Sarah Lawrence College Top Questions

Not so many interested in science or practical careers Lots of people come from money Most people learning just to learn Politically aware students Not money focused students

It's rated the number 2 most liberal school in the country, and honestly, it may have been robbed. It's a great school for anyone who is open minded and nonjudgmental though. If you're conservative, you won't be jumped on or ravaged so long as you accept others' views and refrain from judging their choices. I know a few conservatives on campus and they seem perfectly content. Socio-economically, it's pretty varied. It IS the most expensive school in America (woo.) but something like 75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body receives aid, so there is a decent range. Stylistically, people tend to be pretty well-dressed actually. We're close to New York, lots of chic black or brown ensembles. Hipsters mixed about. And then there are the true sarah lawrence characters - a girl who dresses like little bo peep, wearing comi-con costumes, etc. But those are outliers. People tend to express themselves pretty freely, so that takes on many different forms.

Students at Sarah Lawrence will surprise you. You see people hanging out that you would not expect to hang out. A person would feel out of place at Sarah Lawrence if they are close-minded. If you are not open to new experiences; if you are not tolerant- welcoming, even -of differences; if you are not willing to learn from the people around you, you would find it difficult to be at Sarah Lawrence College. Racism and homophobia are rare, if they occur ever, and widely frowned upon. Campus-wide there is always an effort being made toward equality, from men, from women, from minorities, from the LGBTQ community- from everyone. Someone who doesn't enjoy the process of learning, of discovery, would not find themselves comfortable at SLC because the education is piloted by the student, not the administration. It is your passions, so your interests, your desires, first and foremost, that navigate your education here. The dress norm at Sarah Lawrence is colorful. It ranges from the most chic, fabulous and stylish runway-esque wardrobes to the most unique, unexpected and over the top. Whatever a person's style is, you'll see it in the classroom, and everywhere else. There are students here from all over the world and from all over the country. Many from California and New York, but also from Oregon, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, and more. International students come from countries such as Sweden, India, Lebanon, and more.

Freinds for life.

My classmates are a strange variety of people, expressive and comfortable with the world around them, they let their creative ideas take flight and follow through in order to change the world around them in a creative and positive way.

The students.... To put it bluntly, Sarah Lawrence is a haven for rich, white, Jewish girls. Stereotypical, but very true. The tuition and fees are steep, and it's very surprising, when you're here, to see just how often some people can afford to go on shopping sprees in NYC (which is just a half hour train ride away!) There are some very active demographic groups on campus, particularly in terms of religions--namely Judaism, but also Christian sects and Eastern religions. There isn't a high international/ethnic population on campus, and those students tend to stick together and not branch out as much, in my experience. However, there is a vibrant queer presence on campus. Queer People of Color, TransAction, and Queer Voice Coalition are the three main groups, and they put on events throughout the year (including something phenomenal called GenderFuck Symposium). If you are a liberal, communist, socialist, atheist, queer, or anarchist, you'll find a group of likeminded people here--Sarah Lawrence is a liberal haven, but there are a fair number of conservatives. The population tends to come from SLC's reputation as a hippie-arts school, as well as its proximity to New York City.

SLC folk are smart, viciously independent, politically active, and creative. You’ll have to fend off the too-cool-for-schoolers and the I-know-more-bands-than-you hipsters, but for the ost part you’ll find that the students are a breath of fresh air. Everyone seems to be working on something, planning something, about to travel somewhere. The student body, once you find your niche, can be a wealth of ideas and friendship and future contacts.

inteligent, creative, interesting, at times self-important individuals

liberal artistic hipsters

They are artistis, interesting people with strong passions and minds.

The majority of students at SLC are serious about both work and play - doing both hard; they are liberally minded, free-living spirits.

My classmates are creative, introspective, and thoughtful.

hipsters with intellectual superiority complexes.

Fun, intelligent, thoughtfully diverse, committed

On average, SLC students are pain-in-the-ass pretentious hipsters; but if you're open to meeting new people, you're bound to find students on your wavelength.

liberal weirdos who like pot, art, arguing, and tight hipster jeans.

I didn't have enough experience on campus to adequately assess the student body situation. The population is overwhelmingly white. That much I can say. But on the other hand, there are people from all walks of life, and rather than being just a "rich school" in terms of the student body, I believe that the population is much more socioeconomically diverse than in years past.

