Swarthmore College Top Questions

My favorite aspect of Swarthmore is the intimacy: of the classes, student relations, and the administration. While our politically and socially active students are often known to make their voices heard loud and clear to the administration, the transparency of each dean’s function and open communication lines make it possible for their voices to actually be heard. The attentive attitude on campus also ensures that there are student activities for every kind of student, as well as an incredibly diverse course selection with a subset of renowned, specialized seminar courses. Closeness in classes and clubs makes it incredibly, unusually easy to find friends for life and establish lasting rapports with professors; Swarthmore is known for having an incredibly devoted alumni and faculty groups, and it is quite easy to call upon these resources through the excellent Career Services office for job recommendations or jobs themselves during and after college! But even without these links, don’t fret: while less urban areas often don’t hear of Swarthmore college, Swatties experience a renowned higher education that urban dwellers, numerous employers, Ivy Leaguers, and fellow academics treat with the utmost respect and admiration. Tradition is also an amazing, strange part of preserving Swat’s close community, with unforgettable, highly anticipated annual events such as Screw Your Roommate, the Crum Regatta, Pterodactyl Hunt, Yule Ball, and others that solidify student friendships, and make one’s time here a uniquely Swarthmorean experience. One drawback students often gripe about is stress. Being surrounded by such multitalented, ambitious people, it is easy to stretch yourself too thin between course load, athletics, and extracurriculars— especially during your first year! This sometimes leads to a group game of misery poker in which you and your friends enter the vicious cycle of complaining about the stressful tasks you must complete. However, this can be fixed by using the multiple, extremely accessible psychological, administrative, and academic resources available to achieve a balance in one’s life. There are also many (helpful!) peer tutor small-group sessions for some courses, generally in math and science, which meet at least twice a week. Another setback depending on the individual is its suburban setting. Although the SEPTA public transportation train runs literally though the base of campus and can take students to Philadelphia in twenty minutes, it can get pricey and rather time consuming to make this a regular event. Coming from one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, I find the suburban small town of Swarthmore, PA to hardly be a fair substitute, as it tends to shut down rather early. I would like to see the college make metropolitan opportunities beyond the campus more accessible to students. Yet, students don’t have to worry about boredom, as there is an abundance of activities such as concerts, club dinners, movie nights, and parties to participate in on campus, open to all students as a part of the inclusive Quaker philosophy.

I was drawn to Swarthmore in part for its small size, which was supposed to mean close interaction between students and professors, and a sense of community. I do get those here. But after a while I think most people here daydream about having just one day when they can experience going to a big university, or at least a bigger school than Swarthmore. I've certainly thought about it. Swarthmore's smaller than my high school in population--that might be one reason why I wonder what it'd feel like. You do see the same people over and over, which is both good and bad--bad because you might get sick of it and just want to see more new people from time to time, and good because you do get a sense that you're in a family, or at least a community. So, sometimes I wish the school had more people just for a few weeks, but since that can't happen, I'm satisfied with the size of the school. I think Swarthmore's more well-known in the East Coast than in the West Coast, where I'm from. Many students and teachers in my high school in Seattle had never heard of Swarthmore. Some have, though. When I tell someone I go to Swarthmore, I usually get, "Oh, cool! Where is that?" from someone who's never heard of it. I spend most of my time in my dorm, I think. It's probably close between my dorm, the library, and the science center. I usually go from place to place all the time, so often I go from my dorm (when I wake up) to class, then to breakfast, then back to my dorm to take a shower or brush my teeth, then back to class, then to lunch, then back to class for a lab if I have one, and then back to my dorm, where I do homework and check e-mail for an hour or so, and then head to dinner, and then from there I do homework wherever I feel like it. Swarthmore is NOT A COLLEGE TOWN. It is not! There's very little in the borough of Swarthmore. I usually only go to the bank there. But there is everything you need--a Wal-Mart, a Target, a sort of quiet mall, a grocery store, a crappy Chinese restaurant, and a good pizza place. Actually, to get to Wal-Mart or Target you should take a van. So it really isn't a college town at all, which is rather unfortunate, because it would be great to have a cool town. I don't have much of an opinion about Swarthmore's administration. I just have the pleasure of not having to deal with it.l There haven't been any huge controversies on campus so far--I guess the most recent one was this: a few weeks ago, there were a lot of events on campus from various student groups about the economic state of the country, and Swarthmore's financial aid policy. In Parrish Hall, which is where the administrative offices are, students put pieces of paper all over the common area detailing students's experiences with the financial aid here, which is generally considered to be excellent. That, I think, captures much of my general impression of Swarthmore students, which I'll get to later. There really isn't much school pride here--I've been to a few soccer games, and basically people watch if they don't have much else to do, but nobody really cares that much about the sports teams here, except the athletes. Lots of people probably aren't screaming out loud, "Yes! I go to Swarthmore!!!" but I think most of them like it here. Swarthmore has some quirky (admissions office has really adopted this word and is trying to really associate that word with the school when they talk about Swarthmore to high school students and to parents) traditions, like the Pterodactyl Hunt, which is basically a sci-fi but reality game. It was actually pretty cool. There's also events like Dash for Cash and Sager, which I won't go into now. Swarthmore's a very liberal school--I don't think any review of Swat can be acceptable without mentioning this. I haven't had too many memorable experiences yet, as it's just nearing the end of my first semester here, but one memorable experience would be the Pterodactyl hunt. Most frequent student complaints: too much work to do, not getting enough sleep, Sharples food sucks, town of Swarthmore sucks. We have something called misery poker, which is when you start off by saying how much work you have to do and other people go around trying to beat you by trying to tell you that they have more work than you. We do it in math class every week.

