<p>OK… I think we’re cool. :)</p>
<p>Before I get to your question, I like to gently “challenge” you on your reply to this though…“Trust the opinion of an anonymous someone still in high school or a HMC freshman or the HHMI?” Personally, I’m a physician who trained @ a top hospital and I counsel pre-meds and work with medical students. While I certainly discount youth and lack of experience, I don’t do it to their face as I think it would be “condescending”. When I teach, I’ll ask the same hard questions as I do of others as that demonstrates similar respect and consideration… I encourage students to use my 1st name...of course, if they get my questions "wrong", it’s no big deal just as long as they learn something from it. Many of the individuals who post here on CC consider themselves America’s best and brightest (AND ACT LIKE IT… “know it alls”) and write their opinions because they think it worthy of consideration and acknowledgement. If that’s the case, then I think it’s important to hold them up to those standards as well, regardless of age, and challenge them as adults. After all, 35-65 years ago, what were 18-19 yo doing?... they were fighting wars, taking bullets and given great responsibility… so challenging a valedictorian to validate his/her opinions and calling them on BS when needed shouldn’t be a big deal. Also, at Swat, your professors and colleagues will challenge you in a similar way and hold you up to high standards of evidence and analysis. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about the minority of students at Swat that I wrote about as they’re many shockingly cool and nice people there (example, one of my friends who was listed in "Essence" magazine as one of top 20 college women and went to get a policy PhD @ Woodrow Wilson). However, Swat doesn’t benefit from the laid back atmosphere of the west coast or the gentleness of the Midwest and, because it advertises itself accordingly, it attracts and detracts an overall student body that is a little (but noticibly) different from many other east coast colleges and this gives it its distinct flavor. There are many (+) aspects with this uniqueness but there are some (-) as well. For those students who are nice, smart and modest, you’ll have 4 great years but I would just recommend that you don’t get caught up with the faction of your classmates who take themselves, their "intensity", their "intellectuality" and Swat too seriously. It's easy to do.</p>
<p>This thread seems about dead. In conclusion, Haverford “technically” has more resources in molecular biology than most/all other colleges but, in the greater scheme of things, you can get a great education and be prepared at any of the top schools and fit is very important. I think I said it best here.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for lazy Sundays, pleasant LA weather free WI-FI and outdoor cafes. :)</p>