There is no way to adequately and generally describe Sarah Lawrence students. Most (if not all..) are liberal. Many are very politically charged, though the lack of activism on campus suggests otherwise. Sarah Lawrence is by all means a school for individuals, even to a fault. Students passing one another on the walkways do not smile at each other. They either stare at the ground, walk like they're in Manhattan and don't know anyone around, or grab for their cell phone and talk to people miles away. To be blunt, I found there to be some wonderful students, but the majority are entitled (as it is an expensive institution), elitist and cold. It cultivates an impressively cold social climate.

There is no diversity on campus. There is no socio-economic diversity, no racial diversity, no political diversity, no ethnic diversity, and there is no regional diversity. The reality is, it is a very small, expensive college, a selective college looking for a certain type of person. If you fit Sarah Lawrence, you will love it, but Sarah Lawrence and the student body will not try and socially fit to you. If you are an athlete, or you come from a certain socio-economic status and can not show off wealth or don't have enough wealth to condemn money all together, if you are interested in clubs, or organizations, like being involved with the school in many ways, you will find Sarah Lawrence very frustrating.

Upper class self-described hipsters with too much money sheltering them from making real-world decisions. Again, this is not true for everyone on campus, there are some awesome people who go to this school. Unfortunately, it is a very self-selected population of students who attend. They can afford to go to SLC, they are liberal arts students, and they want a funky, artsy school that caters to 'individuals'. Again, some really cool people go to school here, but there are some people who are way too into themselves.

The LGBT community at Sarah Lawrence is top tier, really incredible. The community is really supportive and active on campus, and many LGBT friends I've made have expressed that they find more comfort at Sarah Lawrence than any other school they've been a part of. The campus is likewise seriously politically active and more diverse in ideologies than you might think: one can hear debates from all sides on all manner of topics and participate quite easily. It does seem a bit more difficult to get an SLC student to "open up," especially first years, but the benefits of truly participating in student affairs really outweighs the initial anxiety that can present itself.

Speaking of having been a women's college--we still have a 77{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} female, 23{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} male student body. We also have a large and thriving LGBT population, and we are probably one of the most sensitive communities to issues of sexual identity in the country. While we're diverse in terms of sexual identity, we are not as diverse as we want to be racially, politically, socio-economically, etc. It is a predominantly white, liberal, middle-class campus. There are several identity groups on campus (such as Harambe, for students of color, and Unidad, for latin american students) that are very strong but there tends to be some segregation between members of these clubs and the rest of campus, which is regrettable. In my experience, as a white, female first-year, I was in a triple with two non-white roommates. This was a great experience, but unfortunately not as common a situation. In terms of the 77/23 female/male split, as a heterosexual girl, this can be difficult. When I attended accepted students day, I remember someone asking about this reality. The response was something like, "Well...true, you don't really come here to get a boyfriend." This is true. It's just kind of a fact for most straight girls, which doesn't mean it's impossible, but when you weight the other aspects of the school most students find that it's worth it (most of the time). New York City is 30 min away. SLC's student body is very individualistic and independent, and this can sometimes come across as judgmental and seemingly hostile. While some people definitely are judgmental and hostile, most are wonderful if you get to know them. SLC students can tend to stick in small groups, but because the school is so small, everyone pretty much knows everyone, if not by name then by face. There are a lot of theatre kids at SLC, and more than anything writers. A large percentage of the campus takes pride in their unique sense of style, so you don't see a lot of kids in sweatpants or other cozy SLC wear in class or around campus. On the other hand, you can pretty much wear anything crazy and not get weird looks, so it's kind of a wash.

Leftist, liberal, wealthy, funky, spoken word and poetry, hip hop beats mixed by white boys-black boys scarce and well liked when present, we are hurting for some culture, we love it all dreadlocks and ghana, identity and miss-identity-mr mass money. We place first for Poetry Beat Performances, we wear headscarves and glasses, ballet flats and neon colored sundresses. we love our bicycles, we love our coffee more. cigarettes are hipster chic. I hate hipster chic but my school loves it. We don't have many poor people. Sarah Lawrence has poor financial aid, but we love to help them!

