<p>Which do you think is better? I’m going to apply ED to Penn but just in case my heart gets broken…</p>
<p>Neither is better. They are different.</p>
<p>So Swarthmore is just as competetive?</p>
<p>Swarthmore is harder academically - on average.</p>
<p>"I heard Swarthmore was full of pretentious b****es"</p>
<p>honestly, they're roughly the same as far as academics go. Other than that, they are totally different. Penn: major metro area...Swarthmore in the (cushy) burbs. I don't even know if a person would be honestly comfortable at both. It just seems to me that they attract different types of people. Then again i'm looking at Penn as a school for those who are more well rounded and not solely academicly driven. They're both excellent schools just a mango/grapefruit comparison</p>
<p>I don't know where anyone would get that Swarthmore would be harder academically. Penn is a very pre-professional across all of the schools (College, Wharton, etc.), with lots of harsh curves and very, very motivated students. Swarthmore is a liberal arts college, which often have reps as being easier on grades and academically more exploratory than goal-oriented.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has the reputation of being the most grade-deflated LAC.</p>
<p>Also, Penn and Swarthmore students can cross-register classes.</p>
<p>I've just heard that Swarthmore has a rougher curriculum.</p>
<p>I don’t know. When I think of Swat, I tend to think of the UChicago view that if I hate my life while I’m in college, and it’s nearly unbearably difficult, then the education must be good….. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I see where you're comming from and I agree to an extent but people at achools like that are missing the fact that rigorous academics is only one facet of the "education" that college should give you. What good is the best mind in the world if you lack the skills to effectively interact with people and communicate your brilliant ideas. It's kinda sad and a tad misguided in my opinion.</p>
<p>!#1 Upenn</p>
<h1>2 swarthmore</h1>
<p>both excelent schools, but since you asked...</p>
<p>They are totally different. You really need to visit each and stay overnight for a few days to decide. Swarthmore is obviously smaller, and has a much higher per-capita success rate at getting its alumni into the top graduate schools and top law schools. For example, see <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=177439%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=177439</a> - Swarthmore just blows Penn out of the water.</p>
<p>Academics at Swat are superb and students get lots of attention from professors, who actually teach. UPenn is an overrated school in my opinion, but that's not to say it isn't a great university with a lot of resources. It has some large academic programs like architecture that you can't really find at Swarthmore (although at Swarthmore you can still study them intensively and then go to the top graduate school for them!). Penn just isn't Swarthmore, though, academically. Socially, again, you need to visit to see the differences. UPenn is obviously much larger and has more going on on the campus, with more activity and parties. Swarthmore is much quieter, with no college town whatsoever, and the focus there will be more on developing closer personal friendships.</p>
<p>"It would have been an A anywhere else"</p>
<p>"Guilt without the sex"</p>
<p>what about the med field?</p>
<p>Swarthmore has a significantly higher per capita acceptance rate into the nation's top medical schools.</p>
<p>They are both great schools in their own special ways.</p>
<p>Both great schools but totally different. If you tell people you go to Penn, they will think it is a state school. If you tell people you go to Swarthmore, they will think it's a women's college.</p>
<p>"Swarthmore has a significantly higher per capita acceptance rate into the nation's top medical schools."</p>
<p>Just per capita, Not acceptance rate. Acceptance rate takes into account the size of the applicant pool and there are no studies for that.</p>