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

Exchange Programs

• California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts)
• Dartington College of Art at the University of Falmouth, England
• Eugene Lang College
• Pitzer College
• Reed College
• Spelman College

Consortium Program

• South India Term Abroad Exchange Programs

Master’s Programs

• Art of Teaching*
• Child Development (plus a dual degree in Child Development and Social Work with New York University)
• Dance
• Health Advocacy
• Human Genetics
• Theatre
• Women’s History (plus a joint degree in Women's History and Law with Pace University)*
• Writing

* These programs offer a 4/5 Bachelor/Master's program for Sarah Lawrence undergraduates who want to continue their education and complete a Master's at SLC within five years.

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 The New Yorker, Sesame Workshop, Council on Foreign Relations, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

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
• Co-Ed Crew
• Co-EdCross Country
• Co-ed Equestrian
• Men’s Soccer
• Women’s Swimming
• Women’s Tennis
• Men’s Tennis
• Women’s Volleyball
• Women’s Softball

Intramural Athletics

In addition to student clubs and organizations (see below), a number of intramural athletics are offered at the College, including Fencing, Martial Arts, Hiking, Women's Soccer, Squash, Men's Swimming, Men's Volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee.

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

Center for Continuing Education

B.A. and Post B.A. programs for non-traditional students

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 2013 Statistics

• Applications Received: 2,159
• Students Admitted: 1,297
• Accepted Early Decision: 91
• Enrolled: 370
• From Public Schools: 51%
• From Independent Schools: 40%
• From Parochial Schools: 8%
• Homeschooled: 1%
• Average High School GPA: 3.6

• Female: 75%
• Male: 25%
• Students of Color: 19%
• International: 8%

• U.S. Representation: From 37 states, D.C., and Guam
• International Representation: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Finland, Great Britain, India, Israel, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Taiwan and Ukraine

College-Wide Statistics

Number of Students (2009-10)

• Undergraduates: 1,367
• Graduate Students: 334
• Total: 1,701

Student Body (Undergraduate only)

• Female: 72%
• Male: 28%
• Students of Color: 25%
• International: 7%

State Representation

• 45 states are represented by the Sarah Lawrence student body, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam
• The states with the largest representation are California and New York

International Representation

• Australia, Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Serbia/Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, West Indies, United Kingdom

Test Scores

• Not considered. Sarah Lawrence College feels that standardized testing is not effective in evaluating a student's ability to succeed in a writing-based curriculum such as ours.

Tuition (2009-10)

Tuition & Fees: $41,968
Room & Board: $13,368

• 61% of undergraduates receive some form of financial aid
• 51% of undergraduates receive SLC gift aid
• The average financial aid package is $29,444

Student:Faculty Ratio

9:1—among the lowest in the country. Almost all courses are in seminar format with an average class size of 11-12 students.

Notable Alumnae/i

• J.J. Abrams, Producer/Creator, "Lost"
• Hillary Beal, VP, Bank of New York Foundation
• Brian DePalma, Film Director
• Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff
• W. Ian Lipkin, Molecular Neurobiologist, discoverer of West Nile Virus
• Deborah Loeff, Chief of Pediatric Surgery
• Meredith Monk, Performance artist, composer, singer, director
• Ann Patchett, Novelist
• Susan Segal, President and CEO, Council of the Americas
• Barbara Walters, Broadcast Journalist
• Vera Wang, Designer
• Joanne Woodward, Oscar winning actress
• View more notable alumnae/i