<p>As of now, I plan to attend Swarthmore in the fall of 2011. My primary concern is finding "normal" students at such a small, stereotypically nerdy school, as well as being able to have a vibrant social life. Can anyone confirm or dismiss this worry?</p>
<p>There are plenty of “normal” students, assuming you have a reasonable definition of “normal”. Technically everyone at Swat is at least a bit of a nerd/geek/dork, in that they love learning–but lots of people do “normal” things outside of academic work, like hang out, drink, party, go to concerts, play sports, watch TV… </p>
<p>If you really like being a social butterfly you might find the campus small at times. And you’d better be able to coexist peacefully with folks who play RPGs/construct fantasy languages/read sci-fi/hunt pterodactyls in their free time–but the truth is that those folks are a small minority of Swat students. Most Swatties are hard workers who like to have some sort of “normal” fun (with or without substances) in their free time.</p>
<p>Unless one is really an eccentric loner, there should be no issue: personality types and interests cover the spectrum at Swat.</p>
<p>If anything, Swarthmore has become significantly less stereotypically nerdy over the past 8-10 years (perhaps following our culture?)</p>
<p>While I didn’t attend Swat, the neighborhood I grew up in was located right next to campus. </p>
<p>The students seemed pretty happy and social compared to other schools I’ve visited, e.g. University of Chicago and Haverford. It naturally didn’t have a social scene like UCLA, but it seemed pretty lively for a small school in burbs. </p>
<p>I think there is a program that allows you take courses at Penn. If you get bored with campus life, or can’t find “normal” students, you can always enroll in a course at Penn -there is an R train to Philly on campus.</p>
<p>“normal”… haha. your primary concern is finding “normal” students… maybe when you get to swat you’ll learn to dissect that phrase and concern a bit more specifically. a person can be academically or intellectually inclined and still have a social life, believe it or not.</p>
<p>Yeah man, I had the same concern when I arrived in the fall of '07. Swat’s become more mainstream since I arrived; you’ll have no problem finding ‘normal’ people. </p>
<p>But don’t expect too much of a vibrant social life; that’s not what you signed up for. Swarthmore students certainly party, but it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that there aren’t parties every night.</p>