Swarthmore College Top Questions

There's always something to do - just not always what something you WANT to do. There far too many clubs to even begin listing, but only two fraternities. The dating scene? Unfortunately, almost non-existent (at least by percentage.)

Darfur is a very popular topic/organization. People also enjoy RnM, or at least watching them. I am involved with Pemon Health and SAO. Students usually leave their doors open in their dorms. Athletic events are popular to only a select group of people. Guest speakers and theater are usually more popular than sporting events. The dating scene is non-existant. I met my closest friends through Tri-Co and because I lived with them. If I'm awake at 2am on Tuesday, I'm definitely cramming for something. People party every weekend or not at all- there is rarely a happy medium. Frats are unimportant. Sororities don't exist. Last weekend I hung out in a friend's room. Besides drinking on Saturday nights, you can watch movies on your own. Off campus I shop in Philly and eat food.

Most students in dorms do leave their doors open, everybody feels pretty safe, although this year there were a rash of thefts that prompted a temporary heightened sense of insecurity. but in general, we feel pretty safe. athletic events....are not so popular. but big national events attract plenty of people. Like the NCAA tennis championships last year. Guest speakers are very popular dating can be awkward - keyword: can. it doesn't have to be. but yes, since it is a small campus everyone eventually finds out, so just be prepared to accept that. hook-ups, however, are inevitably awkward, simply because chances are, someone will see that will tell someone that your partner knows, that will go and tell someone that you know. people party healthily on weekends although there are a STRONG number of swatties who rarely ever go to parties. ...frats are not important Last weekend, I went with the tennis team to Virginia and Maryland to play matches agaisnt Mary & Washington College and Washington University. Go to downtown philly, watch a movie, organize a dinner in springfield with friends, organize a poker night, go play ice hockey for free with the Motherpuckers on Sunday night), or you can do work too.....

My group of friends all lived on the same hall our freshman year, which is how we met and became close. There really isn't much of a dating scene; people are either not getting any, in a committed relationship that might as well be temporary marriage, or hooking up with people they meet at Paces. But to be honest, from talking with high school friends who have gone to different colleges, I think this nature of relationships is just common to our generation and isn't limited to Swarthmore by any means. The social scene at Swarthmore is pretty much limited to parties at Paces and Olde Club or get-togethers in people's rooms. While there are some weekends that I wish that there was more going on, at the same time, I chose to come to Swarthmore knowing that it didn't have the world's greatest party scene and that was a point of attraction for me. Personally, I'd rather be at a school where my peers also enjoy just hanging out and watching a movie on some weekends rather than going out. The good thing about a small school is that when there is a really cool event, everyone goes. I really like that sense of community that we all share in the same things. An example of an event that everyone goes to is the Rhythm and Motion performance at the end of every semester or the Boy Meets Tractor shows. If you're up at 2 AM on a Tuesday, you're doing homework and so is everyone else in your dorm. As for the social life and drinking, I think that at any college you go to, it's going to be the same: if you find a group of friends that doesn't drink, then you have plenty to do on a Saturday night that doesn't involve drinking. If you don't find such a group of friends, then at least at Swat you can still go to events earlier in the evening on the weekends, like a performance or show, without drinking being an issue.

Ultimate frisbee is amazing. Practice is really chill because it's all student run and there's no coach. Frisbee tournaments are self-refereed and so most every player is a good sport and the spirit of the game is respected. The frisbee team is like a family. We practice together, eat together, party together. Mix it up, have fun, play sports, get in shape, party hard, chill out. The frisbee team gets a beach house every spring break and lives it up practicing frisbee and partying it out. Students in dorms leave their doors open definitely and people in halls can be very open to each other. The dating scene is probably more of a hook-up environment but there are definitely a decent amount of relationships on campus. It all depends on what/who you want but you can probably get it (whatever it is) if you tried. People party Thursdays through Saturdays usually. Sunday is the day of rest most of the time when people catch up with work. Frats and sororities aren't that important. Sororities don't exist because they voted themselves out of existence a while ago. There are 2 frats that are basically always open to other Swatties even if you aren't a brother. Frats provide party scenes and free booze. Saturday night can have a lot of non-alcoholic events like performances by bands on-campus, sketch comedy groups, movies, or what not. Atheletic events are not as popular because this isn't a huge school for people to rally to huge games with rivalries. But people definitely still go to games on campus and it's fun to root your school on. Off campus, you usually hit up Philadelphia or perhaps other schools around the area. Swarthmore is part of a Tri-Co Consortium with Bryn Mawr and Haverford so parties at those schools are open to Swatties as well. Philadelphia though is a good place to go on the weekends to eat good food, chill out, walk around a city, shop, and see new things.

