<p>I love Swat. I have family who has gone there and they say its the place for really open minded, deep thinking people. I love the look of it. My stats are: CR:770, M780, WR800 and my GPA is 3.87, in the top 5 % at a top tier private school in NY. I am a dime a dozen, I know, but in case I get in to Swat and Bowdoin, which I also liked for its low key prestige and the ocean and outdoors, what are the differences in the quality of life there? I have heard that both have very satisfied, loyal students, but also that Bowdoin can be cliquey or rigid about set 'groups', that its hard to move about between people, but also that Swat is hyper intellectual and people dont have enough 'fun'? (Whatever that means) My high school is pretty well divided into set groups and I am sick of that. I want to meet lots of different people and feel there are always options for new experiences. I want to be intellectually challenged but also to have fun, and partake of the garbage culture too...Any info on this would be much much appreciated. That is, if I get in at all!</p>
<p>Here are a couple of articles with video of campus events in the last few weeks. Judge for yourself whether any of this looks like students having “fun”.</p>
<p>[Screw</a> :: The Daily Gazette](<a href=“http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2009/3/5/screw/]Screw”>http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2009/3/5/screw/)</p>
<p>[Swarthmore</a> College Video Blog Archive Darwin?s 200th Birthday Bash](<a href=“Featured Videos :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College”>105_1331729285 :: News & Events :: Swarthmore College)</p>
<p>Izz, I think I am coming from the same environment as you as I also go to a top private school in NY. It also came down to either Swat or Bowdoin for me, and (clearly) I chose Swat. I think what made the difference for me was location. If you want a social life, it is a lot easier when you have access to Philly as opposed to being stuck in the middle of rural Brunswick, Maine. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED Bowdoin and the decision was really hard for me but I decided I didn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere for 4 years especially since I am a city girl. I also got the feeling that Bowdoin was very cliquey when I visited, whereas when I visited Swat (overnight), it seemed like there were no set groups. People had such a wide array of friends with a wide variety of interests.</p>
<p>Also while I was there, there were plenty of Swatties going out and partying so if that is what you are interested in, it’s definitely available and popular. :)</p>
<p>Hey thanks Superlax09. I hope I am lucky (and good) enough to have the choice you had. But I do think its a hard one. I am a city boy used to lots of diversity and diversions, but I also love the outdoors, and the Bowdoin outing club is legendary. Yet cliques can kill, if the rumors about B. are true. Any other posts from other deep thinking serious nice people who love to party about the two schools?</p>
<p>we have an outdoors club at swat too! “the outsiders” go on regular hiking, rock climbing, white water rafting, and other trips during the spring and fall. over break they even sponsored a several-days long hiking trip. we have the crum woods and crum creek right in our backyard, and let me tell you, it’s a gorgeous retreat. i bet bowdoin’s woods don’t sparkle (it’s due to all the shiny mica schist that’s so prevalent here and crushed up, makes the earth look like it’s mixed with glitter…so it gives the crum a fairytale quality during the daytime)!</p>
<p>shining woods. wow</p>
<p>Thanks to those of you who answered me. Any more comments comparing schools? Im most interested in the comparison between Bowdoin and Swat, both places I loved when I visited. Differences between social life and academic ‘atmosphere’ at both would be most appreciated.</p>
<p>
It seems pointless to ask for a comparison between the two in a Swarthmore forum where, most likely, people have zero knowledge of the Bowdoin social scene. My guess is that it’s better, but only because I have a low opinion of the quality of the social life at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, thank you so much for those great videos. They’re wonderful! I’m so glad those Swatties are having such a great time! My D has applied and is waiting to hear. She knows Swarthmore has so much to offer, but she’s been worried about its rep for “all work, no play.” I’m happy there’s something that dispels that notion. Are there any other videos like these that make Swarthmore real?</p>
<p>Carolyn:</p>
<p>My favorite is the Bathtub Debates. A packed house of students to hear a Humanities professor, a social science professor, and a science professor debate which one professor would be best suit to restart civilization from scratch. The jabs among the professors and, especially the interaction between the students and the professors, is quite remarkable. It pretty much captures Swarthmore.</p>
<p>[Bathtub</a> Debates](<a href=“http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6604225517800885058]Bathtub”>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6604225517800885058)</p>
<p>Yeah, the whole all work no play thing is false, but I do think that there are many more opportunities at a large city or a large school. I feel like the options you have are somewhat limited here if you don’t drink. You need to be proactive and seek out things to do. The Bathtub Debates was just a one-time thing.</p>
