Swarthmore College Top Questions

I have a love-hate relationship at Swarthmore- most of the time that I'm here I can't wait to leave, but I always hate leaving. Even though life here falls into a pretty repetitive cycle, you grow to expect it and enjoy it and understand it. The ville is extremely lame, and Philadelphia is a city friendlier to those with cars since the public transport system sucks...so I could imagine a better setting for Swat. I love the small school feel though- I've always gone to small schools and even though the enviroment can get a little claustrophobic, if you stay out of trouble then its not a bad thing.

Swarthmore is a personality school. Some people (a lot of people) love it here, and plenty don't. Swat is one of those places where, if you don't feel like you fit in, you're unlikely to find a niche. It really is a small school, and socially speaking there's very little breathing room. This creates all of the boasted-upon pluses that liberal arts colleges love, like close professor-student relationships, a feeling of intimacy, and an inability to 'fall through the cracks'. It also means that any awkwardness you may have with another person on campus is completely unavoidable. You >will< see this person in Sharples on a regular basis, have them in one of your classes and/or end up working with them on an extracurricular project (I use the plural to avoid the gendered pronouns that Swat has taught me to scorn). Swarthmore is the only place where I can imagine meeting more than one champion mountain unicyclist, where a huge banner would greet prospective students on our accepted students weekend with the words "Welcome Queer Specs!", or where students lapse into discussions about Foucault when inebriated. Swarthmore is quirky in the extreme, and I love the mix of people here. While the small size of the student body means that some interests and even ethnicities go somewhat unrepresented, the diversity of interests and experiences that Swatties bring to the table never ceases to amaze me.

It really is a community---you learn too much about the personal lives of people you don't actually know that well in real life. However, it's also fairly easy to make friends. There are plenty of events that are inclusive and interesting. And if not, you can make your own fun. Academics are challenging, but there's a ton of support---tutors, clinics, etc. There isn't much of what one typically associates with "school spirit" in terms of athletics, but most Swatties are proud of their school in other ways.

Swarthmore has a very small student population. At times it can make the campus feel small and suffocating. But I wouldn't say this happens too often. I like the people I am around so I don't feel confined to have to spend my time with them. I love walking down the path and running into a ton of people that I know as opposed to passing mobs of strangers. It makes the social scene nice because most people know each other and there isn't very much exclusivity in student events. I would say that there really isn't a college town around. I don't usually find it necessary to leave campus because there is a lot going on. But the Tri-Co arrangement makes it easy to go to other campuses for events. Philadelphia is close and some upperclassmen enjoy going into the city. When I tell people I am going to Swarthmore, I am usually answered with an out that's nice. Where is it? or just a general response of confusion. In short, not the average man on the streeet will recognize it as an elite institution like a Princeton or Harvard, even though it is. But the people who you want to know (like future employers) hold the institution in the highest regard.

Swarthmore isn't in a college town, which sucks, but you don't really need anything that doesn't exist on campus or the college doesn't provide access too. There are weekend shuttles to Philly and Target and the local movie theater, so transportation is sometimes free here! That relates to Swarthmore's Quaker roots - Quakers are said to really highly value community, so everything on campus is free!

The best thing about swarthmore is that its small and that you can get help when you need to in your classes. There are a lot of diverse group on campus that are welcoming to all different kinds of people. The most frequent student complaints are that the parties are always in the same two places every weekend...oh well.

I just happened to have had a conversation during lunch about the intellectual disparities between Swarthmore and other schools. It seems that students at Swarthmore are constantly talking about thought-provoking ideas and theoretical situations during most of their time. My friend's sister from a different college once suitably stated as she was walking to our dining hall, "do you guys ever speak English?" Her sister was refering to the fact during her entire walk to the campus dining hall, she didn't hear a single conversation about normal, everyday topics like the sale at GAP.

Because the school is so small, the administration treats students like adults. The attitude toward drinking and parties is, in my experience, very mature - that is, if you're 18, you can make your own decisions, as long as you're responsible and not bothering anyone. However, if it weren't for this openness, the social life on campus could be considered absolutely dismal. After about one semester, there is almost nothing new to do on weekends in the village of Swarthmore. That's why the train into Philly is so important: I'd say, take advantage of it as often as possible.