I think I'm not too far from the truth in saying that the vast majority of Swatties didn't party in high school. They didn't drink until they puked, or run from the cops, or smoke weed, or vandalize property, or partake in all of the other joys of high school life that lay the groundwork for a little more balanced and mature adult life. But when all the introverts experience their first Pub Nite, or fraternity party, or Sager Genderfuck (look it up), the results can be disastrous. Inhibitions go to shit, sexual harassment/misconduct becomes a major issue, and nobody quite knows what to do. The result is a bunch of useless workshops and conversations that can do nothing to address the core issue, which, of course, has a lot more to do with basic human curiosity than social norms or any of that. That's just the way Swat is, and the way it'll remain. But social life can be chill, too. Once again, the easiest way to find satisfaction at Swat is to find your niche. For me, that's people with similar experiential backgrounds--the people who ran from the cops at their senior keggers and who still maintain a healthy affinity for breaking shit.

It seems like all of the groups are pretty equally distributed, maybe 20-30 kids in the larger groups, and roughly 10 in smaller ones. Within the music department, there is more interest in smaller ensembles such as Quartet and Quintets, as opposed to the Wind Ensemble. I am actively involved with the American Society of Civil Engineers. We recently completed a 20-foot long steel bridge and we're using it to compete against other schools. Athletics events are pretty popular, but it depends on the team and the competition (usually, Haverford games yield larger audiences). I met my closest friends through my freshman year living situation and through some of the activities I'm a part of. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm probably unwinding after completing a problem set (usually watching Nip/Tuck or a foreign film with Jimmy Jin). People party every weekend, including Thursdays. Traditions?--We have the good versus evil frisbee game every Fall, in which our team is divided into "good" (high scoress on the purity test) and "bad" (low scorers) and pitted against each other. We also play Haverford every Halloween (called Haverween) and beat them. Last weekend, I was off campus at a frisbee tournament. Greek life is not a very prevalent thing at Swarthmore, because the school size is so small and it's easy to find your own natural brother- or sisterhood. Working on a Saturday night usually does not involve drinking. Sometimes, I watch movies or play video games with my friends in the Video Pit. There are also plenty of other sources of entertainment, such as the occasional comedy group performances and music performances, or even going into Philly. I often take late-night walks into the Crum with my friends without using flashlights.

Students are generally over-involved, however, there is no one typical thing a student is involved in. Everyone really has their own things, whether it's varsity baseball, starting a non-profit to provide basic healthcare in Argentina, or being apart of one of Swarthmore's bazillion a cappella groups. Students are up late doing work always. Sharples, the one dining hall at Swarthmore, is where the majority of campus socializing occurs during the week. There are tons of traditions at Swat including an annual make-shift boat race (the Crum Regatta), the annual library race (the McCabe Mile), Skrew your roommate (blind dates and costumes), and more. There are always parties on weekends with or without alcohol (in fact, this weekend, there was a party with a root-beer keg). Additionally, there is always a performance, lecture, sporting event to see on weekends. Swarthmore also will pay for famous acts to come and perform for students. Wanda Sykes, the Roots, Ben Folds, and more have made appearances recently. AND if you get bored with campus happenings, Philly is a quick 20 minute train ride (train at the base of campus) away.

I like the social life here...I am not a total party girl, and I like just chilling with my small group of friends. as I said before, I am just now really starting to cultivate a social group and start hanging out with the people I like here on campus, but it is cool and I feel entirely safe with my fellow students here. I really like it. The frats are not too hard core, but they throw chill parties. The themed dances and stuff are cool too. I support it all. I went to new york practically every other weekend tho for most of the year to see my boyfriend though, so I'm not sure if I'm the best judge for this question.

There are many, many clubs on campus. If studying is not sucking up all of your time, you may actually make it to one or two meetings per semester. Guest speakers, unless extremely liberal and/or homosexual, are usually chased off campus. Students are very openly liberal, but not very open-minded. There are usually parties on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10 PM to 2 AM (but no one actually goes until 12 AM). Drinking is usually a very integral part of this party scene, though students are usually accepting of non-drinkers as well. The dating scene is highly unfortunate (and arguably non-existent). Word of advice: do NOT date here. There is a very slim chance that you will break up on good times, and an even slimmer chance that you will be able to avoid your ex afterwards, what with the size of the campus (you will most likely have a lot of classes and friends in common, and you life will become the very definition of "awkward").