<p>^ That’s a little disturbing, dchow08. Are we talking boredom? Is drinking really the mainstay of the life there? I know there’s a lot of drinking everywhere (including my highschool, which is IN a big city) but are u implying that you drink because you run out of other options?</p>
<p>Swarthmore has one of the lowest binge-drinking rates of the LACs, considerably below the national average. For dchow to suggest drinking is heavy at Swarthmore (relative to other colleges) is simply not accurate.</p>
<p>There are campus parties each weekend that serve booze and the College also programs events on Thursdays and Saturday nights in Parrish Parlors that are specfically without booze.</p>
<p>Interestddad, i was recently admitted into Swat and since you seem to know quite a bit about it, is there anywhere i can discuss Swat with current students? i want to get a good grasp on each school for my deliberations! Thanks</p>
<p>And as for social life, I come from a school in the suburbs and i can tell you there is a lot of drinking here too! And we are right next to many "happening’ places ( I go to school in Glendale Az ) so i am pretty use to a drinking culture.However, i know i would prefer a school with little emphasis on drinking. My main concern with Swat is the amount of social activites,lectures or guest performances the school offers compared to other schools i am looking into.Is there a strong number of such activites at Swat?</p>
<p>I believe that my daughter’s biggest challenge at Swarthmore was finding the time to do everything she wanted to do and she had to pick and choose. For example, I don’t think she was a regular at the weekly indie rock shows at Olde Club on campus, however she never missed a dance recital, large scale event (except the New Pornographers when she was in China or India), or the annual screening of The Graduate the night before classes start in September, or the annual spring Worthstock – all day rock n’ roll and bar-b-q in Worth courtyard the day after classes end in May.</p>
<p>She and her friends had their own impromptu events. For example, freshman year, they did a sushi and sake party in the dorm where they made literally hundreds and hundreds of pieces of sushi (covered two banquet tables) for a Saturday night party. </p>
<p>What counts as a social event? I know my daughter went to the fireside chats with four or five candidates for the Dean’s position (free pizza!), discussing their views on being a Dean at Swarthmore, and sending her thoughts to the committee. That’s pretty typical.</p>
<p>Click on the Swat website and also look at the Daily Gazette and Phoenix. You’ll see lots of activities for students. My son drinks some weekends, doesn’t drink other weekends, and you’ll find stuff to do in both categories any weekend. Even at smaller schools like Swat, you’ll find your niche. I can see that Ride the Tide may not be an option given your location. Contact Admissions to see if there’s some students you can contact. Good luck. There’s lots of students from all over at Swat, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it if you choose to go!</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I am actually going to RTT lol. I am very much looking forward to it.</p>
<p>I thought Bowdoin was one of the largest amounts of drinking out of the liberal arts schools, and Swarthmore was one of the least. No?</p>
<p>I almost feel like I’m going on the defensive because people keep misinterpreting what I’m saying.</p>
<p>Izz: You’re putting words in my mouth. I never said that people who don’t drink are bored during the weekends, nor that drinking is the mainstay of life here. I also don’t drink. I said that your options are somewhat limited if you don’t drink. I also believe that there are way more things to do if you go to a large school or a large city, and I’ll stick to my guns. </p>
<p>interesteddad: I also never suggested that drinking here is heavy, but I wouldn’t say that it’s light either. You don’t have to be bored if you don’t drink, but, as I said in the previous post, I think that you have to be able to form a circle of friends and be proactive and find things to do that aren’t already set (whereas things like Paces parties and Pub Nite are set). By the way, you don’t have to drink to go to the Paces parties. </p>
<p>Swarthmore probably does have a low binge drinking rate, but a significant proportion of the student body does drink (I’d estimate maybe half of the student body drinks regularly on the weekends.). So the drinking rate at Swarthmore is not the same as the binge drinking rate. Most Swatties don’t drink to the point of binging.</p>
<p>interesteddad: The events you mentioned aren’t really weekly things, besides the Olde Club event and the dance recitals. The screening of The Graduate occurs only once a year, and the sushi and sake party probably wasn’t a weekly thing, so I’m interested in what things she did besides homework on weekends in general. Either way, I still believe that you need to be proactive and seek opportunities to find things to do (e.g. she decided to host a party).</p>
<p>So I think that your options are somewhat limited; I’ll stick to my guns.</p>
<p>^OK dchow. I appreciate your honesty. It makes your essentially good opinion of Swat more solid, and more helpful than others that seem more idealized. Thanks.</p>