<p>I've found that the two schools, even though one is an LAC on the East Coast and the other is a large university on the West Coast, have some connections. I am applying to both, so are marlgirl and some others in the Stanford EA pool. Both schools offer high-quality engineering programs right along with the wonderful humanities programs. My dad's friend went to Swat 2 years as an undergrad, then transferred to Stanford, as did now-famous astronaut Sally Ride. And Robin Mamlet was once the Dean of Admissions at Swarthmore but now holds that job at Stanford. Just a few interesting connections that I found between the two schools that otherwise seem very different from each other...</p>
<p>I think the connection is mostly that Swarthmore draws very heavily from California in its applicant pool (and student body). Among any group of smart kids from California, Stanford would almost always be in the mix.</p>
<p>I know my daughter's roommate applied to Swarthmore ED, but Stanford was the only other school really high on list.</p>
<p>There's also some overlap between Pomona and Swarthmore.</p>