<p>Which one? $ is negligible. </p>
<p>...shoot!</p>
<p>Swarthmore!!!</p>
<p>Haverford!!!</p>
<p>They have different cultures. Where do you fit in?</p>
<p>Swarthmore—egg-heads, intellectuals, individualistic, quirky, liberal</p>
<p>Haverford—community-oriented, very Quaker (Swarthmore may have Quaker origins too but they live it at Haverford), smart but less intellectual.</p>
<p>Spend some time at both (they are, after all, pretty close to one another) and choose the one that feels right to you. The good news is that, if you make the wrong choice, you can always take classes at the other since you can cross-register.</p>
<p>My son’s sense was that Haverford was more preppy than Swat.</p>
<p>Haverford is also more athletic than Swat–70% of students participate in varsity or intramural sports, whereas Swat recently cut their football program.</p>
<p>Haverford doesnt have a football team…</p>
<p>Haverford hasn’t had one in years, I think they got rid of it because the players were too small, LOL…</p>
<p>While Haverford and Swarthmore have some things in common (Quaker founders, suburban Philly location, etc.), they are very different in many ways:</p>
<p>a) Haverford still has Quaker governance (100% Quaker corporation), Swarthmore does not.</p>
<p>b) Haverford was all male until the 1970s. Swarthmore was coed from its founding, graduated the first woman to receive a PhD in the United States, and requires equal numbers of men and women on the Board of Managers.</p>
<p>c) The differences in diversity are noticeable:</p>
<p>
**Swarthmore Haverford**<br>
7% 3% Temporary Resident
9% 8% Black, Non-Hispanic
1% 1% Native American
17% 10% Asian or Pacific Islander
11% 9% Latino/a
**55% 69% White (inc. unknown)**
d) The most important difference, because it drives *everything* else, is the difference in financial resources. The following data is from June 2008:
**Swarthmore Haverford**<br>
$968,868 $424,518 Per Student Endowment<br>
$36,361 $17,979 Per Student Endow Spending</p>
<p>$81,350 $63,508 Per Student Spending
$32,252 $34,493 Per Student Fees (after aid)</p>
<p>$13,075 $10,107 Average Financial aid
</p>
<p>Depending on where the endowments shake out, it looks like Swarthmore is currently the second highest per student endowment LACs in the country (along with Pomona) and one of the highest of all colleges and universities. Double the per student endowment of Haverford. This results in double the spending from the endowment and $18,000 more spending per student per year. $18,000 more buys a lot of stuff. I think that is apparent from the buildings on the two campuses, but is also apparent in a range of student services: peer writing and tutoring services, more diversity, weekly and daily campus news services, student activities like War News Radio with a former NPR producer hired to mentor the students, and on and on and on. </p>
<p>In normal times, financial resources are important. In a period of time when all colleges are under severe budget pressure and will be making signficant cuts, the financial resources at Swarthmore are even more important. They have built all their new buildings. They don’t have a backlog of deferred maintenance. They have already put new programs like Arabic in place. They have extra beds.</p>
<p>If there is something that just grabs you in some irresistable way about Haverford, fine. It’s an excellent school. But, if you can’t decide because you like them both, then the financial difference should make your difference a no-brainer. The average student is getting $18,000 more stuff at Swarthmore for $2,000 less cash money out of pocket. It doesn’t get any more clear than that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s a bunch of bull. Other than the fact that Haverford students are whiter and a bit wealthier (on average), I don’t think you could tell the difference between a Haverford student and a Swarthmore student unless they were wearing their school sweatshirts. Even the difference in white and weathly wouldn’t exist except that Haveford has traditionally been a bit more dependent on tuition revenue to balance the budget. If Haverford could afford Swarthmore’s diversity, they would love to have it.</p>
<p>From looking at Bryn Mawr for grad school, it seemed that it has much closer ties with Haverford than with Swarthmore. This may be a plus, if you like the idea of being near a women’s college (including eating or even living over there) or want to study a subject in which BMC excels.</p>
<p>Grinnell was the highest. Followed by Pomona. Followed by Swarthmore and Amherst (pretty much tied).</p>
<p>Grinnell took a beating on their endowment in the year that ended June 30, 2008, down 14% before the market crashed. It appears their endowment has gotten whacked pretty hard. </p>
<p>Amherst deserves the award for biggest financial screw up. They have over 60% of their endowment in non-liquid private partnerships. Even worse, they have half a billion dollars in outstanding cash call commitments to pour even more money into private partnerships and no way to get the cash. They just issued taxable bonds to borrow $100 million so they have operating cash. Just a monumental piece of mismanagement for college that had such a huge endowment they didn’t need to play fast and loose. By comparison, Swarthmore (with the same per student endowment) has over 60% of its endowment in liquid assets and less than half of the cash call commitments. Swat also has half the debt.</p>
<p>Concerning the comments on diversity at Haverford, Haverford joined the QuestBridge program in 2008 in an effort to recruit a more socio-economically diverse class. I am a recipient of a QuestBridge Match scholarship and will be attending next year. Since Haverford has joined QuestBridge, they are now getting more exposure to low-income, high-achieving students who are connected to QuestBridge. This year alone, the first year that Haverford has partnered with QuestBridge, Haverford will have eight QuestBridge scholars attending the college next year. And every year Haverford will have access to, admit, and provide full scholarships to a bright, diverse group of students that will enrich the campus with the diversity that many applicants are looking for.</p>