<p>I will be entering my senior year of high school this year and possible majors for me are history/economics/politics/philiosophy (something along those lines). I was considering Swat as one of my options; I've heard a lot about how the atmosphere is 'friendly' and 'intellectual'. Both these things are quite important to me- I would love a student body that is keen to discuss current events. I've also heard about how students at LACs are different from other colleges/ Ivies. How is this is so- what makes LACs so different?
I know its hard to generalize about 'what kind of people' go anywhere, but it would be super helpful if anyone could tell me about the atmosphere at Swarthmore (are people friendly, easy for international students, what people do in their free time, events, etc.)
I know its a selective school but grade-wise I think I stand a chance. Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>Among all universities in Swarthmore’s tier, Swarthmore probably has the largest proportion of extremely friendly, weird in a (usually) cool way, extremely hard working, and curious students. I’ve been out of Swarthmore for a while, and had a chance to reflect with others from other schools who’ve visited Swarthmore while they went elsewhere (e.g., princeton, harvard, columbia, mit) and these conversation seem to suggest the above. Indeed, it may be that there is selection in the kind of people I end up talking to about this, but I’ve so far not heard anything else. Unlike at Swarthmore, where students talk about whatever they’re thinking about / studying, students at other universities apparently don’t (i kno ■■■). </p>
<p>Amherst and Williams do not have this vibe. Also they’re in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>International students seem to have a tough time coming to Swat perhaps because never answered are your questions (and perhaps parents haven’t heard of Swat), but the college is super welcoming, apparently. </p>
<p>Have you visited Swat yet? i suggest you do. D and I did not have a good visit there unfortunately, however each person has there own take. I can tell you it is among the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever seen. We felt a much better fit at Haverford. That said, the Bi-co/Tri-co and Quaker Consortium is a huge benefit to Swat, Bryn Mawr, or Haverford</p>
<p>Bi-co is a major benefit. Be aware that going between Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr/Haverford is logistically trickier (20 min trip vs around the corner) so Tri-co is not as easy. </p>
<p>Vibe at Swarthmore was self-satisfied and a bit holier-than-thou. “Don’t come here if you can’t handle diversity–no, don’t come here unless you WELCOME diversity.” Vibe at Haverford was less anxious about being perceived as PC. </p>
<p>Appreciating that “vibe” could be anything from a tour group leader, to an admissions officer, to the parents on the tour (or any combination), any vibe in the summer is a bit like commenting on a broadway show after visiting the empty theater and speaking with a stagehand.</p>
<p>In considering your comment: is PC a perception, is it something more? Is there something inherently wrong with saying “this may not be the place for you if you don’t welcome diversity”?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Have you looked into Pomona? They have a PPE (Philosophy, Politics, Economics) major. There’s also an “intellectual” vibe not just because of students/faculty, but also because of the campus architecture IMO. It was made to resemble a traditional east coast college. I definitely recommend checking it out.</p>
<p>It’s also in sunny Southern California. 
</p>
<p>If you are an international seeking financial aid, I would discourage you from applying to Pomona as this school is not very interested in international student socioeconomic diversity (this applies to the whole Claremont consortium, actually), especially considering its financial resources.</p>
So true… Most Chinese don’t know Swat and don’t even know LAC = =
S got into Swarthmore, Pomona, Bowdoin, Middlebury and now has tough decisions to make. I think its now coming down to Swarthmore, Pomona and Bowdoin as top 3 choices. I think he always imagined himself at Swathmore (initially applied ED and deferred and now got in RD) but in the last few mos since he was deferred initially from Swarthmore started to imagine himself at other top LAC. One of the things about Swarthmore that has me concerned is the extreme work load and ?grade deflation that is mentioned in reviews of the school. I know he will work hard at all these schools but I think college is also a time to explore things outside the classroom besides studying all the time. Does pomona grade on a curve? Does Swarthmore grade on a curve where only a certain percentage of students can get A’s, B’s C’s etc.?
the way @fhimas88888888 describes Swarthmore “Among all universities in Swarthmore’s tier, Swarthmore probably has the largest proportion of extremely friendly, weird in a (usually) cool way, extremely hard working, and curious students” i think is what my S fall in love with in making the ED decision. I have heard Pomona also described in this way.
Thoughts about Pomona vrs Swarthmore?
An enviable position to be in, choosing among four great schools. He can’t go wrong.
If our S #2 ends up with a couple of those choices in two years I will be jumping for joy. Congrats!
