<p>I've applied swarthmore winter ED, but I'm having second thoughts now.(I just want to make sure if it's a fit for me before I do anything about it.)</p>
<p>I've heard from various sources(current student reviews and alums online) that students tend to be nerdy and socially awkward, and that it can be hard to make new friends since most people aren't that open and adept at socializing. I think this can be true to some extent cos you have to admit that" a place to make lifelong friendship" isn't exactly the school's selling point. Anyway, I'm wondering if the relationship between students are limited to intellectual conversations and academic collaboration. I'm also worried that everyone is uptight and serious in such an academically serious school.</p>
<p>Also, I'm not completely sure what "nerd" implies cos I'm from China and we kinda have different definition of the word. So does that imply someone who's socially not confident, obsessed with certain stuff(sci-fi, comics or poetry maybe?) and have a distinctive definition of "having fun"?(I admit I learn my nerd knowledge from The Big Bang Theory.)</p>
<p>To be short, I wanna know at swarthmore if i can easily find someone who would happily agree and do stupid, crazy and cool stuffs with me when I say "you know what? we should climb on the roof!" or "Let's pretend to be someone else when we go in that shop!"</p>
<p>It would be the best if any current student and alum could answer my questions, but any information would be very much appreciated.</p>
<p>I myself am pretty serious about academics, I might add, but I’d like to have people to do crazy and spontaneous stuffs together and just switch my brain down and be stupid for a while. I’m in a fast class(we have a fixed class of about 50 kids and we take courses together and all) in high school and am surrounded by nerds(Chinese definition: not into having fun and making friends and think I’m insane for wanting to do things mentioned above.) So I’m not enjoying it very much, and I think I kinda got a little less socially confident than before cos I don’t have much of a social life inside my class. I just wanna know if this is likely to happen at swarthmore as well.</p>
<p>One of my good friends was accepted early and is incredibly excited about about it. He’s academically driven, yes, but he’s also pretty ridiculous (think avocado-green jeans) and spontaneous, not to mention the fact that he’s probably one of the friendliest people I know. </p>
<p>Every school has a stereotype. Within each school, I assure you that you will find people who don’t fit that stereotype. I understand you probably can’t visit (are you currently in China?), but I think you’ll be okay. I’ve heard many times that college is what you make of it.</p>
<p>I was recently admitted ED and visited campus in early October and I have to say that students aren’t anti-social by any means. The campus is filled with activists, athletes, and artists (how about that alliteration!) with a shared passion for academics. If I had to describe the student body (just on my quick observations) I’d say that they are quirky and eclectic. At any college or university there will be the quiet types and the extreme extroverts, it’s up to you to discover where you fit, but Swarthmore is definitely not all reclusive nerds (at least that’s not how it appeared… haha) </p>
<p>In response to your comment about your class of 50, I’d say that Swarthmore students seem to generally enjoy having fun and meeting friends, but each group’s definition of fun differs.</p>
<p>I’d say follow your gut and keep your EDII app open! Good luck!</p>
<p>The pass/fail first semester is where you see people open up and change how they were in high school. Many people were obviously the super-studious kid in their high school, but not all. Parties happen weekly, and if you find the right group of friends things will happen spontaneously if you let them. Before winter break my friends and I started going to surrounding campuses on weekends to see what’s up there. If you applied EDII there was a reason for doing so, and if you get in then you can think about these things. Otherwise, there’s no point.</p>
<p>Hey, YifanW, current Swattie here.
The stereotype of Swarthmore students is indeed of being super nerdy and socially awkward. However, in my experience, there are very few people that are actually like this. There are nerds here, but nerds do not make up the majority of the student population by any stretch of the imagination. Most students are well-adjusted socially no matter the social group.</p>
<p>People do talk about things beside hardcore intellectual topics. You will always be able to find a hardcore intellectual conversations, but it is not the extent of the majority of friendships. You can very easily find someone to talk with about pretty much any topic. Literally anything. From Disney movies to the best type of ice cream cone.</p>
<p>You will also easily find spontaneous people especially during 1st semester, which is pass/fail as moonman said. I know people who will randomly decide to go until Philly or run around the Krum or have Nerf gun wars. Upperclassmen tend to be less spontaneous, though. And if climbing on roofs is your thing, there is LOTS of roof access.</p>
<p>I hope I helped alleviate some of your fears! If you have some more questions, I’ll be glad to answer them.</p>
<p>Hi goku,
Thanks for your answer. It’s really helpful!
And could you tell me exactly how hard and intense the school is? Say on the scale of 1 to 10? And how many hours of sleep do you(most students) get on weekdays and weekends respectively? </p>
<p>I had these same concerns when I decided to enroll. Indeed, reviews on Students Review, etc., sometimes make Swatties look like weirdos. It’s very important to keep in mind that these reviews you read online suffer from an extreme selection bias in that only those who had a sufficiently rough time at Swat will be motivated to write, whereas those who really enjoyed their time generally won’t write much online.</p>
<p>As an alumnus of Swat, and a student now at an Ivy, I can tell you that the undergraduate vibe at Swat is really nice, and better, in my view, than the vibes at the other top schools you might be considering. Students at Swat are ridiculously cooperative, and excited about helping each other. I contend this is desirable and observe that this seems to be unique to Swat. I don’t see much of this where I now go, or hear that this really happens at other top schools where some of my new friends went to school. </p>
<p>Re: sleeping, I don’t think you should worry about this. The intensity at Swat is on the high end on average (probably only exceeded by the tech schools like MIT, CalTech, etc.,), but the workload is not uniformly demanding, meaning that you can make it easier if you want to. Indeed, other schools are more chill, like the non-top Ivies (i.e., not MIT, Princeton, maybe Harvard) but I’d say that this chillness comes at a price of a less intense (and maybe less-“good”) education. If you want way less intensity than Swat, I say check out Pomona.</p>
<p>My Son is a freshman at Swarthmore, International student too. He had the same fears but he knows now he made the best choice. He is a responsible student and he is doing fine sleeping 7 hrs/night (except during finals). Although he was not a very social person before, now he has a lot of good friends who are part of his personal growth. Couldn’t be happier.</p>
<p>You definitely don’t need to worry about not making friends or encountering awkward people at every turn. Are there awkward people at Swat? Sure there are. Are there bubbly, outgoing people at Swat? Absolutely. I’m a 2012 grad and many of my cherished Swat memories are quiet hanging-out-with-friends type things, so listen: you’re going to have a social life if you come here, and it will impact you just as much as the academics. Trust me, you’ll have a lot of fun if you come here.</p>
<p>On the contrary, I think you’re perfect for Swat! Most people are Swarthmore are just like that - serious about academics, social justice, etc., but lots of fun.<br>
I can assure you that you will not run out of people who’ll happily go on roofs with you or pretend to be other people in shops. </p>
<p>I think Swatties do tend to be nerdy and awkward, but not in bad ways. We’re nerdy in that we’re often obsessed about many quirky things, and we’re frequently awkward, but neither detracts from the fact that we’re all extremely friendly and welcoming. I think that given your description of your personality, you’ll fit right in with many people at Swat and won’t have an issue making friends at all. Rooftops are great for bonding!</p>
Trust me, you’ll have a lot of fun if you come here.</p>