<p>Patlees88,
With all due respect Swarthmore is a better institution than Cornell, especially in the social sciences. If this was a pre-med post, I would say go Cornell for a few reasons that I will not discuss. But until you visit Swarthmore and understand what Swarthmore is, than one cannot judge it. I have been to both. Swarthmore is a much nicer campus IMO, has a way more intellectual student body, and is not as “standardized” as Cornell. What I mean by that is Cornell is sort of like a mid-size university whereas Swarthmore is a close tight knit community that shares an identity as the intellectual and best students of America, in and out of the classroom. </p>
<p>In terms of high school students, college students, school teachers, and adults not knowing of Swarthmore does not say much about its prestige. Only 22% of US citizens have college degrees so the general public really doesn’t hold water on what universities are more prestigious or not.</p>