I would say the biggest difference is the Claremont consortium, which seems easier to navigate than the Tri-co and UPenn relationships. Note however that I mean this from a purely logistical standpoint, because of location. Our impression was that in Claremont schools are within walking distance of each other, while cross registering from Swat is not impossible but does involve shuttles, travel time and complicated scheduling. In terms of sheer number of opportunities Swat wins because of UPenn. Then again no one actually takes 2,000 classes, anyway. Swat also has some unusual academics like an engineering major and the honors final where they bring in experts from all over the world. Pomona also has incredible resources… and year round sunshine 
You did not mention finances so it sounds like $ is not a deciding factor. Your S’s intended major – comfort zone for distance from home – and preference of “vibe” and campus life will probably carry the weight.
I will be eager to hear what your S decides.
Our daughter visited Swarthmore and four other colleges this past October while on a college-tour trip from Minnesota with both of us parents. She did a dorm sleepover at Swat. and decided not to apply to Swat due to some negative vibes, although she applied to (and expects to hear today from) Haverford. We agreed with her assessment – Maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?
Swat has a truly beautiful campus – so hats off to the grounds crew. And it certainly has intelligent and engaged students. But I’ll list below some of my (our) negative reactions to Swat. Please understand that we come from a more Midwestern mentality where kids are more grounded and egalitarian, although I myself am a product of a Connecticut household and graduated a Massachusetts boarding secondary school so long ago.
Our primary issue is that a number of Swat students drop out of the academic rat-race for a semester in order to catch their breath, due to the academic pressures that Swarthmore places on them. One of those was actually a student (Junior studio art major) representative at our admissions info session – she told the audience that simply stayed at home the spring term of her sophomore year. Our student campus tour guide also told us she knows a number of students who took a term off to decompress. And our tour guide detailed for us an out-and-out argument she had with one faculty member, telling him it was impossible to complete all the homework assigned, when her other classes also load on the assignments. Our daughter’s overnight dorm host stated that she routinely pulls all-nighters.
Our conclusion: Swat’s extreme workload does not foster a productive learning environment for even very bright students.
One quirk of Swat’s – the “No-Grades-Issued” tradition for classes taken by freshman during their fall term – had an odor of intellectual dishonesty about it. The intention, apparently, is to relieve some of the pressure incoming freshmen feel about adjusting to the Swat work load. At the info session when I asked the admissions dean about how graduate/professional schools evaluate Swat applicants (who have no official fall-term freshman grades on their transcripts, while applicants from other colleges do), he assured me that Swat keeps (and reports) “shadow grades.” So, Swat kids … you really ARE receiving grades during your first fall term. Don’t fool yourselves.
My Midwestern sensibility also picked up a strong element of cynicism/passive-aggressiveness on the Swat campus, reminding me of what I left behind (mostly) when I migrated to the Midwest. Also, the Swat cafeteria “line” was pure (maybe happy?) chaos at lunchtime. Chinese students grouped/ate together separately from the others. At lunch I overheard one white male student tell another that Swat wasn’t the college he expected it to be, as they headed out with their empty trays.
Perhaps that huge white lawn chair placed at the top of the hill in front of Parrish Hall serves as an apt metaphor for the Swarthmore experience: Sit in it as you gaze down the lawn, and you might sense just how small Swat makes some students feel.
Some kids really want a heavy workload. I have one kid who craved being with the smartest kids in the most intense environment she could find – and Swat was on her final 3 list (she is at Harvey Mudd now). But that is sure not what every kid wants – @MinnesotaDadof3, it is good that your D recognized that she is not looking for that. @momof2eagles, can your kid go to accepted student visits? We jetted all over the country for my kid’s (Swat, UChicago, and Mudd). 24 hours on campus when they are trying to put their best foot forward is very revealing. 
(Hint – they don’t all succeed at the “best foot” part!). I am a big proponent of the 5Cs consortium – I really think it is the best of both worlds – small LAC benefits, and also the benefits of being part of more of a mid-sized college campus. I do think Pomona, while academically challenging, is not on quite the same level of intensity as Swat.