A lot of students come to Sarah Lawrence from small or private high schools and if there is one problem area, in terms of lack of diversity it is class. Most students are so financially secure that they don't talk about what they will earn in the future. Some one who does not have a lot of money would probably feel out of place at Sarah Lawrence. Most students are so financially secure that they don't talk about what they will earn in the future. Students at Sarah Lawrence are very stylish. They wear vintage looking clothes styled with an eye toward high fashion or street fashion. The student body's clothing more closely resembles an art school than an Ivy League school and is more creative than it is preppy. However, even though everyone seems to have a unique sense of style, they also end up looking the same as each other. The school isn't really very cliquey, and there isn't much of a social hierarchy either. Though most people have a small group of close friends, they also still hangout with people outside those groups, and everyone parties together.

this is a WHITE school. but as a student of color, if the curriculum interests you, you should come. the asian-american classes i've taken have been remarkable. common ground, the safe space for students of color is my home. we aspire to create change, and it is an inspiring community to become a part of.

A little more diversity would be nice at Sarah Lawrence - come on Republicans, don't be scared! The high tuition also discourages lower income students to apply. LGBT groups are extremely active on campus.

We're all a little gay so don't even think you can escape it. "Queer in a year or your money back" is the unofficial slogan. The vast majority of students come from New York and California, but after the first couple days, where you're from doesn't really come in to play. It's one of the, if not the, most accepting campus. Just know that anything you do will piss someone off, make another person laugh, and make someone confused. Although you don't really say hello to people you don't know, meeting people is not hard. The friends I have from Sarah Lawrence know me better than anyone.

Sarah Lawrence is very accepting. We don't hate anything at all except hatred, as Bob Dylan wrote. Large LGBT community, chapters of many multi-cultural groups (Harambe ect.) We are admittedly far to the left (but we think that is the right way to be)

I am an LGBT student who came to SLC thinking I would find a large gay population. Three years later all of my friends are straight. There exists and LGBT population, but its nowhere near as active as it once was.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of ethnic diversity at SLC. There's a very outspoken LGBT community, and there are quite a few kids on scholarship, but you're more likely to find kids that are well off, but rebellious and abnormal in some way. The more conservative student would feel the most out of place, and minority students, while they are beginning to build affinity groups--last year, too, there was a club space built for ethnicity groups while our cafeteria was being renovated. Students are politically aware, but most of them are not incredibly active--the political groups are relatively small. But it's all very liberal--again, republicans may feel a little out of place.

There are so many different "groups" on campus, you can't even delineate one experience with those groups from another. Its not very racially diverse, pretty much everyone I know at SLC is an atheist, no matter what religious background they come from, and the LGBT group on campus is very prominent. You don't even really think about it once you've been there for long enough. All of my friends are from very diverse background, economically and geographically. Anyone who is into sports, anyone who is "preppy" or homophobic or any of those things would feel very uncomfortable at SLC. Students tend to wear casual attire to class, although there was a kid who wore nothing but three piece suits everywhere. Different types of students are constantly interacting with one another because 1. it's impossible to avoid a certain "group" because it's a pretty small campus and 2. no one is really keeping tabs on which "group" someone is from. Four tables: art kids and the hipsters sit together. then there are the kids who were dorks in high school and now they all found eachother and dyed their hair and listen to NIN. then there are the sort of quiet, studious kids who hang out together, and then I guess there would be the kids with no social skills at all at the last table. The kids who want to sit alone and read or just be by themselves. Most SLC kids are from: CA, NY, and the surrounding states close to NY. Most of the kids at SLC come from mad $. Most kids have an opinion about politics (i.e. VERY LIBERAL) but no one is really all that active. there are a few activist kids, but everyone turns a blind eye. which sucks. No one really talks about how much money they want to make, primarily because the majority of the students I know have never had to worry about money.

Changing rapidly, more "normals" coming in. Used to be kids that read books. Now it seems not so much. But no matter what, there is a SLC pride and on days of whole school events, the student body comes together and does have a "one love" thing going on. Not a lot of clicks or social groups, but the black kids certainly do sit together in Bates dinning hall.

As was previously implied, the black squirrel is the school's unofficial mascot; common wisdom is that, as the squirrels are black-clad, neurotic, antisocial and rarely seen in wintertime, they are fairly representative of the average SLC student!

Sarah Lawrence's student "body," to expand on the metaphor, is much like a corpse that has half-rotted over the course of several weeks, in a drainage ditch during the rainy season, in some tropical country, bloated and stinking.

