Official Swarthmore Decisions: Class of 2012

<p>oh ok, cuse I thought you meant something else?
:/</p>

<p>
[quote]
ndeed! Otherwise I would be grudgingly scowling my way through a cal state or uc. I'm not surprised that they decided that our need fell below or at Pomona's $17k, although the absent father element always complicates.

[/quote]

As does the Los Angeles County cost of living.</p>

<p>You are exactly right, AE. Some LACs take into account your place of residence and some seem to think you should up and move. Some love to snag all the equity out of your house and some don't touch it. Cal States and UCs are wonderful, but if you are a liberal arts college lover at heart, then you will always long for one.</p>

<p>The secret to the fat envelope is revealed in today's Daily Gazette
The</a> Daily Gazette Leak Reveals Secret Criterion for Accepting Class of 2012</p>

<p>Aptronyms!</p>

<p>It is an outstanding 4/1 edition of the Gazette. I mean, Manticore.</p>

<p>As a little background, the manticore is an inside joke. </p>

<p>The students voted for a new sports mascot last year. If I recall, the "manticore" was the joke nomination and might even have won the voting. It's a made-up fictional animal.</p>

<p>"Phoenix" was selected as the new mascot. So, the Daily Gazette people are poking a little fun at their rival college newspaper by calling the special edition "The Daily Manticore".</p>

<p>Actually, the joke predates the mascot fun by many decades. Manticore has cropped up as a faux name for the Phoenix now and again ever since the paper (which, as you probably know, was christened after Parrish "rose from the ashes" of the big fire) first appeared.</p>

<p>-Phoenix staffer from far too way back.</p>

<p>An article in today's Daily Gazette confirms that Swarthmore expects a lower yield.
<a href="http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2008/04/02/admissions-rate-for-2012-reached-record-low-expected-yield-lower/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2008/04/02/admissions-rate-for-2012-reached-record-low-expected-yield-lower/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>DS was Accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT: 2210
SAT II: 770, 730
GPA: 3.8/4
Rank:n/a
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): 7 AP's
Subjective:
Essays: Got good comments on them.<br>
Teacher Recs: Didn't read.
Counselor Rec: Didn't read.
Supplementary Material: 3 Scientific pubs, Poetry collection with cover from teacher, extra letters of recommendation, a comic he wrote about his Swarthmore overnight.
Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Legacy
Personal:
Location:NJ
High School Type:Extremely competitive private
Ethnicity: White, Jewish
Gender: Male
Applied for Financial Aid: No
Extracurriculars: Many, but a few in depth.
Awards: Again, a number - though nothing jawdropping.
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: He thought the interview went well. He applied ED II and was deferred so they know they are a first choice. And legacy helps as well. He is very happy.</p>

<p>Congratulations. I know that the knitsafghans family will be celebrating tonight!</p>

<p>Treesnogger: "Any other preference might be out of fears that Swarthmore students are a little socially awkward, but I can't imagine I would fit in anywhere much more suave."</p>

<p>You're kidding right? Just because we're not blinged out preppy jocks doesn't mean we're socially awkward. Dude, if you're thinking that attending Swat means you get to feel more comfortable hanging out with pimply pocket protected misfits, you'll find out very quickly that you're going to the wrong place and will be spending a lot of time alone.</p>

<p>I dont think she meant that. I know what she is talking about and its just this natural awkwardness and I know a bunch of Swatties that claim that themselves are socially awkward and people who have visited that say the same thing. Being socially aware and not awkward does not mean having "bling" or being "jocks" or socially awkward having pimples and pocket protecters. Those are just your perceptions.</p>

<p>Yes - the knitsafghans household is very happy. Letter actually arrived Monday so it's really starting to sink in.</p>

<p>Accepted</p>

<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 750V 730W 700M
[</em>]SAT II: 770 Math II; 680 Math I, Spanish, and World History; 690 Literature.
[<em>]ACT: 35
[</em>]GPA: ~3.8. I honestly don't remember.
[<em>]Rank: N/A
[</em>]Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): APs: 4 US History; 5 World History, English Language
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: My Why Swarthmore? was half a page long, but turned out to be well-written and very truthful.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: Pre-Calc and APUSH teacher. I assume they were good.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: I assume it was good.
[</em>]Supplementary Material: "Activity Resume"-- basically, I made a chart of all my extra-curricular instead of using the one on the Common App.
[<em>]Hook(recruited athlete, legacy, Nobel Prize): Applied ED; had a great interview.[/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: Ohio
[<em>]High School Type: Private (Independent) All-Girls Prep
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Constantly changing. (But my sex is female. There's a difference.)
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: No. [/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: 5 years of Tae Kwon Do, job at Tae Kwon Do, intense academic summer programs all through high school, GSA.
[</em>]Awards: I don't even remember if I put anything under awards.
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: Seriously, they're just looking for smart people that can be themselves.[/ul]</p>

<p>Congratulations, Margaret!! </p>

<p>Duhvinci, that definitely is not what I meant. Duckedtape has it right. I have no interest in attending a school with "blinged out jocks." It is Swarthmore students themselves who describe themselves as awkward, and the school in general has a bit of a nerdy reputation compared to its peers. This isn't necessarily a concern, but I think it's worth noting--Swarthmore has a very different personality than many of the other schools I applied to. For me it is probably preferable.</p>

<p>I actually appreciate your response a lot; it's good to hear that Swarthmore students themselves adamantly oppose these kinds of labels. That's all I was hoping for.</p>

<p>swatties are awesome.</p>

<p>Tell me more...I also have read about "Swattiness"...what does that mean? Generally speaking, what special qualities distinguish Swat from other peer institutions (i.e., Amherst, Williams, Wellesley, Pomona,...)?</p>

<p>I'm not hating on anyone else, but I think Swatties tend to have a curiousity and level of engagement which is special.</p>

<p>There are, of course, overlaps in the students who attend Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams, Pomona, and Wellesley. Many students happy at one would be happy at the others.</p>

<p>However, there are some signficant differences in social scene, campus culture, and overall ambience among these schools. Diversity. Drinking scene. Emphasis on athletics. And, so forth.</p>