Hi @momof2eagles , what a good kind of problem you and your son have to solve! I can weigh in a smidgen as a fellow parent whose child wrestled with the very same decision a few months ago. My child looked at all four schools and would have applied to all four if she had not gotten in ED to one of them. Before she applied ED, she was invited by athletic coaches at Swat and Pomona to visit in the fall. She ended up visiting Swat for two full days, and Pomona for three. Being on the campuses while school was in session gave her the information she needed to make her decision. Besides auditing classes and meeting fellow students, she went to the libraries and studied and ate at the cafeteria, etc. Two things were influential in her ultimate decision–which was a very personal decision. The first was that almost unilaterally the students at Pomona indicated they loved the school. Their collective optimism was contagious. Secondly, she just liked the vibe more at Pomona. It was a bit more relaxed (Swatties are legendary for their intensity) and decidedly more diverse.
Going to Swarthmore or Pomona will not afford your son the automatic calling card on his resume of a bigger or better known school, so I suspect the student and alumni are a bit self selecting. I am postulating they are not the kind of folks that would seek a Gucci purse (aka known for its logo and prestige). Even Bowdoin and Middlebury are much better know in my circles than Swarthmore or Pomona.
But, oh what an education!
As other posters have indicated, it is waaaaaaaaaaay easier to take a class at one of the Claremont Consortium schools versus at Penn or Haverford or Bryn Mawr. On the other hand, you can’t beat the convenience of being able to take the train to Center City.
I hope your child has the chance to revisit each school for at least a couple of days. It may play havoc with his grades and studies, but the investment in time and energy may well be worth it.
Best of luck and let us know where he lands. :-h
Swarthmore isn’t grade deflated. Their average gpa was a 3.5 only a few years ago- the same as Pomona- and it’s probably a little higher now. My friend who goes there has a 3.8.
But lack of grade deflation does not mean lack of rigor. Swarthmore is rigorous, but the students work hard and the professors reward their hard work.
“I do think Pomona, while academically challenging, is not on quite the same level of intensity as Swat.”
My friend did the Swarthmore-Pomona (coming from Pomona) exchange and found Swarthmore to be academically as rigorous as Pomona.
The source for the GPA comment: http://www.swarthmore.edu/health-sciences-office/guide-applying-to-medical-school-swarthmore-undergraduates-and-alumniae
“ationally, the average AMCAS GPA in 2014 for matriculating students was 3.69. The average AMCAS GPA for accepted Swarthmore applicants was 3.64. Our experience at Swarthmore is that a strong B+ (3.4) average is a solid basis for applying. This places a student nearly in the top half of the graduating class, which had a median GPA of 3.56 in 2015.”
@nostalgicwisdom @CallieMom @intparent @MinnesotaDadof3 wow thanks for such great input. and helping me to revive an old thread. i also saw past threads but they were from several years ago. We are from the East Coast with Swarthmore just a skip away so that is a factor(both good and bad) as it might be too close to us on the other hand Pomona is so far away from us and so many people dont seem to know what pomona is on the east coast… My S like probably many at these schools is a very curious learner and loves to learn for “learning sake” but has never been a grade chaser in HS and truth be told he was in danger of looking like an underachiever in the admission process with much lower grades than his SAT/and SAT subject tests would expect. He comes from a very competitive HS and although his HS doesnt rank if they did he would be probably in the top 25 percent which is shocking to think that the top LACs actually took him. There must have been something about his application that the top LAC saw in him. In fact they took him over kids with higher GPA from our HS and we HAVE NO HOOKS. I am not quite sure he is up to the rigor of Swarthmore . He does love being with very smart kids which i think Pomona and swarthmore both serve well. He also is not a “partier” and would be just as happy hanging with a few friends on a friday/saturday discussing Philosophy or Politics all night but not sure if he would be happy spending all nighters in the library.
Although we didnt qualify for FA the first time around with our oldest at Berkeley, now that 2 overlapping at the same time we qualify for 20K . all the schools he got IN gave us the same FA package but actually Pomona a little better with all but 1K in grants and the rest in work study.
lol THERE IS def. one area where we saw pomona hands down beat swarthmore. we visited both and the food options at Pomona were phenomenal. while there was a certain charm about the “ski lodge” type of feel to the one dininghall at Swarthmore and I like the fact of the quaker mentality of everyone eating in the same place i did like Pomona’s food much better.
Pomona sounds great for him.
@intparent i agree. just have to get over the idea of 2 in California. He will go to both admit days and maybe even at Bowdoin to get another feel of a top LAC. He applied to and got in at Wash Univ which is an outlier in the group and will also go to one of their admit days just to absolutely be sure a small LAC is where he wants to be.
Where is your other one in CA?