The student body is quite diverse sexually--in fact, at this school, it is controversial to say you don't believe in a sexual continuum and a broad gender binary. To say that a man is a man and a woman is a woman--regardless of their sexual orientation--is utter blasphemy to most. Racially, the school is less diverse than it should be--we have almost no Latino/Hispanic students, too few blacks (particularly males), and not many Asians. Mostly, we are white, occasionally Jewish, students from California, New England, and other parts of the Northeast.

the students from sarah lawrence come from every different background you could imagine. they are accepting of each others differences.

The only thing I have ever felt prejudiced against in slc is my religion. Not my religion specifically but religion in general. Though the school would like to consider itself liberal and open minded , its scary how narrowminded they can be when it comes to religion.

The student body is very eclectic in the sense that everybody has something unique to offer and has different viewpoints, etc. However, there is a lack of cultural diversity which I have noticed. I have found a really great group of close friends though and I couldn't be happier.

Wonferful, challenging young people.

Sarah Lawrence is so left it makes you dizzy. My experience with our diversity groups: They are all active and passionate people who don't let down. A few years ago, one of the groups led a protest in order to demand more Ethnic Studies at Sarah Lawrence. A year later, their demands are slowly, but surely being met.

A really conservative student would probably feel out of place-- there is a blanket liberalness that is not rivaled by many here. There used to be way less religious kids here but religion is something that is increasingly accepted by those who don't practice-- Christian Union and Hillel are two of the more active groups of campus. Most SLC students are from the tri-state area or the west coast, although I meet a lot of international kids on campus.

Sarah Lawrence isn't as many rich white kids as you would think, but mostly it is well-off children from either side of the US coast. Almost everyone is left wing and the biggest minority group would definitely be the lesbians, of whom there are many. On the other side there are a lot of straight girls who travel in packs and lament their lack of dating. The straight boys do pretty much the same. There are a few gay boys littered in and there, but not as many as you would believe and they tend to avoid each other.

All the black people hangout with each other, they've basically segregated themselves. There really is no social hierarchy. No one here is passionate enough about anything to form a group.

Frat-party loving, preppy kids would have a tough time here. Most people wear skinny jeans and skirts; people try to look and dress original and hipster. Lots of scarves. Most people from either Northeast or California. Different types of students don't really interact; people usually stick to their social circles.

students are predominantly left. lots of gay people. mostly white people, not much diversity.

The campus is very queer friendly, I think that everyone can agree on that. There have been a number of instances of racial tensions on campus, nothing violent or anything like that, but their are few racial/ethnic minority students so the issues related to that are present. People say that Sarah Lawrence is a school for rich people, but I know very few people here who are not on some form of finacial aid. but the step cost of tuition does lend itself to a middle class student body. The campus is mostly leaning to the political left, we have the liberal dems, the communists, the socialists, the anarchists. I think I only know of one republican on campus, but students here love debate...

You would feel out of place on campus if you were a Republican, had vocal prejudices, or used politically incorrect language like 'that's so gay.' (Though less so for being a Republican since students thrive off of debate and are often disappointed by the lack of political diversity.) The one thing that binds all Sarah Lawrence students together (remember, our motto is 'We are different. So are you.') is that we are all passionate about learning in some way. Your passion might be theater and psychology; mine is economics, politics and languages but the thing we have in common is learning and following our passions. There is a place for everyone here who loves learning and is willing to work hard, regardless of their background. It sounds corny but that's what it's like here. I met my best friend by sitting down with a student who was sitting alone at Bates (our big dining hall) and striking up a conversation. It's just that sort of place.

The students in my extracurriculars as social network meet my psychological needs, and the campus is a huge asset to anyone wiho wants to carve out a memorable college life.

Diverse for the most part, even though many colleges assume Sarah Lawrence is full of lesbian neo-feminists or hipsters. That is only true to a degree. The school tries to find as much diversity as possible, but given the tuition fees, this can be very hard sometimes. But considering that, I think the school does a pretty good job of that. About the money thing, it's a sad reality here but it's true. Many students are able to go here because they have the money to. That means that some spoiled kids who go here don't value their education and also think that it is an easy ride to a degree because the school doesn't require tests. It's expensive because the school has almost no endowment: The school's relatively new and hasn't built a strong alumni support system yet. Therefore the largest portion of funds come straight from tuition fees. Also, it is very expensive to maintain the highly personal ratio of student-to-teacher seminar system. However, the administration is working very hard to build a larger endowment so that more students who deserve it can be given the chance of getting such an amazing education.

We don't wear sweatpants here like they do at other colleges.