Swarthmore College Top Questions

Academics The academics are intense; however, it isn't competitive. The majority of students here don't care about their rank or who made the highest grade on a final. Although students here are constantly on the go, whether it be studying or doing some extracurricular activity, there are so many great resources to use for every possible need. Personally, my two favorite resources are my professors and my friends. Something that is hard to get at other schools is the fact that all of my professors know my name. Students at bigger universities rarely get to develop a one on one relationship with their professor. As for the other resource, friends, it is nice to know that while you are suffering through a paper or a problem set, you can guarantee that everyone else is working just as hard.

These are what the college really has to offer. If you want to learn and learn a lot, come here. If you want to have a lot of spare time, or want the typical college social live, don't come here.

The academics at Swarthmore are really rigorous. Though it is hard, professors and departments offer a ton of help and guidance. Small classes let students get to know their professors really well, and I have even been to several of my professors houses. The academics are flexible, and we only follow a distribution requirement that is fairly easy to fill, even for a non-science person like my self. I love my major departments (I am Education and Psychology). Every student I know who takes and Education class falls in love with the education department here, the professors are just amazing. Sometimes Swarthmore classes can become really overwhelmingly intellectual and seem disconnected from real life but class discussions are generally very interesting and thought-provoking.

top notch education

Academics are definitely challenging at Swarthmore, but in a good way. My professors know my name. Studying is a must and most students do it quite often. There's a lot expected from the students, but only because the students are quite capable. The focus at Swat is definitely on education but also on development of self.

The academics here are great for me. But keep in mind, I was looking for a place where i would be learning 20 hours a day, in class, outside of class, having discussions with my friends. This includes not only academic learning, but life skills, frisbee strategies, card games, and how to have fun as well. I have yet to meet a competetive student. The work load is pretty rough here, and so when you're ahead, you help out others, and they return the favor when you're behind. The professors are readily available and open to you.

The professors make an effort to learn the students' names and make us comfortable about speaking our minds. Class participation is common and intellectual conversations definitely continue outside the classroom. Students are competitive in the sense that they want to improve and do well. I have yet to hear someone asking about somebody else's grades though, Swarthmore students really don't compete against each other. The academic requirements are great because they make you take a variety of classes in the spirit of liberal arts, while at the same time they don't force you to take lots of classes you're not interested in. Also the fact that the first semester of freshman year is pass/fail (meaning that you don't get a letter grade) encourages you to explore subjects you never thought you would study, which you might end up liking a lot, like my East European Prose seminar.

Hard, yet incredible. Great academics.

The coolest part about academics at Swarthmore is that in general, the professors really care about their students. Especially in the smaller classes, professors try really hard to be available and to get to know their students. Having a class dinner at your professors house is actually pretty common.

We're always working, always studying, and always trying to meet deadlines. I'm into the natural sciences, and it's been some of the most brain-taxing stuff I've ever had to deal with, but once I got a taste of what I could do with this newfound information, I was hooked. The CompSci department rocks. It's small (7 full-time professors) and they're all remarkably approachable. Academics certainly goes outside the classroom..you really can't get away. But we like that..that's why we came