Swarthmore is a great school. The greatest thing about it is the availability of its professors. I would change the food in Sharples. The school is usually just right, but can sometimes feel too small. People have no idea what Swarthmore is- they think it's an all-girl's school. I spend most of my time in SciCenter and Martin. There is no "college town." The administration wholly supports the students. The biggest recent controversy was the drug scandal with the freshman selling acid. There is a sense of school pride, but in a different degree than other universities. Everything is unusual about Swarthmore.

the best things: small class sizes (i.e. the classroom), relationships on a very personal level with professors and administration, mind-expanding things i'd change: dining hall - it closes too early!, and we need a 24 hour snack bar or more vending machines, and all the delivery places close by 1.... The 4 typical reactions when people learn that i go to swarthmore: 1. Hm, i see......(end of conversation 2. Isn't that an all-girls school? 3. Oh yeah, great school! it's in New York right? 4. Oh yeah, great school, Swarthmore has a lot to offer, good for you! College town? ha. the ville hardly counts as a college town. the ville is a micro-town that feels like it is perpetually stuck in the 60's.

The best thing about Swarthmore is the people. I love how comfortable I feel with my peers. I love that we all have shared experiences, like being yelled at by our elementary school teachers for not knowing where the class was when the class read aloud and we read ahead. I love that I have conversations about the Oxford comma, the morality of hereditary monarchy, and a panel on U.S.-Iran relations over dinner. As a freshman, I loved that Swat was a small school, because it made getting to know people so much easier and less intimidating. Now that I'm a sophomore though, it would be nice if Swat were a little bigger, because I feel like there aren't any more people to meet. The one experience that I will never forget was the beautiful spring day I spent on Parrish Beach with my friends, "working". It was the first warm, sunny day of spring, and dozens of Swatties were spread out on blankets and towels, just enjoying the beautiful weather and one another's company.

The best thing about Swat is the people. There is a huge diversity of people from different backgrounds and places which offers so many perspectives to life and in class and always makes conversations interesting. People are all very intelligent here and it's an amazing environment to foster your intellectual development and expand your mental horizons. People are also really friendly, chill, and accepting of each other. In a small school, it's good that people who see each other so often get along well. Swarthmore is a little bit on the small side. There's only so much to do on campus and parties sometimes don't start up till rather late into the night because there aren't enough people at them early. Also the city is like a 15 min train ride away and there's virtually nothing to do in Swarthmore itself so people generally stay on campus. In that sense, it's "what college town?" When I tell people that I go to Swarthmore they either react as "Wow, that's a really good liberal arts college." or "Cool. Wait... where's that?" and usually it's the latter. Either people have heard about it or they have no clue at all. The Swarthmore administration is pretty chill as far as I know. They are really flexible in terms of your education and if you have unique ideas regarding your study, they'll help realize them. Also, the administration doesn't have that hard of a policy on alcohol. If you get caught drinking underage it's because you went overboard and had to be taken to the hospital. And even then, there usually is no punishment or a very light one at that. RA's are nice about alcohol in your room too and some will even buy alcohol for you. The biggest controversy is probably when 3 kids got kicked out of the school for dealing in some hard drugs (LSD?). There's school pride but in a different way that at big universities. Swatties are proud of being Swatties but there's no football team to cheer on at big games. It's a different dynamic because the school is small and the immense unity that you see at sports games of big universities is manifested as a more invisible bond amongst those who call themselves Swatties. Students complain about work the most. That may be from Swat's more intense academic environment. It may also be because Swat has a rep of being more intense and so students can target that as an object of complaint, especially one that can be whined about collectively. But who doesn't complain about work? And chances are, if you got into this school you're smart enough to handle the work.

Swarthmore's too small for my taste. I heard (and I still sort of believe) that the more interesting and intellectual your peers are, the bigger the school seems, but there's something to be said for wanting to see more than the usual faces every day. I heard Swat is cutting down on admissions even more, and I'm not happy with that decision. Diversity is born of more people, not less. Most of my problems at Swarthmore stem from the tendency of the students toward selective tolerance, which I suppose is a little bit of an oxymoron. White privilege is a big specter at Swarthmore, and most students believe it is embodied in the fraternities. I'm a brother in Delta Upsilon, one of the two fraternities, and I'm proud to say that we are the single most diverse group on campus (with the exception of women, which can't exactly be avoided in a fraternity). We have black, white, Hispanic, and Asian brothers; gay and straight brothers; Christian and Muslim, rich and poor, public school and private school grads. But our diversity and our passion for liberalism goes for the most part unnoticed at Swat, where the need for a campus scapegoat overrides the school's basic principles. It's a stigma I take as my goal to try to erase, but it's an uphill battle.

