<p>so what's with this swarthmore/haverford rivalry?</p>
<p>swarthmore/haverford rivalry?
please, haverford isn't worthy of rivalry.</p>
<p>it's really just a low key thing, existing mostly because haverford is the closest liberal arts college, geographically and culturally. i think the swat/ ford sports games are better attended than most, and other than that and the occasional jokes at haverford's expense, it isn't a very big deal.</p>
<p>Swarthmore and Haverford are not necessarily rivals but they share some very similar things...</p>
<p>-Similar Location - both reachable by Phily commuter trains
-Excellent Academics- both are top LACs though Swat has a more selective admission standard and thus a slightly "better" study body
-Both have Quaker traditions- though Haverford is more "Quaker-ish" with its honor code
-Tri-College Consortium and same sports league.....</p>
<p>Their major differences include:
1. Swat has an engineering department
2. Haverford is even smaller than Swat.... (1100 v. 1500)</p>
<p>Both are very fine colleges. Rivalry might be an exaggeration....</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm guessing since students have to travel to a city for entertainment that Swarthmore is not located in a "college town" like Boston?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Private_Joker, Swat is not in the "downtown" Phily and neither are (in your example) Harvard or MIT. H and MIT are in Cambridge and you still have to "travel" to Boston. The vile is actually pretty neat because it's not crowded or distracting and it gives most of what you need. And it takes only 20 minutes by SEPTA to get to South St. in downtown Phily.... I personally love this type of location more..... :D</p>
<p>Swat is actually famous for its diversity among the LACs.... just as achat listed.... and another additional 8% of students hails from foreign countries such as Nepal.. .</p>
<p>Being the proud parent of a Swattie (:)) did anyone notice that Swarthmore has a Rhodes Scholar this year. The student, Tafadzwa Muguwe is from Zimbabwe! The announcement must have been later for this guy because the Rhodes for 2005 was announced in November. Anyway, here is it on the Swat website:
<a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/releases/05/muguwe.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/releases/05/muguwe.html</a></p>
<p>And whatever the story behind the Rhodes this year, this is the 3rd Rhodes scholar in 4 years and from a class that has approximately 317 students a year!</p>
<p>Correction: 372 a year for a total of approx. 1500.</p>
<p>I think it is only 368 this year, actually. If I remember correctly.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is definitely one of my top choices, along with Yale, Stanford, and UChicago (I think all three are similar to Swat in different ways). Plus it doesn't hurt that my dad has told me about all the great times he had at Swarthmore, so he certainly helped interest me in the school.</p>
<p>I applied to both Swat and U Chicago as well :-) They both have strong emphasis on undergrad teaching. Swat and U Chicago both have near-city loacations though the vile of Swat is more desirable. Swat is also warmer...hehe....</p>
<p>Swat's small community fits certain types of people like me but also a lot of people found the size of U chicago optimal. U chicago has more prestige in the general public.</p>
<p>I found Swat more enchanting in some small things at the end.... more personal....</p>
<p>Bowtoserenity, are you a current Swattie?</p>
<p>achat, I'm not a current swattie ;)</p>
<p>As a parent, what do you think about the recent increase of minimum compensation for the college's staff? </p>
<p>And also...how's the new dorm?</p>
<p>"As a parent, what do you think about the recent increase of minimum compensation for the college's staff?"</p>
<p>I don't disapprove of the increase in wages. I thought that was a worthwhile cause for the students to fight for and that people should be able to make a decent living while working at Swat.</p>
<p>Don't know about the new Dorm. I just think because of the proximity to the station, it must be noisy.</p>
<p>That's nice to know Swat promotes diversity.
But, does that mean that in every class, there are 2 or 3 underrepresented minorities? </p>
<p>Bowtoserenity, I goofed on the whole Boston thing. I don't know what I logic I based that opinion on. What a shame... and I live in Massachusetts, too.</p>
<p>2 or 3?<br>
It you do the math, that would be for the whole school:</p>
<p>Asian American = 229
Latino American = 124
African American = 109
Native American = 14
Multiracial Americans = 7</p>
<p>This is based on the total size of 1500. This is approximate; it could be more or less.</p>
<p>Per year, that would be:
Asian American = 58
Latino American = 32
African American = 27
Native American = 3
Multiracial American = 2</p>
<p>Plus I am forgetting foreign students. That would be approx. 18-19 per year.</p>
<p>Private_Joker, just visit Swat. You can see it for yourself.</p>
<p>Oops, I can't do the math myself. That would be 120 foreign students total and 30 per year. From countries all over the world. Including Nepal, Bhutan, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Japan, Korea, China etc.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>When first coming to swarthmore, did your daughter ever talk about being surrounded by peers who were from all ethnicities and socioeconomic classes, brilliant, and offered a wide aray of perspectives?</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Sorry, I missed this question earlier.</p>
<p>She didn't need to explicitly talk about it because it is so obvious. The diversity is THE most striking thing in her pictures of Ride The Tide. THE most striking thing in the two days we spent at freshman drop-off. And, THE most striking thing sitting down with her looking at pictures of her Swat friends and learning about them. </p>
<p>The diversity is not limited to ethnic and racial lines. I don't feel comfortable giving details because it's such a small world and people could be identified too easily. But, there is definitely socio-economic diversity and most every Swattie has an interesting background.</p>
<p>My father's favorite saying about college is that "it's a place to learn about the world and its people". I share his opinion that this is really the value of a good college. From what I have seen Swarthmore provides this opportunity to an extraordinary degree.</p>
<p>It also tends to have less self-segregation than is typically found on a college campus.</p>
<p>Thanks Interesteddad, achat, and others for the responses.
I completely agree with your father's saying, Interesteddad. Diversity in all aspects is an important thing to me.</p>
<p>Yes, I know self-segregation is not there at Swarthmore and that is very noticeable. I noticed self-segregation in many colleges and universities that I visited with my son while he was looking for colleges. It was so obvious.</p>
<p>swat's in my top 10</p>