is swarthmore overrated?

<p>dont mean to offend any alums, but an alum i know said that she wasted her time at swarthmore and applied for a transfer at her junior year. she did not regret her decision. can it be true that swarthmore doesnt have a good class atmosphere and is actually overrated as the 3rd best LAC in the nation?</p>

<p>the US News College Rankings are overrated</p>

<p>Published ranking is overrated. My biggest complaint about them is that there is no wa they can measure fit. I would be more concerned about fit than ranking, personally. I would visit, attend a class, talk to students, etc. and then make my OWN list of college rankings. </p>

<p>Anyway, I'm sure you probably disagree with me, but that's how I feel about it. Also, I forget what company, but some company ranked Swarthmore as the most intellectual college...I'm sure that this rating and being number 3 compliment each other. </p>

<p>There will always be people out there who are unhappy at their college (hence allowing transfers). We've been fortunate enough to have a transfer on the forum who can tell us all the "wrongs" she sees at Swarthmore. But remember, there are people who transfer out of every college from Swarthmore to Harvard to Bob Jones University.</p>

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dont mean to offend any alums, but an alum i know said that she wasted her time at swarthmore and applied for a transfer at her junior year.

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<p>I think that, as a general rule, a students who transfer out of a college after sophmore year are probably not going to say that they "loved" the school!</p>

<p>About 92% of the students who arrive at Swarthmore as freshmen graduate, so there aren't a heck of a lot of transfers. Most transfers involve personal, individual issues -- financial, geographic, academic, social. It's really hard to generalize.</p>

<p>Swarthmore does have a distinctive institutional "personality" and has a high degree of self-selection in its student body. If you are looking for that kind of experience, then there are few colleges that offer what Swarthmore does. If you are looking for a different type of college experience, then Swarthmore is probably not going to be a great fit. Visiting is a good way to find out. The school presents itself pretty accurately.</p>

<p>Actually, if you analyze the data on US News (ie, rated most selective), you can argue it is underrated. So many of their factors like % of alums donating (if each alum gives .50 its 100%) are ridiculous.
Btw, to be an alum, you need to have graduated.</p>

<p><em>Quote</em> Btw, to be an alum, you need to have graduated.</p>

<p>oh, I thought you get double legacy if you transfer. nm.</p>

<p>In my definition being overrated means that it's "popularity" among the college going population does not do justice to the quality of education and being underrated is the reverse. My son is a rising junior and he thinks he is getting one of the best undergraduate education anywhere in the nation and he is very grateful for that. He also knows two people who transferred or dropped out of the school in the first semester and in the second year respectively and they will never come back if Swarthmore was the last college on earth. But he thinks that in both cases it was a mismatch of expectations. One of them transferred to Georgetown and the other one has no plans so far.</p>

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If you are looking for a different type of college experience, then Swarthmore is probably not going to be a great fit. Visiting is a good way to find out. The school presents itself pretty accurately.

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Agreed ... I'm a huge advocate of visits because I believe schools have very different feels to them ... not good or bad but different ... and different kids will match better with different schools. For me, my visits absolutely switched my #1 and #2 preference and my love of Cornell (moved up to #1) started the second I set foot on campus and has not stopped 29 years (yikes) later ... I am so thankful for my visit to Cornell.</p>

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One of them transferred to Georgetown...

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<p>If that's the one I'm thinking about, it was a real soap opera. </p>

<p>That's one of the situations I was thinking of when I said that tranfers are usually very individual and often have little or nothing to do with the school itself.</p>

<p>You don't have to have graduated for the college development office to consider you an alum. Even if you've only attended for a semester, most college development offices will be happy to ask you for a donation to your alma mater.</p>