At demanding colleges (Ivies, MIT, top LACs) they might average 30-40 hours per week on classes and homework.
Not true, at least as you state it. When I was at MIT, I was spending about 30-40 hours per week on homework for a single class. Not all my classes were this hard, but there was at least one ball-buster per term. And I was far from alone in this regard.
I kept MIT manageable by (1) majoring in math and (2) settling for Bs. They keep cramming more material into engineering programs without taking anything out. Math was better in that regard. A lot of MIT students even managed to do extracurriculars without having to drop out.
Fair call. MIT is known to be hard and I know nothing about it, so I'll defer to you on this one. I was just listing it on the roster of "demanding colleges". Evidently, MIT is in a league of its own when it comes to being demanding.
I've heard Cornell and Swarthmore are too - those are other colleges with a "throw work at you until you break" reputation. And Harvard is if you want an A, but 80% of Harvard students get Bs anyway, so most figure they'll just settle for that and work about as hard as any other liberal arts college.
Amherst was usually about 20-30 hours/week between classes and homework, except when I took Quantum Mechanics or OS Design, each of which required 20-30 hours/week by itself.
Not true, at least as you state it. When I was at MIT, I was spending about 30-40 hours per week on homework for a single class. Not all my classes were this hard, but there was at least one ball-buster per term. And I was far from alone in this regard.