Swarthmore College Top Questions

Swarthmore students are really hard to generalize because everyone is so different. We have the typical groups of students that most campuses have but EVERYONE here is really smart. Students are pretty accepting of most things.

diverse and passionate

Swarthmore really tries to be diverse in every way possible, which I greatly appreciate. I have been introduced to so many new people and cultures, which has really enriched my experience at Swarthmore so far. Different types of students do interact, especially in the communties of color. The interaction between people of color and whites I think could be stronger, but I don't really know how to go about rectifying that. Most students are active in many things. They are well rounded. Many students are very accomplished before they even come to Swarthmore, and continue with those accomplishments when they come to Swat. Students are involved in politics. Most tend to be democratic liberals. The focus for many students it seems after graduation is not to make a lot of money but to change the world for the better.

The students are great. They are all wonderful people, and because it is a small school you have the opportunity to meet many of them. Basically this is a one of the friendliest communities ive been a part of.

At times I feel as though upper-class students look down upon other socio-economic students cultural experiences. Suburban attitude.

If you check out a classroom, you're more likely to find students in their pajamas than dressed up. A lot of people don't really try to look good on a daily basis (and if they do try, they get attention--both good and bad). On the flip side, this homogeneity is kind of cool. It's often difficult to distinguish between students on financial aid and multi-millionaires.

We're mostly liberal, Obama-lovin college kids. While we do come from all over the country and all over the world, we do tend to think remarkably similar on the surface. Once you really get to know someone, you start seeing where disagreements arise, but it's always interesting to expose those opinions and see where they lead. I've had my head turned by friends to things I never in a million years would have thought about otherwise

A student might feel out of place if he or she was extremely conservative or religious, but there are several Christian groups and a campus republicans. There are large support systems in place for students of color and queer students, including an Intercultural Center (that houses Asian, Latino, Jewish, Queer, Queer and of Color, Class Activist and other groups and events), a Black Cultural Center, and deans who focus on IC issues and gender/sexuality issues. Students don't really tend to dress up for class at all, or really ever wear designer or expensive clothes. Because we only have one dining hall, most people on campus have seen each other if not spoken. No one is really cliquey or rude to other groups of students. The jocks tend to stick together, and the black kids, and the people who are heavily involved in the IC, etc, but no one really gives other groups a hard time. Most students are white, middle class, and from the middle-atlantic region of the northeast. Students are predominantly left-wing, and moderately politically aware/active. Students almost never talk about how much money they plan on earning one day; that seems to be barely even on the radar, unless they're joking about how poor they'll be working in academia/public service.

The student body is generally liberal, though it is still more centrist than progressive/far leftist. There are interactions across all groups of students, I'd say more than on other campuses. That said, some identity groups stick more to themselves than others (including white students). Students wear a range of things to class, and that is a great thing about residential campuses. Social issues come up very often on campus, which fosters a certain level of civic engagement, which is rare on campuses. Conservative students may feel insecure on campus, but that arises more from an inability to advocate for their positions than from general anti-conservative sentiments. I wish the admissions staff admitted more students from lesser privileged backgrounds.

Swarthmore's student body is amazing. What I liked the most when I first arrived was that people didn't seem to fit into the groups that I had grown up with in high school. The captain of the soccer team also starred in musicals. There wasn't one group that was "the" group that defined everyone else. This was made quite clear when a woman from Princeton came to Swarthmore to start diversity conversation groups based on a Princeton model. When talking with interested students, she asked us to think of the group that if we got them to be involved, everyone else would follow them. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Finally I stuck up my hand and commented that we didn't really have any group like that, there were just sort of a bunch of groups who did as the pleased and intermingled. Groups do form. There are moments when you are frustrated and feel stuck within your own group, but it's not impossible to keep expanding your friend base. There are most definitely still racial, class, and sexuality issues. Athletes are often friends with mainly other athletes. Thing about Swarthmore is, though, you can choose to follow those lines or not. Sometimes you just have to make a bigger effort. I cannot speak highly enough of the people who attend Swarthmore. I made life-long friends at Swarthmore. Even if we talk less now due to the fact that we are scattered around the world, I feel really lucky to have met these people and count them among my friends. Another neat thing about Swarthmore is the idea of "you make your own normal." If you want to wear a cape to class, fine. If you want to never wear shoes or grow a mustache for all of November, fine. If you want to go out and party like a madwoman every week night, fine. If you want to go to the library and study on a Friday, fine. You make your own normal.

