…and I was thinking of sending them an update, looks like it’s too late sigh :((
That also means that they’ve probably sent out early writes by this point! Hopefully we’ll start hearing about them next week or later today.
Decisions are coming out on the 17th at 7PM Est!!!
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Be curious if this is true. Has ANYONE received an early write this year? Rumor has it (and it’s just a rumor) that Swarthmore did away with those this year and moved up decisions for EVERYONE by a week.
@TheGuidingLight It’s honestly possible, because if decisions are being released next week (which is a week before RD decisions are normally released) then students would have already received early writes, but I don’t think anyone has. Do you know why the scrapped the early write system?
I have no idea. Personally, I think it’s less stressful for everyone. However, my DD enjoyed getting them a few years ago from several colleges, yet waited to tell her friends until all decisions were out.
@TheGuidingLight Where did you find out that Swat scrapped early interest letters? 
Because I’m pretty sure you’re right.
@TheGuidingLight it’s a theory. If decisions are being sent out next Friday, there probably won’t be early writes, since they wouldn’t be very “early”
Decisions are coming out for sure. Swathmore sent out an email today about it! If you applied, it should be in your inbox
*Swarthmore
Got the same email, with an admonishment that Swat “received an extraordinary pool of first-year applicants.” Could this possibly be Swat’s way of soft landing a hard rejection?
@StJohnny
Pretty sure it was a default email to all applicants.
Has anyone noticed any sort of trend in the acceptances/rejections from last year and this year so far? (in terms of stats, etc.)?
@voltthorn No, I do not have stats on any trend in acceptances/rejections from last year and this year. However, I do know that Swarthmore has seen a huge increase in the number of applicants for this upcoming class vs. last year – over 9,400 applications this year vs. over 7,700 applications last year. That’s a 22% increase in applications in one year! Any speculation as to the sudden surge in applications? More outreach perhaps?
Last year 13% of applicants were offered admissions. This year’s percentage will fall at least a couple percent and will be getting closer to single digits – not there yet though. It’s going to be a VERY tough year to get admitted. 
Fingers crossed for next Friday at 7pm.
More applicants for the same number of spots does not necessarily imply greater difficulty in admission. It could merely mean more students applying to elite colleges are applying to a larger number of elite colleges. The common app makes it relatively easy to apply to 20 schools. It will be interesting to see what kind of yield Swarthmore and its peers have this year - and how they manage their waitlists. I would expect an increase in the number of admission offers, in anticipation of a decreased yield, and a large waitlist due to the yield uncertainty in the face of a dramatic increase in number of applicants.
I don’t know exactly which year, but a year or two ago Swarthmore changed from two extensive supp. essays to just one (the ubiquitous “Why XXXXX”). I know that that change led to a much larger number of applications. Also, Swarthmore had some rather unfavorable publicity wrt student protests in 2013 which may have affected things for a little while.
@CodyChesnutt I respectfully disagree. Swarthmore is still planning a freshman class size of 405 students, not any different from prior years. Here are the stats for the past 4 years:
Class # Applied # Accepted % Accepted # of First Years Yield
2017 6,615 929 14.0% 389 41.9%
2018 5,540 930 16.8% 407 43.8%
2019 7,818 950 12.2% 407 42.8%
2020 7,717 963 12.5% 415 43.1%
2021 9,400+ ? ? 405* ?
- Swarthmore has maintained a fairly stable yield of 42-44% over the past 4 years. Even if one were to assume a low yield of 42%, Swarthmore Admissions would need to admit approx. 964 students to yield 405 first years. That implies an acceptance rate of just under 10.5%.
@CodyChesnutt I respectfully disagree. Swarthmore is still projected/planning for a first year class of 405 students – no different from prior years. Here are the admission stats for the past 4 years at Swarthmore:
Class of 2017 - 6,615 applicants, 929 accepted; 14.0% acceptance rate 389 matriculated - 41.9% yield
Class of 2018 - 5,540 applicants, 930 accepted; 16.8% acceptance rate 407 matriculated - 43.8% yield
Class of 2019 - 7,818 applicants, 950 accepted; 12.2% acceptance rate 407 matriculated - 42.8% yield
Class of 2020 - 7,717 applicants, 963 accepted; 12.5% acceptance rate 415 matriculated - 43.8% yield
Class of 2021 - 9,400+ applicants, ? accepted; ? % acceptance rate 405* matriculated? - ? yield
- - Assuming a low 42% yield for the class of 2021, then admissions would have to make offers to approximately 964 applicants. That would imply an acceptance rate of less than 10.5%. Of course, neither of us knows the impact the increase of 1,700 applicants had to the overall quality of this year's Swarthmore applicant pool compared to prior years. Just looking at two criteria such as GPA & SAT/ACT, was it the same, worse, or stronger? While we may not know the answer to applicant pool quality, we will know just how many offers of admission Swarthmore makes by next Friday evening.
I’m sticking with my original prediction: an increase in the offers of admission, a decrease in the yield (below 40%), and a big wait list. All will be clear soon enough!