<p>anyone know the 2014 acceptance rate?</p>
<p>For what? A specific college? </p>
<p>Considering the location of the question, I assume Swarthmore (overall) is the request.</p>
<p>Oh my goodness, it went from 14% to 17% I wonder…</p>
<p>I was gonna ask how you found out but i saw the article</p>
<p>What article are you referring to?</p>
<p>Northeastdad - the article is on the Swarthmore website. 930 accepted / 5,540 applications.</p>
<p>Moose…</p>
<p>The question isn’t only about the acceptance rate, it’s about the significant decrease in applications. Swarthmore’s apps dropped 16% (down over 1,074 from last year’s 6,614). </p>
<p>Dartmouth apps drop 14% and everyone is shocked. The two of them dropping together would suggest to me that the assault notoriety at both schools is hurting them. </p>
<p>In today’s carpet bombing approach to applications, I’m guessing the drop is primarily those on fishing expeditions (i.e. - what’s one more $60 check…why not apply), but it’s a trend that requires attention from the schools. </p>
<p>Beginning with the class of 2018, Dartmouth will no longer give AP credit. That probably had a big effect on their applications.<br>
<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/will-dartmouth-figure-out-big-applicant-drop/2014/02/23/9e1233c8-99fc-11e3-80ac-63a8ba7f7942_story.html”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/will-dartmouth-figure-out-big-applicant-drop/2014/02/23/9e1233c8-99fc-11e3-80ac-63a8ba7f7942_story.html</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/news-and-events/930-students-admitted-to-swarthmore-class-of-2018.xml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SwatHeadlinesFeatureStories+”>930 Students Admitted to Swarthmore Class of 2018 :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College;
<p>They had over 1000 fewer applicants this year. I wonder what went differently. Maybe the news stories of sexual assault turned people away?</p>
<p>I doubt it was the sexual assault.</p>
<p>It is most likely linked to the disruptions and protests they had last year with the successful effort shout down other political points of view other than the standard left-wing philosophy. </p>
<p>Middle-of-the-road and conservative students who like the school probably wisely decided to not deal with such outwardly radical students in a close-quartered environment. I know my kid did not, and he is not that political, but the atmosphere worried him.</p>
<p>Who wants to go to a school where the admin does not protect a student to have his proper say in an issue? The following article by a premier Stanford scholar is instructive to what happened. And this is not the only case like this that happened last year.</p>
<p><a href=“Barbarians at the Campus Gates | National Review”>http://www.nationalreview.com/article/348852/barbarians-campus-gates-thomas-sowell</a></p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with awcntdb. My daughter (who is also middle-of-the-road) fell in love with the school after visiting, applied shortly thereafter, and recently was accepted. She is a serious student with an authentic love of learning and a willingness to entertain a variety of viewpoints on social and political issues. However, she was appalled after viewing footage and reading accounts of the “shout down” of a fellow Swarthmore student-- all while the president of the university sat and did nothing to protect that student’s freedom of speech. Had my daughter been aware of the incident earlier, she never would have applied. Until Swarthmore addresses such reprehensible behavior, it should surprise no one that the number of applicants-- and percentages of yields-- will continue to decline.</p>
<p>Also there’s this:</p>
<p><a href=“Leftist students force commencement speaker to cancel | The Daily Caller”>http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/09/leftist-students-force-commencement-speaker-to-cancel/</a></p>
<p>This lack of tolerance and inability to recognize the irony of it is a strange situation. I often think these days that George Orwell is smiling somewhere.</p>
<p>I find the direction of this discussion very interesting and hope that the Board, Senior Administration and Admissions Office are taking serious note. I am a graduate of Swarthmore, loved attending, believe it historically provided the very best liberal arts education possible (and should again), but am confused by current leadership’s inability to manage the May 2013 hooliganism appropriately and not cave to naive and wasteful demands (or if they have managed the situation effectively, to communicate to the Swarthmore Community and particularly to prospective students). </p>
<p>A true liberal arts education requires open dialogue with respect for those holding opposing views, not blindly following the religion of Political Correctness and permitting self-indulgent group think. I was sorely disappointed by the capitulation to hooligans and that the shutdown wasn’t embraced by President Chopp as a teaching moment (bombastic disruption of free speech in an open forum permitting all sides to present their views rationally should never be rewarded). My DS was accepted to Swarthmore for the Class of 2017, he loved the college, it was one of his top two choices, and, after extensive and difficult rumination, went elsewhere. He would have delighted in a dialogue that gave voice to students across the political, social and religious spectrum in search of “truth.” He would have been enthralled by the energised intellectually sophisticated classroom and late night discussions that characterised my time at the College. Unfortunately, as a conservative voice he believed that at today’s Swarthmore he would be mocked and muzzled. </p>
<p>To be effective in its mission and in attracting a broad spectrum of the most intellectually capable and curious applicants, the College must encourage a dialogue that respectfully listens to views other than the latest politically correct propaganda (which is often a reflection of who has the loudest, most belligerent voice on a newly emergent issue and not of reasoned debate and careful discernment). The College Leadership needs to convince sophisticated applicants that it does not cater strictly to “leftist ivory tower group think,” that it truly wants to hear all voices that can contribute to reasoned in-depth debate on issues, and that a Prof. Robert George could be moulded in today’s Swarthmore. In other words, that Swarthmore still reflects the Quaker ideals on which it was founded. </p>