Swarthmore is a school you really need to understand before choosing to come here. I've known some people who were absolutely miserable here, and some who flourished like a mushroom in a cold dark place. It's small. Really small. There's a good chance you'll know 80{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of your classmates by the time you graduate. It's not a big school with a big party scene, but if you're someone who likes to create their own social life rather than go with the masses, this is a great place for you. I think I ultimately had more fun as a result. People get drunk, but generally not too drunk. People do drugs, but it's not a dangerous thing. In general, you feel very safe doing whatever you want to do, and that's nice. It's also a great place if you want to be involved in some kind of extracurricular activity. There are tons of opportunities, and if they're not there, it's easy to start them and get the funding for it. We have a huge endowment per student, and I think they spend it really well. Sure, lots of people haven't heard of Swarthmore in the real world. But then again, most people haven't heard of anything. Unless you go to Harvard or a school with a good sports team, you're kind of fucked. The good thing is, when people HAVE heard of Swarthmore, they're usually extremely impressed. Our graduates do very well for themselves. My brother went to Brown, and I don't think his buddies are doing as well. Ultimately, you have to ask yourself what kind of college experience you want. If you want something predominantly social, something out of Animal House, don't come here. If you want an incredible, unparalleled academic experience with a very comfortable life and you have a communal spirit, this place will be wonderful.

There is a lot of money in the student activities account, which is run by students and flows towards student groups to host activities and parties on campus, so there is always a lot going on that is open to everybody. I think the relatively small size of Swarthmore is great, in that it keeps everybody wanting to be a good, honorable person (you can't hide behind anonymity here), and yet it is large enough that there is always somebody new and interesting to meet. Since it is a small college, the alumni network is very tight-knit, and there really is a strong bond amongst the community. The administration is very lenient and rarely is there any sort of authoritative presence or punishment (read: underage drinking is very normal and not a big deal. The administration trusts the students to act like responsible adults, and for the most part everybody just has a good time and no harm is done). Professors and students generally have an enormous amount of respect for each other, which creates an atmosphere in which learning is comfortable and people are proud of being here.

Swarthmore will prepare you for an ever changing world. Professors have extremely high expectations from each student and push their students to think in ways that they never would have before. Swarthmore is a highly tolerant educational experience that brings together students from every walk of life. Although the conservative voice is rather small on campus, and there tends to be a bias against it, Swarthmore is very tolerant. The one thing I would change is students' rather limited scope for varying thought. Swat students tend to find it difficult to think outside of their liberal mind frame. Thought diversity has been a topic of conversation in the past year, and is something that has been challenged due to the revitalization of the College Republicans on campus. Being a conservative student on a very liberal campus, my positions have been challenged, but I have learned a great deal from that. One advantage I have had in being conservative at Swarthmore is that I have had the chance to be challenged and also learn outside of normal comfort zone.

Students are very smart, very interesting and very nice. The staff of the school is exceptionally nice, too (non-faculty), and the professors are brilliant. High emphasis on learning, understanding and hard work, low emphasis on superficial things like money and dress and showing you know how to party. Small community that is very invested in itself, usually in a good way, although sometimes people complain too much and forget their blessings. Tons of homework, but most people embrace it.

It sounds like a cliche, but for me Swarthmore is all about the students. It was great to be surrounded by a bunch of interesting, idiosyncratic people. People who think it's fun to have an intense, heady conversation. If the idea of spending four years surrounded by a bunch of slightly off-kilter, extremely cerebral and typically poorly dressed people sounds good to you, then you'd love Swarthmore.

I am very happy at Swat. The academics are strong so I can pursue my interests vigorously and prepare myself professionally. There is a heavy workload, but I prefer it to a school where I wouldn't be getting my money's worth. The campus is beautiful and it is close to Philadelphia (but you probably will be only to go around every other week at best depending on work). The size is great for me, you know people and there's a nice community. I like seeing my friends all the time just walking in between class or eating etc... There's enough people that there is diversity and it's not like you'll know or meet everybody. Swarthmore town is a joke, you can get pizza, Chinese food, a haircut, and some groceries. The food is probably around average for a school its size. The students are the best part about Swat. Everybody here is very friendly, intelligent, and open. I haven't met anybody that I don't like, and I love interacting with people here. Everybody is friend material. A big difference between the student body here vs. other colleges is that people here are more likely to act poorer than they actually are as opposed to richer. People here are down to Earth and not superficial. Parties are ok, not a party or a heavy drinking school, as there is a substantial percentage of the student body who does not or rarely drinks. Overall, excellent school for someone hardworking and wants to be surrounded by awesome people!

There is NO college town, but there is a lot going on at school, so it is alright. Also, Philly is there, but it takes time, energy, $$ and planning to get to.

Swarthmore is an amazing place to be, but it isn't for everyone. It's great because everyone is smart. I've been in class and assumed that guys in my class won't have anything to say because they look like bros that aren't serious about academics. Then they open their mouths and have a lot to say about capitalism or can quote the Canterbury Tales or something. There are all types of people, and everyone is good at something. On the other hand, not everyone likes how people are very uptight about things like political correctness. Really, though, it's just that Swarthmore students think about everything. In terms of prestige, Swarthmore is very well known at grad schools, but less well known by the people who probably live down the street from you. People mostly don't know about Swarthmore, but when they do, they are very impressed. The Borough of Swarthmore is very small, but you can get food and groceries. One of the best things about Swarthmore is the ability to get into Philadelphia. Besides the fun things you can do there, it makes it easy to catch a train or plane.