<p>I personally only commented on the differences in diversity and international students and not about expenditures. If I were advising a kid applying to colleges and the kid said that a diverse student body was an important selection criteria, for the life of me, I certainly would not advise Swarthmore over Brown based on that one criteria alone because both would be a very diverse campus and both have similar numbers of internationals. The difference is so slight as to not matter in college selection. If one school they were considering was primarily Caucasian and US citizens and one wasn’t, then I would explain that difference. But for a kid who wants diversity, I would have suggested Swat or Brown in the same manner and made NO distinction between them in this one criteria. I do believe, however, that the schools differ in other ways.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that you’ve visited both, which, if while school was in session, should let you know which environment resonates with you.
I think of Swarthmore as a little sister to the University of Chicago in the types of students it attracts. Students are of course intellectual, quirky and sometimes introverted and intense. I think there is a much more overarching political atmosphere at Swarthmore than at Chicago. I would also say that the Chicago student body tends to be a bit more pre-professional in outlook than they were say 10 years ago. I don’t know if this has happened at Swarthmore.
The impression I have of Brown, just from some visits, is of a more diverse student body than Swarthmore from the point of view of personality types. There are recruited Div I athletes, urban hipsters, a percentage of people that cares about their physical appearance (more than at Chicago or Swarthmore), etc., along with the quirky intellectuals and political devotees.
You are lucky to have two fine choices!</p>
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<p>In my somewhat knowledgeable opinion, it is impossible to discuss Swarthmore without pointing to its diversity. It is one of the most most diverse elite schools on the east coast. Diversity is one of the school’s highest priorities. And, diversity defines the campus experience as much as, if not more, than any other characteristic.</p>
<p>I think you missed my point. My point is not that Swarthmore is NOT diverse. If a student wanted a diverse campus, surely, I would suggest Swat fits the bill. My point was that this thread was comparing and contrasting two schools and for someone to suggest that the difference between Swat and Brown is that Swat has a higher percentage of internationals or more diversity is NOT of any significant difference. If the student were choosing between Swat and let’s say Conn College…well, you’d have a great point. Swat is very diverse. So is Brown. Those were the schools being compared and so choosing between them would certainly involve OTHER differences but I don’t think diversity or international presence would be one of them. Your initial post was discussing the DIFFERENCES and not simply the attributes of Swat.</p>
<p>Why exclude graduate students in the diversity figures? They are on campus, and part of the community.</p>
<p>Altogether, graduate, undergrad, and medical, brown reports 7,921 students, of whom 1,002 are foreign.</p>
<p><a href=“Office of Institutional Research | Brown University”>Office of Institutional Research | Brown University;
<p>“Brown is spending somewhere above it’s average figure on each grad student and somewhere below its average on each undergrad.” I do not know of any data that addresses this. Anyone have facts on the per capital spending at Brown for undergrads vs graduate students?
There is no question there is much more research going on at a university than a college. As to whether it is more accessible to undergrads at one place or the other, one would need data to address this. I am not sure of where this could be obtained. Even the percent of students who participate in research would not tell us which place had more opportunities. Instead it would be a combination of opportunity and interest.</p>
<p>I don’t place much stock in expenditure figures. Here is an illustration of why:
Student Related Expenditures/ FTE
Brown $31,170
Swarthmore $39,175</p>
<p>Yale $101,788</p>
<p>(lest you think this is proof of Yale’s enormous endowment and superior education)
Princeton $46,891
And to compare to another elite LAC
Williams $45,624</p>
<p>There is just too much room for variations in how things are accounted for from one college to the next for these figures to be meaningful. Not a matter of honesty of the colleges, just that they do not all run the same way. Do I believe that Yale REALLY spends twice as much money per student at Princeton (with a smaller per student endowment)? Of course not. It is just how certain expenses are counted that makes the difference.</p>
<p>in agreement with the two above posts, i believe interestdad adds little value to the conversation about meaningful comparisons between swarthmore and brown.</p>
<p>swarthmore does not have an advantage over brown in research, resources, or diversity.</p>
<p>it does have other advantages, however, that are worth discussing. some people thrive within the intimicy of the LAC model for instance (others find it stifling).</p>