<p>Any info? In terms of prestige, grad school placement, and overall education</p>
<p>Look in old forum archives...</p>
<p>Other than the obvious differences in size between a university and a small college and the impact of that on academics, class sizes, and student/prof relations, I don't think there would be much to choose from academically. Both excellent. </p>
<p>Swarthmore is somewhat more academically focused and probably has a higher percentage of students who are really into their classes, having close contact with professors, etc. As a result, Swat produces a much higher percentage of future PhDs., but that is, to a large degree, true of most of the top liberal arts colleges and is a function of size. In short, I don't think there's any way to knock the academics or prestige at either school.</p>
<p>The more striking difference will be one of campus culture. Dartmouth has long been known as, and is quite proud of being, a "hard-partying" school with a significant fraternity presence and drinking culture as the backbone of the social scene.</p>
<p>While Swarthmore has pub nights and parties on Thurs, Fri, and Saturday nights where alcohol is freely available to all Swat students, there is not a dominant drinking culture and little disruption of campus life or marginalization of non-drinking students that you sometimes see at heavy "party" schools.</p>
<p>While a boozer or a non-drinker could find a place at either school, a non-drinker or light-drinker would probably feel more comfortable with the dominant social scene at Swarthmore. Conversely, a heavy boozer or semi-pro Beruit player would probably fit in more with Dartmouth's social scene.</p>
<p>Both fine schools. Faculty come from the same graduate schools. Students come from the same places as well. Very different cultures, though.</p>
<p>In the northwest, neither has any name recognition outside of a very, very small circle of people. You'll get no prestige points from either outside of this circle, and the first 20 seconds in an interview situation when you are under age 25 among those "who know".</p>
<p>You will do best at the one at which you fit in most closely with the culture, and feel challenged. The Swarthmore student-fit who goes to Dartmouth will likely get into the same graduate schools as the Dartmouth student-fit who goes to Swarthmore, provided (big if) s/he finds s/he can thrive.</p>
<p>The info. needs to be more about YOU and less about the school.</p>
<p>My two cents...
I was born near Swat and have family members who attended Dart. Both are outstanding schools and I'd be thrilled to attend either. There is a major climate difference, though you may not realize it looking at a map. Swat, in southeastern PA, has cold winters (though rarely below 20 degrees) and some snow (3-5 good storms/year). Dart, in New England, has very cold winters (sometimes well below zero) and tons of snow. In other words, Dartmouth has real winter. It's long, sometimes harsh, but always very beautiful. You can ski, skate, sled, etc. whenever you want to. The mountains are amazing. Swat has a gentle winter and it can be a bit gray in Feb-March. You can ski, but you have to travel about 1-2 hours to get to the Poconos. Spring comes earlier at Swat and it's very beautiful. So, if you love cold crisp winters, Hanover will thrill you. If cold weather scares you, try Swat. If cold weather scares you a lot...come see us in FL. Good luck!</p>
<p>The climate is a signficant point. Here, north of Boston, we had a foot of snow early this week and temps in the teens last week, with snow banks at the five foot mark in my yard. Dartmouth is a climate zone colder than here. The low last night in Hanover was 17 (snow predicted for tomorrow). Here it was 27. It was 40 in Phila.</p>
<p>They've already had a few days of frisbee at Swat.</p>
<p>You can expect frost at night in Dartmouth by early Sept., sometimes in late August. Sept/October would be the most beautiful weather with cool crisp autumn days. It is not uncommon at all to go several weeks without the high temp ever reaching the freezing mark and nighttime lows in the single digits or even below zero are pretty common for stretches at a time.</p>
<p>Trees start to leaf out in Phila around the first of April. Not til May in central New Hampshire.</p>