Swarthmore College Top Questions

If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm just starting to do work. Well... maybe not, maybe it's an episode of The Office first, chat with my roommate about some controversial issue and then start working. We have priorities.

Lots of opportunities to socailize- tons of events for everyone throughout the week. Most are free to students which is great.

Activities... well, we have every club ever. Ever. There are something like ten a cappella groups on campus, which is fantastic but kind of absurd considering the size of the student body. Everything else musically-oriented has a noticeable presence, and then there are dance clubs, political action clubs, theatre groups, and clubs are started for almost anything. Sports? People are often too focused on academics or partying to dedicate themselves to their sports entirely, which I suppose is why we get DIII-quality athletes and not juggernauts of the sports. The varsity teams range in skill, certainly; our tennis teams are generally powerhouses whereas some of the other teams can never really seem to make it off the ground. Our club teams are generally focused on having fun, though both Ultimate Frisbee teams have had immense successes in the early-and-mid-2000s, and we're hoping to continue on those successes. Generally people are pretty open to being in common spaces in the libraries, and a lot of people leave their doors open so as to encourage study breaks and such. However, late at night there's definitely a huge divide among students; most are either sleeping or studying and hitting the books even at 1-2 AM, but some are still up partying most nights. For actual partying, there are certainly parties every weekend, and Thursday night's "Pub Nite" is always a huge draw for people that want a celebration for the imminent close of the week. But Swarthmore students in general don't party as much as state school students. The fraternities maybe party more than other groups of people on campus, but that's their reputation and that's basically the only function of the frats on campus. There are plenty of things to do even without drinking or partying too hard; on weekends there are always movie screenings and meetings and fun events to attend. Heading off campus is not actually that popular but Philly is only 15 mins away if students feel like taking the shuttle or train.

Some people leave their doors open. The campus is pretty safe--nothing ever happens. We keep our door locked because we're nervous like that (and we live next to the main door). Hook ups are ridiculous. Last survey I saw said that 25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of people hooked up in Paces (the party space on campus) which is pretty disgusting.

I would not want to date at Swarthmore. As a heterosexual male, I have to say that there are very few attractive women here. As far as the hangout scene goes though, Swat has an excellent one. There are two types of people though: those that go out, and those that stay in. Few seem to find a great balance.

Students to leave their doors open--people tend to be friendly. Athletic events are not popular at all, though there are many people involved in sports. There's no real dating scene--you're either part of the hookup culture or you're stuck in a long-term relationship. It's just too awkward to date in a school with less than 1500 people. I met my closest friends by living near them or meeting them through others. If I'm awake at 2AM on a Tuesday, it could mean that I am extremely stressed and trying to finish my reading, or it could mean that I got distracted and was reading blogs.

parties suck

There's a lot more going on here than Ride the Tide might let you know.

What's off campus? Just kidding, I'm one of the few Swatties who realizes that a major metropolitan area is 20 minutes away. I have a few jobs in Philly and go in to see plays or have dinner every so often. I'm an officer of Drama Board, the organization that funds and oversees student-run theater. We're a large organization, with huge participation compared to the size of the student body. We do multiple sizes of shows per semester, from small Nights of Scenes, for new, inexperienced or even veteran actors and directors, up through mid-sized shows for fun to the Mainstage show, once a semester. This full-scale production is extensively supported, funded and organized, entirely by students, and often outshines the departmental productions. More people come to see the Drama Board mainstage show than see the Large Scale Event each semester.

Although Swarthmore is a dry town (meaning there are no bars), alcohol is generally available at campus parties and admission to every party or event on campus is generally free, unless some kind of team fund raiser, etc. is going on. Thanks to many grants and special funding, musicians, comedians are brought to campus and many lectures and workshops are offered as well.