<p>curious if anyone has any distinct opinions about the differences b/t amherst, williams, bowdoin, and swarthmore. i know williams is the "jock school" and swarthmore is the "nerdy overworked bunch" but i'm looking for more than just the stereotypes and what's briefly mentioned in every college guide. thanks a lot, i appreciate it.</p>
<p>The stereotypes aren't necessarily a bad place to start.</p>
<p>However, I would caution that just about all of these schools have some students from Column A, some from Column B, etc.</p>
<p>They all have some pocket-protector nerds. They all have some quiet, studious kids. They all have some drinkers. They all have some athletes. They all have some trust-fund babies. They all have some "just plain kids".</p>
<p>The differences in campus cultures really emerge from two things: the history/traditions of each school and the percentages of kids from each "column" in the student body.</p>
<p>My daughter just started her second year at Swarthmore. She's never once complained about being overworked. She has called and e-mailed twice in the last four days just to rave about her courses this semester. Amazing really. To get a long e-mail with lengthy descriptions of reading lists and how much fun the books look like. If Swarthmore could bottle that kind of enthusiasm and sell it, they'd have other schools beating their doors down.</p>
<p>see the thread "one line descriptions of various colleges" a while back on the parents forum for a discussion of these differences. Link is <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=61458%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=61458</a></p>