<p>I actually knew almost NOTHING about Swarthmore before Discovery Weekend. I go to a very elite and competitive private school in Manhattan and even in my school, Swarthmore has never been as popular as the Ivy League schools and the other LACs such as Amherst and Bowdoin. Nonetheless I visited a HUGE number of schools before I ended up applying ED to Swarthmore. Honestly I was able to make the decision to apply there early because of all the schools that I visited, Swarthmore felt the most like ME. This students whom I met all had very similar interests to me and I could see myself getting along really well with them. The classes I sat in on also reminded me a lot of my high-school where the class sizes are small and group discussions are encouraged. Their reputation for intense academics almost scared me away but I decided (mostly by talking to many teachers and adults) that Swarthmore was probably no more rigorous than the school I currently attend. In the end, my decision came down to Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Amherst and Dartmouth but I ended up choosing Swarthmore because along with the incredible academics, as a African-American student, I felt like there would be a lot more resources for students of color in Philly than in Maine, New Hampshire or middle-of nowhere Massachusetts. There were a lot of factors that I initially did not consider before I started narrowing down my school choices but as I began to think about every single facet of my life once in college, the choice, at least for me, was clear. I hope that helps a little bit but if you want to ask me more questions about how I made my decision you are free to PM me anytime!</p>
<p>The ease of spending an evening or a weekend in Philly or DC or NYC is a big reason students of all ethnicities choose Swarthmore. The one downside of any small liberal arts college is that the ivory tower can get a little claustrophic from time to time. Just the ability to easily spend a weekend riding a subway or a Jersey transit train or a Chinatown bus with normal poeple can be just the break you need.</p>
<p>hey superlax, i don't care what high school you went to, you will be in for a rude surprise if you think swat is no more rigorous that what you are accustomed to in kiddie school (honestly, what do 'teachers and adults' know about what goes on educationally at swat unless they actually lived through it.)</p>
<p>There are students who don't find the transition to Swarthmore that difficult. I think the vast majority do find that they have to step up their game and the vast majority of those do just that.</p>
<p>to be respectful interesteddad, you are correct, there are students who don't find the transition difficult, maybe 2 in every class. again you are correct, the rest of us do step up our game out of neccessity because we need to survive and most are stoic and don't whine about it like i do lest anyone forget.</p>
<p>Yes. I would think that most Swatties have to step up their academic game from high school. I would hope so. It would be kind of a shame if you enrolled at one of the top academic schools in the country and could get by with high school level work.</p>
<p>My son went to a competitive private school where small classes were the norm (you couldn't hide during class discussions) & where writing was emphasized (all sophs took a writing workshop & you had to pass a writing proficiency test). He felt very prepared for Swat & didn't feel like he had to step up his game. But he does admit that most of his Swat friends were not as fortunate as he was. I'm not sure, though, if there are only 2 students per class who are that lucky, but they are definitely the minority.</p>
<p>Obviously college is going to challenge me but highschool has challenged me as well and I am used to working hard and dealing with those challenges. I would say that I am extremely prepared for the work at Swarthmore and I have never heard high school be referred to as "kiddie school". It's not like I am a little kid right now. And actually the students and teachers I talk to DO know what's going on educationally because I have spoken to students and teachers from my school who currently/previously attended Swarthmore and/or schools comparable to Swarthmore and they feel that it is as rigorous as our high school is. This includes my college councilor who knows a thing or two about colleges..... I'm don't mean to be disrespectful but I really don't think you are in a position to judge my preparedness when you don't even know me or my situation. I think I will stick to talking to people who know the place I am leaving and the place that I am going to. I am 100% positive that Swarthmore will be challenging for me, but I am also positive that I will be able to meet these challenges because my school has prepared me to overcome them.</p>
<p>And I completely agree with you Shellfell and interesteddad. Shellfell- it sounds like your son went through a very similar situation as me. My school only has 100 students per grade in high school (its even smaller in the lower schools) and we are expected to lead all the class discussions since the classes are so small. Also all of our classes are run in a round table format (sort of like UChicago, I don't know if you are familiar with the way their classes are run) which really promotes discussion and participation. Our grading system is also extremely harsh as it is almost impossible to get a 4.0 average at my school. In fact my school does not calculate GPA or class rank but I know no one gets straight A's. It's simply not possible because of grade inflation. I think that it is very similar to Swarthmore in those respects? I don't know but Swarthmore reminds me so much of my school its kinda crazy!</p>