Swarthmore's campus is pretty progressive. We have very strong LGBT and inter-cultural communities that are very vocal in asserting their presence on campus. Swarthmore is known for its activism, although the student body as a whole is probably more apathetic than it would like to admit. Religious life is more of an undercurrent at Swarthmore than a predominant group. The college makes an effort to make socio-economic class not an issue at Swarthmore, for example, we just initiated a no-loans financial aid policy beginning with the class of 2012. The goal of the administration is for students to not require money on campus and therefore equalize all students. But there is economic disparity, and its a struggle to make the campus more sensitive to that fact. Students are from all over the country and the world, and because its such a small campus, students get to interact with people from very different backgrounds than their own.

There are two things you must know about Swatties: (1) All are geniuses in their own right and (2) they always want to know more. Most students are politically, socially, racially, economically, etc. aware and active, those that are are in the process of learning.

Talked about this above - cohesive group of challenging students who secretly can;t stand that they aren't top of their class anymore. Kind of like thousand generals and one soldier monty python skit

everyone is accepted amongst the community. some groups are more outspoken than others. predominantly liberal.

The school makes an effort to have a diverse student body, though people tend to clump by race/sexual orientation/ religion/ language. There's plenty of opportunity to expand your social horizons, but not everyone does. The student body is, as the campus Republicans loves complaining, overwhelmingly left. Yet, if you actually make some public declaration of queer/feminist/black/Latino(a)/ class identity, it seems like a bunch of ignorant middle-class, white, hetero men always come out of the woodwork and start whining about it. The fact is, progressive or no, most Swatties are from incredibly privileged backgrounds and most don't like being confronted with this fact. Still Swatties tend to be really interesting, intelligent and, on the whole, very decent people. Most high-achieving assholes either stick to the frats and sports teams, or go to a different school.

I feel that there is a lot of diversity on campus whether people know it or not. I do however think that regardless of any other type of identity or factor, all swat students are extremely open-minded. If you cannot accept someone's lifestyle, whatever it may be, dont come here. There are many many cultural groups so pretty much anyone can find a type of community there are also many queer groups, a women's group, and international group (for international students) . People are generally politically aware, whether it be campus politics or global ones, but everyone also enjoys arguing his/her point.

Everyone is extremely supportive and kind. Students here are generally really kind and quirky. The one thing that bothers me though, is that the campus is incredibly PC and hypersensitive. Is it always common for a certain group to be "personally offended" by something relatively insignificant. The campus is very liberal and will undoubtedly feel stifling to a student with conservative or even moderate political views.

Our campus is extremely liberal, and extremely accepting of LGBT students. Actually, I have a friend from a prep school in Washington DC, and he actually feels that Swarthmore is TOO diverse. He says he wants to institute a "keep in the weird" week, in which students would act stereotypically "normal," which seems odd to me, that people would have to go out of their way to be not themselves, and thus, "normal". but whatever.

I would say that the BCC(Black Cultural Center) is pretty active. I have not felt discriminated against. I would say that attire is pretty casual, you don't have to dress up everyday if you don't want to. Some people come in dresses, some come in pajamas, it doesn't really matter. In the dining hall most people are divided by activities they are involved in. During swim season I primarily eat with the swim team because we come straight from practice. The same goes for other sports teams. There are also a lot of discussion groups that occur during meals for classes, so that is another way people divide. Students are pretty active in at least one thing. There definitely is a sort of social activist vibe that you feel when on campus, but it is not so strong as to segregate people who are active and those who choose not to be.

Swarthmore for the most part is a really understanding, supportive, and accepting community, whether one is gay, straight, rich, poor, US citizen, Haitian citizen, or whatever. The diversity is really wonderful, and the various ethnic groups on campus really do mix around a lot. The thing is, though, we really are INCREDIBLY liberal. Even the PROFS make Bush jokes, and the Republican student group here feels more like a support group than a political party. That said, a Republican on campus would still make friends and such, he/she'd just end up not talking politics a lot, probably.