The best thing about Swarthmore is the Spring semester, when the flowers bloom and when the days get longer and temperature gets warmer. If I could change one thing, it'd have to be the food. I think the size is perfect; it's the perfect balance between people I don't know and people I do know. Because of the size, I am on a first-name basis with all of my professors. I spend most of my time working in Hicks, the Engineering building. Otherwise, I'm found playing frisbee and playing trumpet. The college town is practically non existent, but there is the essential grocery store, pizza place and Chinese take-out place. There are also options a mile away on the Baltimore Pike, which I like to take advantage of because I have a sweet ass car. I like the administration because I feel that they actually listen to the students. It really feels like it's our school. Yes, there is plenty of school pride. You won't see it all at once place, like at a basketball game, but it's there. Yes, all of Swarthmore is pretty unusual. When everyone has a giant interest in many different things, it's bound to be unusual. There is an overload of diversity in interests.

Swarthmore is a terrific place for higher learning. Located on a lush 357-acre arboretum, the Swarthmore community is a place for intellectual curiosity, with a strong commitment to social responsibility. Faculty & students have a lot of interaction, and generally speaking students are not competitive with each other. That said, students complain that there is not enough to do in the borough of Swarthmore and that sometimes the campus and its students are too small.

the teachers are amazing here...such a cooperative and supportive environment. I really feel like I have a home and a family here. People are much more openminded here than other places, and I feel like people are open to who I am, waiting to judge me on my actions and words instead of what I wear or how I initially appear.

I think Swarthmore is a bit too small. That's why it's called "The Swarthmore Bubble," because everyone knows everyone else (and if you don't KNOW them, you know ABOUT them). It's nearly impossible to avoid anyone on campus because of its size, and perhaps because we only have one dining hall, so we inevitably see most of our friends/foes during mealtimes. Also, everyone here likes to brag about how great a school Swarthmore is, and how we don't inflate grades like other prestigious schools, and how we're the only ones receiving a "real education," whatever that means. I'd just like to put it out there that a little grade inflation wouldn't hurt every now and then, and screw a "real education!" Honestly, most students who come here have come from being at the very TOP of their high school classes to being crushed under the sheer weight of a Swarthmore course load. I know getting a real education--really learning for the sake of learning--is admirable, but I have to get into graduate school, so it would be really nice if we could cut all that out and focus on getting where we need to be. Sure, we may pride ourselves on poring over books night and day in order to pull off a B-, but will the graduate schools be impressed? I don't think so. Many students here tend to be so passionate about whatever it is they're doing that they seem completely blind to what will really matter 10 or 20 years from now. Most students are the I'm-doing-what-I-LOVE-and-I'm-going-to-live-in-a-box-when-I-grow-up type. It's charming, really--but to one who appreciates the sometimes harsh truths of reality, this naivete can be rather sickening.

The best thing about Swarthmore is the student body. It's really refreshing to be around so many smart people all the time, and there is a pervasive culture of niceness on this campus - so nothing feels competitive or unwelcome. People are just unbelievably nice. It can feel small sometimes, and there is really no town to speak of surrounding the school, but fortunately Philly is an easy, 20 minute train ride away. I definitely take advantage of that.

I would change the attitude of some of the pretentious liberals that piss me off on the daily here at Swarthmore. I would have a more diverse faculty, so that I wouldn't be forced to take the same classes everyday. I would make sure that we had a more diverse student body, instead of always just claiming diversity and acceptance.

What originally attracted me to Swarthmore was the fact that it was a small liberal arts college that had an engineering program. I was extremely impressed with its up to date facilities for conducting lab research and experiments and I also really liked the staff when I visited the school last year. Also, I came from a very small high school where each student had a lot of personal attention from the teachers, and I knew if I attended a large university, I would not get that attention again, so I saw Swarthmore as a bonus, because I have always liked to build stuff and study engineering, and with the addition of the personal attention, I chose Swarthmore as my home for the next 4 years.