15 January
- Sizable portion are admitted through EA/ED – go this route if you know what you want
- Record number of students applying each year
- Accept up to 10 unique submissions with an application so students can decide how they wish to present themselves
- Average GPA of admitted students = 3.5 unweighted
- Do track demonstrated interested but not heavily weighted in the admissions decision
- Virtual interviews – optional but recommended. Book early
Finances
- Merit and need based aid is available
- Not need blind
- Try to meet 100% of need – will top up with merit aid
- $34 million in scholarships each year
- Average award is $34K
- More than 70% receive financial assistance – SLC works to be accessible
- No extra application for merit aid
- CSS not required
- Tuition around $56,000
- No application fee
- International aid – a number of different scholarships so families are advised to reach out to find out what is available for their country
Accommodation
- 80%+ live on campus for all four years
- Wide range of different types of accommodation is available
- Specialised houses – eg. quiet house, women only, substance free
- Living co-ops for students with similar interests – eg. social justice, sustainability
- About 8% are commuter students
Activities
- 150+ students run organisations
- Most popular are students identity groups
- Tea House – student run cafe. Profits go to a student-student scholarship fund.
- 5 major stage productions each year – everyone can audition
- Campus life is very active at the weekends despite close proximity to NY: always live music, campus traditions, lots of dances, film screenings, food trucks
- Weekly shuttle to the MET
Visit the Sarah Lawrence College website
