<p>You can still do all of that you wrote at Cornell. What I meant was that Cornell has more resources (e.g., research etc.)</p>
<p>Swarthmore's grad rate is relatively high compared to that of Cornell. Last time I checked, it was 85%.</p>
<p>Cornell is a research institution. Swarthmore is a LAC. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. It's inane to argue whether one is better than the other without knowing the preferences of the OP. I find it hard to believe someone would be stuck between Cornell and Swarthmore since the two schools are different.</p>
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I find it hard to believe someone would be stuck between Cornell and Swarthmore since the two schools are different.
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I would tend to agree at the <em>end</em> of someone's school hunt ... but, to me, it makes a lot of sense, at the <em>start</em> of a school search. In the northeast, very selective student population, academically rigorous, lots of great science and engineering, less preppy/frat environment than a lot of other very highly selective schools. So they might both get on the same initial list ... then comes the LAC/research and city/college town split ... and that preference may come later after visiting schools.</p>
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But, I doubt that Swat is much more difficult than Amherst. Am I wrong?
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<p>No, probably not for the very top students. Williams and Amherst are great schools. But, the lack of emphasis on athletics at Swarthmore, particularly on teams with traditionally lower academic standards, means that there is little need for gentleman's "gut" academic track at Swarthmore. Both Williams and Amherst have much higher percentages of recruited varsity athletes.</p>
<p>Also, Swarthmore has consistently had a significantly higher percentage of students who qualify for finanicial aid than Williams. Traditionally this has been case compared to Amherst as well, although in recent years, Amherst has made huge strides in diversity.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd comment that Cornell has a pretty good graduation rate too!</p>
<p>85%- four years
91%- five years</p>
<p>-Although, I do know that Cornell has a 5 year architecture program, I wonder if graduates of this program are considered to be five year graduates.</p>
<p>btw, stats are from "College *******: Cornell University"</p>