<p>My prospective major (linguistics) is not offered at Haverford, but the college does offer the possibility of cross-majoring at Swarthmore. A Bryn Mawr student informed me in another thread that cross-majoring at Swat is extremely inconvenient for Bryn Mawr students. Is this also the case for Haverford students wishing to major at Swarthmore? Should I plan on not applying to Haverford at all for this reason?</p>
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<p>Hmmm… that sounds like a toughie.</p>
<p>Are there classes at Haverford or Bryn Mawr that would count towards your major? If you only needed to take a few classes at Swat, it would be doable.</p>
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<p>Bryn Mawr and Haverford are 5 minutes from each other. Swat is about a half hour away and that’s probably what makes things inconvenient. That and the fact that Swat and Haverford probably don’t sync their schedules up to make it easier… </p>
<p>But inconvenient doesn’t mean impossible. As long as the major you’re interested in is available in both places, and it sounds like it is, the real decision is where do you feel the most comfortable? </p>
<p>The three colleges really all have their own identity. Bryn Mawr is the easiest to get into because it is a women’s college. Haverford and Swat are both pretty tough gets, but I really liked the people I met at Haverford. The Swat kids struck me as, well, odd. But that’s just me. I’d recommend visiting both campuses and meeting as many people as you can, then applying to the school where you feel the most comfortable. You may love Swat and not really like Haverford. It’s all in what you find comfortable.</p>
<p>Great thought, Luckie. Based on the information I found on this page [Linguistics|Bryn</a> Mawr College Undergraduate Catalog](<a href=“http://www.brynmawr.edu/catalog/linguistics.php]Linguistics|Bryn”>http://www.brynmawr.edu/catalog/linguistics.php), it looks like Haverford and Bryn Mawr do offer some linguistics classes of their own, so I would end up taking around 5-8 at Swat. Not too bad, but still not desirable. I’ll have to give it some serious thought next spring when I’m choosing a school. Thanks so much for your help!</p>
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<p>If you can get in, then Swarthmore is clearly the place to be for Linguistics in the Tri-College consortium – maybe the place to be for linguistics of all liberal arts colleges.
Swat has some fabulous Linguistics professors, including David Harrison, star of the documentary, The Linguists, which can be viewed here:</p>
<p>[Babelgum</a> - The Linguists](<a href=“What is Babelgum? Best free-to-view Internet television platforms”>What is Babelgum? Best free-to-view Internet television platforms)</p>
<p>Also, Donna Jo Napoli, one of the top children’s book authors and Ted Ferdinald, one of the experts on Navajo language. Next year’s Visiting Lang Professor of Social Change is an Anthropology/Linguist who is famous for work on Latino bi-lingual issues. It’s a really terrific program.</p>
<p>Haveford and Bryn Mawr students routinely major in Linguistics at Swarthmore. Swat professors teach many of the entry-level linguistics courses at the two colleges, so it’s fairly seemless.</p>
<p>About 80 Bryn Mawr and Haverford students take courses at Swat each semester. Time-wise, it’s closer to take the bus to Swarthmore than it is to go from Smith to Amherst in the 5-college consortium. It’s only about 20 minutes door to door. The problem is that the van doesn’t run as often as you would like so you have to plan on spending the morning or afternoon at Swat. Personally, I would try to take two courses at Swat some semesters and make a day of it twice a week.</p>
<p>You should check out the Linguistics websites at all three colleges and e-mail Linguistics professors at Haverford and Swarthmore this summer or next fall for detailed information. Somebody should be able to put you in touch with students who have done what you are asking about.</p>
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I think that would be doable and it can’t hurt to apply. And are you absolutely sure you want to major in Linguistics?</p>
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<p>interesteddad - thanks so much for all the help! I didn’t know Swat was such a great place for linguistics. I’ve actually seen The Linguists (I’m really passionate about the field! :)).I’m definitely applying there. I think I have a good shot at getting in, but since it’s so selective there’s a good chance I won’t, as well, and that’s why I began considering Bryn and Haverford in the first place. I’m going to try my best to fit in a visit before school begins this fall so that I can see if I love it enough to apply early and improve my chances of being accepted! Do you know anything about the linguistics departments at other liberal arts colleges? Some others I’m interested in are Macalester, Carleton, Pomona, and Reed.</p>