<p>A final note - it is my fervent hope that Swarthmore will make a course correction. I was disappointed my son chose to go elsewhere (yet totally supported his choice and rationale), but would be delighted if my younger children could experience the college I experienced. My graduate degree is from Harvard, I have seen many other universities up close, and believe that with a return to its ideological roots Swarthmore can again provide the best liberal arts education available and mould the leaders our world needs today and tomorrow. </p>
<p>@am61517 - my son just missed being there too in the Class of '17. Luckily, he had time to see and research the events as well.</p>
<p>Re Robbie George - here is a link to an article of a seminar he held at Swarthmore with Cornell West. Follow the link in the article to see the exchange between George and a bully left-wing student. George (and West) blow the kid out of the water. The entire thing is worth watching, but even starting at minute 55 and seeing the student’s question and George’s answer is watching a true intellect (George) at work.</p>
<p><a href=“A Fundamentalist vs. Robbie George & Cornell West – Denny Burk”>http://www.dennyburk.com/reverse-fundamentalism-with-robbie-george-and-cornell-west/</a></p>
<p>as a swarthmore alum, and current member of the alumni council, it pains me that the disruptive actions of a very few students, and the arguably poor reaction <em>at the time</em> of the administration, has gotten an overblown reaction in the (mostly) conservative media. As a member of the council, who is on campus twice a year, I can assure you that the administration takes the issue extremely seriously. We had hours of discussion with the administration at the fall council meeting, and it is clear that there is an overwhelming desire to protect and promote <em>appropriate</em> discourse on controversial subjects. In fact, very shortly after the board meeting in question, the college had a multi-day open forum to discuss what happened and to discuss the proper role of disagreement in a college environment. Unfortunately, none of this is considered newsworthy and was not widely reported. It is much easier to just believe a sound-bite of the tyranny of the liberal academic loud.mouths.</p>
<p>@donnaleighg - You stated, " It is much easier to just believe a sound-bite of the tyranny of the liberal academic loud.mouths."</p>
<ol>
<li><p>An 8-minute exchange is not a sound-bite. And both George and West came back at that student several times after the initial question. </p></li>
<li><p>And they handled other questions of similar veins as well, but those other students figured out to be respectful first.</p></li>
<li><p>The clapping and cheering of the bully student by the audience is not a sound bite and is not isolated. George even pointed out how much support the student had in the room. Are all those supporting students isolated incidents? Nah…</p></li>
<li><p>Effectively intimidating and canceling a conservative speaker, and admin caving on that is not a sound bite. It is real on-the-ground stifling of speech on your campus.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The issue with free speech Swarthmore has is multi-pronged and is not an isolated incident like you portray. And, yes, it was played up by the conservative media mainly because the liberal media saw no problem with the behavior. Just because one segment of the media highlights something does not give it less relevance; it just means the other media probably agreed and saw no issue.</p>
<p>I understand you love your school (I hear you there - nothing like school spirit), but I think everyone here would appreciate accuracy over propaganda. Unfortunately, the internet is not your friend, and everyone is free to go research that there is nothing isolated about the Swarthmore issue. And the drop in applications showed that many did do their research and rightfully high-tailed out of the admissions process.</p>
<p>Donnaleighhg - understanding all of the policy / procedure concerns of the school, why have they not filled the Title IX position which has been posted for half a year? Is it really so hard to find someone for that role? I would encourage the school to favor someone outside of academia…maybe an attorney speacializing in the area…who would bring a new perspective. One of the things I find interesting is the limited number of non-liberal art hirings? It appears that diversity is an early input, but the more mature the position / experience requirement the less interested institutions are in outsider views. </p>
<p>
@donnaleighg: I am happy to hear of the various initiatives that aim to improve openness and tolerance of opposing viewpoints. Those initiatives are long overdue. This time last year, Professor Timothy Burke wrote:
<a href=“Outside the Classroom | Easily Distracted”>https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2013/04/03/outside-the-classroom/</a>
As the various activists tried to outdo one another, the ambient level of anxiety on campus grew. Our student told of friends sitting down at dinner and announcing, “If anyone talks about the [Greek] referendum I am going to scream.” The students were collateral damage in a civil war that was not of their making. It is no surprise that the number of applications fell. </p>
<p>In the same piece, Prof. Burke decried the tactics of the students who lobbied Swarthmore to withdraw the invitation to Robert Zoellick:
</p>
<p>As a college professor and a Swarthmore parent, it bugged me, too. Actions such as this provide more fodder for those who want to defund every federal and state program that provides aid to institutions of higher learning and their students. These students are playing right into their hands. </p>
<p>Just to be clear, the conservative speaker at commencement was not cancelled. He withdrew. He was asked by many to reconsider. He did not. Certainly some students <em>wanted</em> his invitation to be withdrawn, but that is absolutely not what happened. There is a lot of soul searching going on on campus right now (I was just there last weekend for a council meeting)</p>
<p>@donnaleighg - oh great - create a hostile environment, then blame the speaker for doing the smart thing for his safety. You guys are the best.</p>