What differentiates Sarah Lawrence from other colleges and universities?
Our distinct approach to education.

Our academic process is characterized by rigorous course work and innovative practices, including:

Faculty Mentors or “Dons”

Each student works with a faculty adviser (called a “don”) to design his or her own program of study. The don is available for ongoing academic and personal guidance.

Individual Program Planning

The College encourages students to choose the courses of study most meaningful to them and recognizes the importance of tailoring each student’s program to his or her specific interests. The faculty don and the student work together to plan a program that will be most beneficial. And at the start of the semester, students interview individual faculty before making class selections.

Academic Concentrations

While there are no formal majors at Sarah Lawrence, all academic studies are writing intensive and intellectually challenging. Our students call their main areas of interest “concentrations.” Working with their dons, students develop an educational plan and approach best suited to their individual needs.

A Writing Intensive Education

At Sarah Lawrence, we believe that writing is essential to thinking and learning. We require our undergraduates to produce in-depth, analytical papers across all disciplines, and we measure students’ academic progress by examining these papers. Employers and graduate schools consistently tell us they value our alumnae/i for their ability to write, an asset that sets them apart from their peers.

Seminar-Conference System

In our seminar-conference system, each course consists of a seminar (a small, highly interactive class) and a biweekly conference in which students meet one on one with professors to discuss projects related to the course. Students take three courses each semester—the equivalent of six anywhere else—to explore each subject in depth.

Selective Lecture Courses

Each year, Sarah Lawrence offers approximately 10 lecture courses designed to give students a broad view of a subject. Courses are usually supplemented by group conferences.

Integration of the Creative and Performing Arts

Sarah Lawrence was among the first colleges in the U.S. to include the arts within its curriculum, underscoring our belief that development of the creative faculties plays a central role in the growth of the individual.

Commitment to Teaching

We have no graduate assistants, instructors, or adjunct lecturers—and no hierarchy of faculty ranking. Each teacher is fully a teacher, available to first-year students and sophomores as well as to juniors and seniors.

Personal Written Evaluations

Faculty produce written evaluations in response to each student’s work. These end-of-semester evaluations are the culmination of an ongoing dialogue in class and in conference and, therefore, stress individual strengths and weaknesses and give students a more complete sense of their progress. The College maintains a record of student grades for external purposes, such as graduate school applications.

Academic Studies

Undergraduate students take courses from at least three of the following four areas of study:

• History and the Social Sciences
• Humanities
• Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• Creative and Performing Arts

Sarah Lawrence students select courses from among the following disciplines:

• LGBT
  • Africana Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Art History
  • 3-2 Art of Teaching
  • Asian Studies
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science
  • Dance
  • Dance History
  • Design Studies
  • Economics
  • 3-2 Engineering
  • Environmental Studies
  • Ethnic and Diasporic Studies
  • Film History
  • French
  • Geography
  • German
  • Global Studies
  • Greek
  • History
  • International Studies
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Latin
  • Latin American and Latino/a Studies
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies
• Writing
  • Literature
  • Mathematics
  • Music
  • Music History
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Politics
  • Pre-Law
  • Pre-Med
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy
  • Religion
  • Russian
  • Science, Technology, and Society
  • Sociology
  • Spanish
  • Theatre
  • Visual Arts:
    • Digital Imagery
    • Drawing
    • Filmmaking
    • Painting
    • Photography
    • Printmaking
    • Sculpture
  • Women’s Studies
  • Writing

Study Abroad Programs

• Florence, Italy
• Catania (Sicily), Italy
• Paris, France
• Oxford, England
• London (BADA Theatre Program), England
• Havana, Cuba

Domestic Exchange Programs

• Eugene Lang College
• Reed College
• Spelman College

Master’s Programs

• Art of Teaching
• Child Development
• Dance
• Health Advocacy
• Human Genetics
• Theatre
• Women’s History
• Writing

Career Counseling & Internships

Students are offered a full range of career planning services through the Office of Career Counseling. Internships are also presented to students each semester, and past opportunities have been offered at places such as American Civil Liberties Union, Guggenheim Museum, Tribeca Productions, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Vanity Fair.

Admission

The College considers many factors in evaluating applicants. These include intellectual promise, motivation, and creativity, in addition to the quality of each student’s secondary school program and writing skills. Teacher recommendations and extracurricular activities play a role in admission decisions as well. A personal interview is recommended.

Visiting Sarah Lawrence College

Prospective students and their families are welcome to visit Sarah Lawrence year-round. Campus tours, information sessions, personal interviews, class visits, and overnight stays with current students are all available. To arrange your visit, contact:

Office of Admission
Sarah Lawrence College
1 Mead Way
Bronxville, NY 10708-5999
(800) 888-2858
(914) 395-2510
slcadmit@sarahlawrence.edu

Intercollegiate Athletics

• Men’s Basketball
• Men’s and Women’s Crew
• Women’s Cross Country (starting fall 2009)
• Men’s Cross Country (starting fall 2009)
• Co-ed Equestrian
• Men’s Soccer (starting fall 2009)
• Women’s Swimming
• Women’s Tennis
• Men’s Tennis
• Women’s Volleyball
• Women’s Softball

Intramural and Recreational Athletics

Intramural programs include ultimate Frisbee, soccer, basketball, and volleyball. Physical education and other organized activities include fencing, Pilates, yoga, martial arts, skiing, squash, climbing, hiking, and more.