<p>That's why I posted, superlax. It sounds like your experience is similar to my son's so I wanted to reassure you that you are probably very well prepared for Swat. It will be challenging, but my son didn't feel overwhelmed by it.</p>
<p>superlax09,
My S went to an academically demanding independent high school and did not find the work level at Swat to be overly challenging. I don't think that most of his classmates at Swat were necessarily in the same boat. It sounds like you would be similarly well prepared to tackle Swarthmore academics.</p>
<p>My daughter was at the other end of the spectrum. She went to a decent, but hardly spectacular public high school. She wasn't terribly well-prepared for Swarthmore, especially in the writing department. I don't think she ever felt overwhelmed by the transition. I think she found that the college is pretty much designed to take you from whatever starting point and get you quickly doing Swarthmore level work.</p>
<p>While on this topic I have a question. Are there study groups or workshops where students can get extra help in things like math and science? Are there also peer review workshops for papers and such? I remember hearing something of the sort when I visited other colleges but I don't remember hearing anything about it at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Some students are very well prepared for the work to be done at Swarthmore. Still, I think most of those students find that Swarthmore is different from their high school in many ways. One of my friends went to Philips Exeter and told me that although it's about the same size and everything, Swarthmore appealed to him because he wanted to get away from what he felt as a "preppy" environment, and I think he is quite happy where he is now. Quite a few of my friends went to private preparatory academies, but they're not necessarily doing extraordinarily well. One of my past biology lab partners went to a very competitive, demanding prep school, and she was surprised by how much work she has. She told me that she didn't imagine that she'd get more work than she had in her high school.</p>
<p>It's important to bear in mind that Swarthmore professors aren't trying to make students's lives here hell. They want students to be challenged and to learn as much as they can here, but they won't assign so much work that it'll be counterproductive. There are also lots of resources for students, which brings me to superlax09's question.</p>
<p>There are lots of resources for help, including study groups. I took Intro to Bio last semester, and there are study sessions held by pre-med upperclassmen three nights a week. They are very popular soon before quizzes and exams. Every so often you can meet with a math tutor (although I went once and he wasn't helpful). There are also individual tutors who work for the Dean's Office. Swarthmore has a great Writing Center where you can meet with students who took a special course in writing, who can help edit your paper during conferences. There are actually lots and lots of resources to help you. You can also try to get together with your friends to study, and of course professors are usually very available for help. All these resources reinforce a sense of community--people working together and helping each other out. It's great. Here's a link that has all you need to know:</p>
<p>Thanks dchow08! Your entire post was really helpful. I won't pass judgment about the amount/difficulty of the work until I actually get there because you are right, it differs from student to student.</p>
<p>Swarthmore's Writing Associates program is the model. I read an Amherst report recently where they singled it as being a goal to strive for and that they had a long way to go. Swarthmore's program is heads and shoulders above most colleges because the Writing Associates take a full semester course (for credit) to teach them how to edit and peer review college writing. Students use the program a lot. </p>
<p>The science study groups are funded by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to improve the teaching of undergrad science. I think they even provide the doughnuts.</p>
<p>There is also a three day study skills seminar for first year students who want to return early from winter break to take it. It's taught mostly by upperclass students and is pretty good at giving some practical real world tips for navigating Swarthmore academics -- like get in the habit of going to the library to study every night.</p>
<p>I don't know about the doughnuts, interesteddad. Now they have juice, bagel bites, and some fattening and greasy taco things with meat inside that you pop in the oven.</p>
<p>Another very helpful resource that's mentioned in the website: Your Academic Advisor. You get hooked up with a professor who matches your interests--I'm a math major and my advisor is Phil Everson, who's really cool and chill and nice. He's a statistics professor, which is great because I'm looking into becoming a statistician.</p>
<p>I think they told HHMI in the grant report that they provided doughnuts. They might have said refreshments. In any case, the whole formalized science study group thing is funded as part of a $1.6 million HHMI grant (that also funds a boatload of student summer research positions).</p>
<p>until you've actually experienced swarthmore's heat, you have no clue how hot it gets. i can tell you this, you're not prepared. i will take my stats, ec's, everything and put them up against anyone's when i left high school. i was da ****z. i get here, and whoa. i've taken science classes at bryn mawr and columbia and practically sleptwalked through them and ripped down A's (so i know i've still got it.) yet, i come back to swat and i'm back to scraping for a B. if the only thing that grad schools look at are numbers (which is what i've heard), I am totally screwed because of swat (except for the gmat, lsat or mcat's, i should still ace those.)</p>