Swarthmore College Top Questions

the dating scene is for the most part weird. people count as a couple if they walk around holding hands or eat dinner together in the cafeteria. i met most of my closest friends through the soccer team. 2am on a tuesday means that i'm finishing up my physics homework that's due wednesday. traditions: the pterodactyl hunt! (<-- this is the fuckin bomb!) party people party thursday, friday, saturday. people can watch movies on one of the school's million projection-screen cinemas, or walk around in the woods, or play board games, or dance, or talk, or hook up.

I'm personally involved with my own personal music production projects more than any organization on campus. Every week I make new songs with guest musicians for my radio show on WSRN. Frats/sororities are virtually non-existant. Although, there are student held parties virtually every friday and saturday, so any weekend students feel like partying, they can. If you prefer more clean fun, on a Fri/Sat night, there is a shuttle available that can take people to Philadelphia for shopping on South Street, or perhaps for some delicious food in China town!

Many students leave their doors open. The "Quaker matchbox" predicts that some absurd amount of Swatties will marry another Swattie. I met my closest friends through the swim team and through the people I lived with my freshman year. Awake at 2am on a Tues, I would be studying. The three biggest parties of the year are Halloween, Screw you Roommate (your roommate gets you a blind date), and Sager (theme: guys wear a dress, girls wear less). The amount people party varies alot. I would say 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the campus parties rarely to never. Others party Thurs, Fri, Sat night every weekend. Sports teams tend to have more partiers than the general population, but it is not exclusively athletes who party by any means. There are no sororities on campus and only 2 frats. The frats are not a very big part of life for most people. Last weekend on Friday night I played rock band with a group of friends. Saturday night the swim team had a party. Sunday I did lots of homework and watched a movie and went on the walk in our woods with a few friends in the evening. Off campus we go into Philly or to King of Prussia mall.

Soccer is very popular here due to the lack of a football team. The dorms are generally very safe and open. Doors are usually open and friends visit eachother all the time. There are a lot of panelists who come and they are always very interesting. People just don't date here. Random hook-ups or intense relationships are the only options. My closest friends I made because they lived nearby and were involved in the same activities or in my classes. I have frequently stayed up late at night just talking to people on my hall. Traditional events: Screw your roommate where you set your roommate up with a blinddate and make them dress in a silly costume. Sager: a symposium arranged by the queer groups and ends with a huge event where girls wear less and guys wear a dress. Rugby teams: like to streak, "dash for cash" Many people here drink to socialize but also go out to Philly to South Street via the free shuttle here on the weekends. People also go to the free movies every weekend. Last weekend, I went to pub nite on thursday where students socialize and occasionally dance. I also visited Philly for dinner and shopping. I also went to a friend's birthday party.

Popular groups on campus...that's hard. I don't really know if that exists. We all have organizations we care about so they are all about the same. The dating scene is awkward sense it's likely that many of us have dated the same people (small college). I met my closest friends freshman year (dorm and tri-co). Gospel Choir in particular is one of my favorite activities. I love singing gospel. It is an organization in which I can express myself in song as well as praise God. It's truly been an amazing experience for the past 4 years.

A group I'm involved with is Essence of Soul; it is an a cappella group that sings music from the African diaspora. Students in dorms leave their doors open. Athletic events are not popular for attendance. Guest speakers are. Theater is. the dating scene is established and readily accessible for most people. I met my closest friends through my dorm. I'm probably procrastinating or working extremely hard if I'm up at 2AM on a Tuesday. People party usually once on a weekend. There is one fraternity, and no sorority. Last weekend I hung out with friends, played some video games, and did my work for Monday. On a Saturday night you can usually find people who just want to hang out, get your work done ahead of time, or amuse yourself with games/music/movies. Off campus I am usually just hanging out at home, or working, in addition to visiting friends and family.