Campus community spaces include:

• A*Space (student-run art gallery)
• Black Squirrel (casual coffee shop with pool table)
• Common Ground (gathering place for student-of-color identity groups)
• Publication Space (resource center for student publications)
• The Teahaus (teas, coffee, homemade baked goods and events such as concerts and poetry readings)
• View more campus spaces

Student Organizations/Extracurricular Activities (some examples)

• Beyond Compliance (advocacy group for disability rights)
• Call and Response (responsive writing ‘zine)
• Downstage (student-run performance group)
• FLUX (Feminism, Liberation, Unity, and eXcitement)
• Harambe (identity group celebrating Black life)
• Hillel at SLC
• Kamikazes Anonymous (anime appreciation)
• New Kids on the Block (transfer student group)
• Progressive Produce (local and organic food awareness)
• Sarah Lawrence Gospel Choir (SLGC)
• Sarah Lawrence Independent Cinema
• The Sadie Lou Standard (weekly community events newspaper)
• Second Helpings (local food bank partnership)
• Sustainable SLC
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Unidad (Latino/a community engagement)
• View more student organizations

Campus Events (a recent sampling)

• Golda’s Balcony (alumna Tovah Feldshuh’s one-woman Broadway show)
• Fall and spring formals
• SLC African Percussion Ensemble outdoor performance
• Lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert A. Caro
• Women’s History Month Conference: “Gender and Power in the Muslim World”
• Science and Mathematics Poster Session
• Annual Rocky Horror shadowcast production
• “Peace and Justice” in Afghanistan photo exhibit
• Comedian and actor Michael Ian Black (of MTV fame)
• Presentation by Gabriel Bol Deng, “Lost Boy” of Sudan
• SLC student rocket launch
• Artist-in-Residence dance concert (student performers)
• Ghosts of Abu Ghraib film discussion

Proximity to New York: The Best of Both Worlds

A half-hour train ride from Midtown Manhattan, Sarah Lawrence’s location—in Yonkers, New York, near the village of Bronxville—enhances all aspects of the college experience. Situated on 44 wooded acres, the College’s suburban campus in southern Westchester County features ivy-covered Tudor buildings housing classrooms, faculty offices, and student residences. With easy access to one of the world’s great cities, students find internship opportunities (CNN, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Museum of Modern Art, and the New Yorker, among others), research resources, and incomparable cultural riches—many intersecting academic interests and bringing course work to life. On campus, the learning environment attracts some of the nation’s most exciting artists and prominent scholars, who can easily reach Sarah Lawrence to perform, speak, and meet with students.

Class of 2012 Statistics

• Applications Received: 2,785
• Students Admitted: 1,293
• Admitted Early Decision: 87
• Admit Rate: 46%
• Enrolled: 348
• Average High School GPA: 3.6

College-Wide Statistics

Number of Students (2008-09)

• Undergraduates on Campus: 1,235
• Undergraduates Studying Abroad: 148
• Graduate Students: 317
• Total: 1,700

Student Body

Students come from nearly every state and from 35 countries.

• Female: 74%
• Male: 26%
• Students of Color: 20%
• International: 5%

Tuition (2009-10)

Tuition & Fees: $41,968
Room & Board: $13,370

Financial Aid & Scholarships

Sarah Lawrence College does not award merit scholarships. Financial aid is based entirely on need.

• 61% of undergraduates receive some form of financial aid
• 51% of undergraduates receive SLC gift aid
• The average financial aid package is $27,149

Alumnae/i Achievements

70-75% of graduates will go on to graduate, medical, business, or law school.

Alumnae/i Career Direction

• 25% are self-employed
• 25% work in medicine, psychology, and science
• 20% are involved in the performing arts and filmmaking
• 16% pursue careers in the visual arts
• 50% do volunteer work in addition to pursuing career and educational goals

Notable Alumnae/i

• J.J. Abrams, producer/creator, Lost
• Hillary Beal, vice president, Bank of New York Foundation
• Jon Avnet, film director/producer
• Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff
• W. Ian Lipkin, professor of epidemiology, neurology, and pathology, Columbia University, and principal investigator and scientific director, Northeast Biodefense Center
• Deborah Loeff, chief of pediatric surgery, Advocate Christ Medical Center
• Meredith Monk, performance artist, composer, singer, director
• Julianna Margulies, actress
• Susan Segal, president and CEO, Council of the Americas
• Barbara Walters, broadcast journalist
• Vera Wang, designer
• Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• View more notable alumnae/i