<p>Hi!
We are touring the campus later this week. Should we use the South Entrance or Main Entrance? It looks like if we use the South Entrance we could use the Clothier Circle Parking, and if we use the Main Entrance we could use the Rose Garden or Benjamin West Parking. Thanks for any advice!</p>
<p>Honestly the campus isn’t very big. Dupont is a large lot and rather close to Parrish Hall, so that’s what I’d use. But I think you’re over thinking!</p>
<p>There are very few parking spaces at either Clothier Circle (13 spaces) or the Rose Garden (7 spaces). Slightly more at Ben West, but donnaleighg is correct that DuPont has plenty of parking and a short walk (800 feet?) to Parrish Hall where the admissions and administrative offices are located. Use the North Entrance off of Elm Avenue.</p>
<p>Great! Thanks so much…DuPont Parking wasn’t mentioned, but now that I look at the map it makes perfect sense. Looking forward to the visit…</p>
<p>My vague recollection when visiting 2-3 years ago was that Admissions recommended all tour visitors to park in DuPont. It’s an easy walk–just follow the paved pathway, go through the courtyard, and you’ll end up in the lobby of Parrish Hall. Then go up the big staircase to Admissions on the second floor (for official tours/info sessions).</p>
<p>We found the parking to admissions path to be less than intuitive… were a little put off, honestly, by how little signage there was. We sort of wandered around after parking, and eventually asked someone. Although D loved her visit and plans to apply, I was honestly a bit put off by that. Also found the person checking prospective students in (an older woman) to be less than helpful about giving directions or providing a map so D could find the class she was supposed to attend. It seemed to be a great inconvenience for her. Having been on a lot of college visits, there are a few schools that seem to have a sort of arrogance to their visit process (“we are so great that it is okay if prospective students have to struggle to find things and don’t feel particularly welcome, because you will all apply anyway”). Swat felt that way to me. It makes me wonder if they treat admitted students and their families any better.</p>
<p>Visited 14 colleges this summer with DS, and Swarthmore came in a close second to Georgetown for bad signage (GU won for locking the direct route back to the parking garage). Other than that, he really like Swat, and said the information session was the best that he heard. Oh, and DuPont is the best place to park.</p>
<p>DuPont definitely was the place to park. Luckily my son is a scout and is proficient in orienteering, LOL! I handed him the map we printed out ahead and he took it from there…</p>
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<p>I think Swarthmore (correctly) figures that kids smart enough to be Swatties can probably figure out how to print out a map or pull one up on their iPhone and negotiate the 300 yards from DuPont to Parrish. :)</p>
<p>The campus isn’t that hard to figure out.</p>
<p>Well… it felt shoddy for a school that expects parents to pony up something like $240,000 for the privilege of attending. Can’t afford a sign from the parking lot to point to admissions? Combined with the snooty/unhelpful greeting in admissions, too.</p>
<p>interesteddad, not everyone has a smart phone.</p>
<p>intparent,
I have an '07 graduate and a current junior and have never experienced the kind of unhelpfulness you have described. I am sorry you had that experience. Now that I think of it, I can’t recollect any signs on campus other than the ones which give the Latin name of the trees and shrubs on campus. 
I do recall on many college visits all over the country asking students to point me in the right direction. Usually, people are very helpful. I’m glad that your daughter enjoyed her visit and hope that the perceived grouchiness of someone in the Admissions Office doesn’t totally turn you off to the college. I also don’t have a Smartphone. ;)</p>
<p>I don’t have a smartphone, either. I always printed the PDF map of Swarthmore’s campus when i visited.</p>
<p>intparent:
I haven’t posted in awhile, as my youngest ('12) has graduated. But I had to respond to your observation of ‘snootiness’ by the staff. After a 7-year association with Swarthmore as a parent (no, my kid didn’t take 7 yrs to graduate: 2 kids overlapping by one year) I do realize that Swarthmore is not perfect, but snooty it is not! It has, in my opinion, collectively the kindest, most caring and engaged faculty and staff of any college I have been associated with (and these are many). I am so sorry that your experience suggested otherwise. As for the signage, it is sparse on campus, by design. Less to rattle the brain and interfere with deep thought and reflection.</p>
<p>I also have no smartphone (and get along fine - on campus an elsewhere) ;)</p>
<p>momuv2, glad to hear that maybe our initial impression was mistaken. Especially as D is smitten… :)</p>
<p>intparent, just chiming in as another parent with 7 (or almost 7) cumulative parent years, plus my own 4 years, to say how much I agree with the non-snooty, friendly, engaged, and caring characterizations of the staff and faculty that people have been posting. It all applies to the students, too. Swat has changed a bit - mostly for the better - in the last 30+ years, but that aspect has remained wonderfully consistent. </p>
<p>Best of luck to your smitten D.</p>
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<p>An example of Swarthmore’s culture. In preparation for the hurricane hitting the Philly area, Swarthmore sent every student home from lunch with a take-out bag for a deli dinner. President Chopp stood at the end of the food line and handed out the bags.</p>
<p>[Working</a> Together During Hurricane Sandy :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/news-and-events/working-together-during-hurricane-sandy.xml]Working”>Working Together During Hurricane Sandy :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College)</p>
<p>Last year, when a snowstorm prevented large numbers of students from going home for a holiday break, the deans rounded up food and cooked breakfast for the stranded students in one of the kitchens.</p>