Sports teams, Earthlust. I'm involved in ultimate frisbee, and the ladies there are nice and so friendly :) SCF also feels like a family to me. Closest friends- usually found in the same dorm that I live in. I never attended athletic events, I've been to a few lectures and I've been to most plays. I can't speak for others though. Hm. The dating scene seems to be semi-lively. Students left their doors open until recent thefts occurred. Awake at 2am, talking with friends, or reading or studying or facebooking or eating. Traditions: screw, large scale events. People party very often. Frats are a place to party for "outsiders", and there isn't an official sorority. Last weekend, I watched a movie, watched a play, went to an SCF gathering and tried to do homework. I almost never drink. You can do all of the above, and go to Philly. I'm rarely off campus, and if I am, it's either for a class, or to go shopping for everyday necessities.

Popular groups: It varies, there are two fraternities that are somewhat popular. Among the athletes they are popular. Being an athlete, I feel most parties center around the _____ team. As in, the guys/girls from the _____ team are throwing a party and then everyone goes. Every thursday night is "pub night" at a venue called PACES, which is well attended and extremely fun. You get a pretty eclectic mix at those. Athletic events: not popular, but probably not much worse than a lot of d3 schools. Guest speakers: very popular. Theater: somewhere in between. Dating scene: i've had the same girlfriend since high school but it seems like it's not so hard to find a girl or a guy if you want to. met closest friends: Mostly from the baseball team, and from living with people. I am awake at 2 AM every Tuesday night, usually watching Youtube clips with friends, playing video games, or just shootin' the bull as a feller says. People party: Some people party 3-4 nights a week; others wouldn't know a party if it slapped them across their face. Fraternities: I'm in a fraternity, and it's not even that important to me. There are no sororities. Last weekend: I was sick, unfortunately -- I generally stay on campus during the weekend and it's always a good time. saturday night no drinking: You can always get high, I guess....just kidding. You can find people to see a movie with or go into philly, but most people go out drinking saturday night. Off campus: You can go into Philly but there's really not a whole lot. there's also movie theaters, good eats, and every chain store you could possibly imagine within a five minute drive. You can take the train directly into central philadelphia though. THats pretty nice for the carless.

I work on a campus literary magazine called Small Craft Warnings. It's one of many on campus: there's a magazine for Spanish-language poetry, one devoted to writing by Asian students, one for writing by black students, one for women-writers only, one centered on the idea of diversity, one for academic writing, one for science fiction, one for humor writing, and there's probably more that I don't know about. Small Craft Warnings is the only magazine that is all-inclusive: we accept submissions of all kinds (artwork, short stories, poetry, personal essays, plays, etc.) from all members of the Swarthmore community (that is, faculty and staff as well as students.) We usually get about 100 submissions from 60 different people (many people submit more than one piece, but we will only print 3 pieces by one person in any given issue.) We usually accept about half of the submissions we get, so it's selective but not that selective. The editorial board is composed of 12 students who read submissions anonymously and vote in the ones the majority of us like. An issue of SCW is published each semester and 500 free copies of the book are distributed around campus. The quality of the submissions pool as a whole determines the quality of the magazine as a whole. Frankly, SCW not always full of amazing writing, but there's usually a few pieces that are exceptionally good. It's certainly a better (and more sophisticated and visually pleasing) than any high-school literary magazine I've ever seen.

The debate team is popular because it has a multi-million dollar endowment and throws parties with top quality booze. Clubs mostly form closed cliques so it is hard for me to say what overall membership is. Most students leave their doors open when they are in their rooms and not having sex. Athletic events have essentially no attendance. Guest speakers are attended largely by students within the department. Theater events that I have gone to were well attended. The campus wide " 'Dactyl Hunt " and "Screw" and two Large Scale Events are the only annual campus wide events. The "Hunt" is essential live action role playing in which hunters kill monsters with foam swords. It lasts about 2 hours. "Screw" is a day in which most single students go on a blind date arranged by their roommate(s). The Large Scale Events are two shows with a combined budget of $100,000. They Might be Giants, Roots, and The New Pornographers are examples of recent acts. Some people party all weekend every weekend, or whenever their is a sports game on TV etc. Many students party only every other week or not at all. Fraternities are of almost no importance and there are no sororities. Last weekend I went to a contra dance (revived English folk dance), watched a movie with friends as a birthday celebration, ran a session of D&D, played a board game, and did my homework. Philadelphia is a 20 minute train ride away (the station is on campus). I do not know what can be done there, but I imagine very much.