Is Econ/Math degree at Swarthmore worth turning down full ride to state school?

[Hunt]

<p>

And more than once did the workshop end with the lines, “We fill our entry-level positions exclusively from Princeton and Penn.” (I’ve heard this from finance, consulting and tech companies.)

While this is frustrating, I’m not sure that it suggests UMass over Swarthmore–probably the reverse.</p>

[cobrat]

<p>

UMass would hardly be unique in having a lot of party/beer oriented students; most schools with substantial residential populations have plenty such students.

</p>

<p>There were very few party/beer double majors at my LAC when I was there. If anything, aspiring party/beer majors tend to avoid schools like Oberlin like the plague for the following reasons:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Student culture tends to look down upon such students for various reasons. </p></li>
<li><p>Beer/alcohol wasn’t the vice of choice at my LAC or those like mine. Weed/psychedelics were…and those who partook tend to keep to themselves and not disturb others the same way party/beer double majors tend to…especially at the UMass Amherst my older cousin attended in the late 1980’s. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>From knowing several Swarthmore alums among HS classmates and colleagues…seems like the student culture there is much more similar to my LAC than to the UMass of my cousin’s time…or possibly today.</p>

<p>

That’s because the strength of an applicant is largely measured by how advanced coursework they have completed, and the stronger math + physics majors at research universities have the opportunity to start taking graduate courses in their second or third year. Liberal arts college students do not have this opportunity. For example, the math graduate programs at Stanford, Princeton and MIT have not accepted a single liberal arts students for several years. (I am not counting myself as a liberal arts student here because I took 3 semester’s worth of graduate courses at Penn outside of the cross-registration agreement.)

</p>

<p>This really depends on the LAC as some LACs like mine have strong STEM departments which sent many graduates to top STEM PhD programs. </p>

<p>Knew some at schools that are peers of MIT, Princeton, and Stanford who skipped “required” intro grad courses because they were advanced enough to get to the upper-level grad-level courses as soon as they started. </p>

<p>Also, several STEM PhD students at MIT mentioned they’ve had several graduates from LACs like mine…and all tended to do very well in their programs.</p>

<p>If we’re talking math/STEM jobs…know several Swarthmore grads working in finance and computer tech firms…some which are well-known household names like Microsoft and Google.</p>

[b_r_um]

<p>cobrat, mind sharing which field you’re in? STEM encompasses a huge number of fields and I have no doubt that a broad LAC education is appreciated in some, but certainly not in all of them.</p>

[cobrat]

<p>

cobrat, mind sharing which field you’re in? STEM encompasses a huge number of fields and I have no doubt that a broad LAC education is appreciated in some, but certainly not in all of them.

</p>

<p>IT/IS myself…but the Swarthmore colleagues I knew were Engineering/CS…yes…Swarthmore has engineering. </p>

<p>The MIT grad students were in Chemistry, Physics, and some engineering fields.</p>

[b_r_um]

<p>I have taken an engineering class at Swarthmore myself. No reason to be condescending.</p>

[maidenMom]

<p>Hands down, SWARTHMORE</p>

[cobrat]

<p>

I have taken an engineering class at Swarthmore myself. No reason to be condescending.

</p>

<p>That remark was for those CCers who didn’t know that Swarthmore had Engineering or a respectable CS program.</p>

[Pea]

<p>I think BeanTownGirl might be right, that you will be responsible for a lot more than room and board. You need to look into this.</p>

[achat]

<p>My son is a Swarthmore 2008 grad and is now doing well in his chosen field. He went to graduate school after Swarthmore and is graduating in May. He has a job lined up which he thinks is meaningful and he’s excited about it. He might have gotten the job because he is from Swarthmore, we’re not sure, but he certainly got it because he interned somewhere where it was meaningful while in graduate school.</p>

<p>I agree with many parents when they say cost should be a factor in choice of college, though. Unless you have a trust fund awaiting you. </p>

<p>My son did get a great education at Swarthmore and as I said before his current interviewers were impressed with his Swarthmore degree. He is not in Finance, btw. If you are planning on an investment banking/Wall Street/ finance kind of career, somewhere else would be better for you. Like Penn or NYU or something. If you haven’t applied there, then well, I don’t know what to say. I am not saying that Swarthmore won’t help you find a job - it will and there are campus interviews from consulting companies etc. And Swarthmore does have famous alums who are titans of Finance. However, as other people have noted (and I know from having worked at Wall Street firms ), universities like Princeton, Wharton are the places where Wall Street recruits from.</p>

<p>In the end, though, this is a personal decision between you and your parents (who are going to fund your education).</p>