<p>luckie - Right now linguistics is the field that I’m most passionate about and that I can see myself working in, and it has been since I was a freshman, but I can’t say that I’m absolutely certain it will be my major because I know that young people’s interests change all the time and that most college students end up changing their majors. So I guess the short answer is that right now, yes, I’m certain, but there’s no way to predict what my future self will be like. But whether or not my interests change while I’m in college, I think that I definitely need to go somewhere that has a linguistics department, because how else will I know if it is or isn’t the field for me? I hope that made sense!</p>
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<p>^^ Makes perfect sense. Good luck with everything!</p>
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<p>I hear ya. Makes sense. Bryn Mawr or Scripps might make a nice safety, too.</p>
<p>Having that kind of passion is a big advantage applying to Swarthmore (or any other top LAC). It can really jump off the pages of the application and colleges love enthusiasm. </p>
<p>Why don’t you e-mail David Harrison (from The Linguists) and ask him about majoring in Linguistics at Swarthmore – both as a Swarthmore student and as a Haverford student? Ask him what other LACs he might recommend for Linguistics. Go meet with him (or one of the other profs when you visit campus. You’ll write a great Why Swat? essay and increase your odds of admission. Just having watched The Linguists is the kind of thing that helps you stand out at a place like Swat. They love students who are hardcore into some academic field because it’s “fun”. The same research will give you something to write about for Haverford, too.</p>
<p>There aren’t boatloads of linguistics majors – I think Swat had 11 last year plus 2 more Ling/Lang special majors (linguistics plus a language). So there wouldn’t be any downside to demonstrating enthusiasm – as their might be in an over-subscribed major like Econ or Bio.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Linguistics at other schools, but Reed, Swarthmore, and Pomona all are the top per capita producers of future Linguistics PhDs in the country, so I’m guessing the programs are all solid. I just know that everyone involved in Linguistics at Swat really, really loves it and the department is staffed with some really interesting professors who do really interesting things (like star in movies, publish best selling children’s books, and teach Navajo language in summer academies.</p>
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<p>Thank you so much for all the help! : ) I just sent David Harrison an email and I’ll definitely talk about him in my essay! you really seem to know a lot about Swat…I assume you’re a student/grad?</p>
<p>On an unrelated note - I know that Swat (and most other colleges) give applicants the option of submitting the SAT or ACT. But will it hurt me in any way if I don’t send the SAT, and only the ACT with writing (since I know that most applicants do send the SAT, and only a fraction send the ACT)? My ACT score was a 33, but I’m going to take it again next week. Everyone says that you’re supposed to do better the second time, but I’m paranoid that I won’t. If I don’t get a higher score…do you think that a 33 is fine? I know that they consider a million other things - the GPA, personal essay, why Swat essay, etc - but standardized tests are still an important part.</p>
<p>If you send them one of the test combos they ask for, it won’t hurt you in the least.
A 33 is Swat’s 75th percentile ACT (it’s in the common data set). That won’t hurt you at all. 26% of students submit ACT scores.</p>
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<p>oh, alright, thank you… haha… I always freak out unnecessarily. but that was reassuring :). I’ll aim for a 34, but if I don’t get one that’ll be ok, too.</p>
<p>If you are sure you will major in linguistics, I have no idea why you’d want to go to HC. The trek over to Swat is not easy. The tri-co is usually used for activities such as guest speakers, concerts or performances. People who usually take classes in the tri-co don’t have to but rather do it for a change of pace, wander-lust, ect. It is very, very rare to major at Swat. If you want the LAC experience, there are surely others out there besides Swat that offer linguistics. If there is something that particularly resonates with you about HC, then you may be motivated enough to go through with your plan and be happy at the same time.</p>
<p>I guess it would be possible… easier if you have a car. I think the bi-college offers intro classes in linguistics so you’d only be commuting 2nd-4th years. Linguistics and language majors usually study abroad for a year so commuting would probably be sophomore and senior years anyway. Also, you may be able to live for a semester at Swat and get your classes in then. My brother (Swat) spent a semester at BMC so he could squeeze in particular math, economics and Japanese classes he wanted to take in the bi-co but not available at Swat.</p>
<p>Actually, IIRC there are usually a few (a very few) BMC linguistics majors each year. Obviously they would be majoring at Swat.</p>
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