Swarthmore Class of 2018 Regular Decision Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
21

<p>I got my early write letter yesterday! My mom thought it was a reject letter so she opened it for me, but I’m so excited :D</p>

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2260
M:750 R:760 CR:750
SAT II: BioE: 770 Math2: 780 Chinese: 800 Lit: 710
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Psych(5) EngLang(4) Bio(4) CalcBC (5 and subscore 5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Stat, AP Euro, AP Art History, Physics H, Marketing Mgmt H, AP Econ
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): USNA nomination, US-Wushu Kungfu Federation National Team,
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): (former VP and President) Future Doctors of America, Blood Drive (Chairperson), Student Gov(Representative), Multicultural Day Committee(Treasurer), Chinese Student Association (President), Beijing Opera
Job/Work Experience: N/A
Volunteer/Community service: A lot of performance community service, 50 hours in Choqepata, Peru, building a greenhouse with the locals, teaching dance and martial arts
Summer Activities: United States Naval Academy Summer Seminar, Wushu boot camp in Xi’an, China, Kungfu competitions, learning Beijing Opera in Beijing, 3 weeks in Peru
Essays (rating 1-10, details): No rating, but I spoke about the importance of Beijing Opera in my life. I do it to bring people together etc etc etc.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 9
Teacher Rec #1: English- very good, full of examples
Teacher Rec #2: AP Bio - not as good as english, but average
Counselor Rec: My counselor and I are very close, so I hope he did a good job
Additional Rec: None
Interview: It was my 1st interview, but it was good.</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: F
Income Bracket: Lower Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): </p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Definitely my extracurriculars, improvement in grades over the 4 years
Weaknesses: test scores & GPA were pretty low
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: passionate essay, ECs
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: accepted USNA, waitlisted WashU, still waiting on other colleges.</p>

22

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Did not take…
ACT: 33
SAT II: 790 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 3%, no clue what my exact rank is
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s on AB calc and psychology
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: college level calculus, anthropology, sociology (honors), and physics, AP Spanish IV, AP English lit and comp, Honors World History, Astronomy, Health, Phys Ed
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing that major…gold medal on the National Latin Exam, Some piano awards…
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Piano for 11 yrs (lots of solo performances, some accompanying, jazz band¸ etc.), Oboe for 5 yrs (different orchestras/bands, founder of woodwind quintet, pit orchestra, etc.), Student Government Secretary (organized a few events), Studying Ancient Greek (with a tutor outside of school), book reviewing for my library/local bookstore, Church Activities (teaching, youth group, bible studies, worship band)
Job/Work Experience: faculty member for a local chamber music summer camp, sometimes accompanying a choir for pay
Volunteer/Community service: Childcare and teaching for my Church, not much at all LOL
Summer Activities: teaching at chamber music camp, practicing music, music festival, studying Ancient Greek, taking a math class
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Common App: 7
Why Swat: 10
How will you inform Swat’s Community of Thinkers: 8
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: English Teacher, she loves me (9)
Teacher Rec #2: Math Teacher, I know he really likes me, but I don’t know much about the rec (7)
Counselor Rec: I do not know her particularly well, but she really likes me (8)
Additional Rec: From a counselor at a school I transferred from. He is really in my corner (10)
Interview: Awesome! My interviewer and I both loved Classical music. We got along really well, and I think she understood me.</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): PA (30-45 minutes from Swat)
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Cyber School (basically a type of public charter school)
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: I really don’t know, but I won’t be getting financial aid.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Haha who knows! I really liked my arts supplement and strong commitment to Classical music. My interest in ancient languages might have been unique. I also loved my “Why Swat” essay.
Weaknesses: I wish my ACT had been a little bit higher. I didn’t have any major awards. I haven’t done nearly as much volunteer work as other applicants, but maybe my music credentials helped.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I really do not know how to answer this question. I guess my enthusiasm for Swat shined through. I think that I presented myself very well in my application. My swat application was my favorite one overall! I consider myself to be a qualified person, but who knows what tipped my application over the edge so that I received an early write.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Deferred from Princeton, accepted to a few small liberal arts schools</p>

23

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
ACT: 32
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.7
AP (place score in parenthesis): French (5), English Lang(5)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Environmental Science, AP US History, French, Civil Rights History, Statistics, Calculus, Art History
Major Awards: Published poet, Questbridge Finalist</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Hispanic Affinity Group (founder and leader), LGBT Affinity/Gay-straight Alliance, Admissions Ambassador, Environment and Politics Club, Student Diversity Council
Job/Work Experience: 3 Months working as a delivery driver my senior year
Volunteer/Community service: Aquarium volunteer (100 hours), Community Service Club, Volunteer work for a french organization when I studied abroad
Summer Activities: Marine Biology class-- traveled to Hawaii for two weeks and studied all up and down the islands
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8? For my common app I juxtaposed my year-long stay in France to how my parents felt when they arrived in the US. I talked about hardships and cultural struggles we’ve gone through. For the Swarthmore essay I talked specifically about a quote the president said during a school-wide conversation that was held after some students protested and expressed worries about social issues on campus, and I talked about what other Swarthmore students had said about it the school.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): I didn’t read any of these but I will try my best to guess:
Teacher Rec #1: Marine Biology teacher-- 9, probably great, he loved me, I showed a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the subject
Teacher Rec #2: English-- 10, great, I’ve known him since freshman year, he really cares for me like a mentor
Counselor Rec: 8, Probably also great, she is new this year so I think she worked off what my old counselor said but I took her class so she got to know me
Additional Rec: French teacher from my year abroad-- I was in his environment and politics club and we traveled to Luxembourg for a Global Initiatives Student conference so he knows me well
Interview: Didn’t have one</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): Prefer not to say, but in the South
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic (not Mexican)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: <20,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation, URM, traveled abroad for a high school year</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: My biggest strength was probably my status as a Questbridge Finalist and my Swat essay. I worked very hard on that essay.
Weaknesses: My ACT score and grades?? I think probably the biggest was that I didn’t take many AP or Honors before Senior year. My school has a weird policy about those (you have to get 90++ to qualify for honors/APs) and since I entered freshman year I wasn’t allowed to take any despite being capable. I let my grades fall because the classes weren’t challenging enough and frankly I was often bored.
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think my entire application just showed a lot of passion and love for learning. Swarthmore is a quirky place and I’d probably fit right in, so I feel like I somehow managed to get that to really shine through in my application. </p>

<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Still waiting on decisions from 11 other schools.</p>

24

<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Objective:
ACT: 34
SAT II: 790 Math II, 770 LIt
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/26
AP (place score in parenthesis): School just got AP this year
Senior Year Course Load: Nothing special, my school is super tiny and doesn’t have much. I am driving to a nearby high school to take physics, which I feel like shows my interest in learning and/or pushing myself a little! But yeah my schedule is a joke to be honest
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Eagle Scout? Also questbridge finalist
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Scouting is my big thing, just lots of miscellaneous positions and fun times! Scouting is legit, you should do it!
Job/Work Experience: some summer camps through scouts
Volunteer/Community service: nothing formal but stuff through scouts, yeah sure
Summer Activities: scout camp
Essays (rating 1-10, details): uhm, i thought they were bad… but then i got a note in the mail from another college saying that my essays were like particularly swell or something, so… I guess they were good? i wrote about how small my hometown is and how much i like to learn and how weirdly dichotomous that is sometimes… and also the Pythagorean theorem. haha
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: from my english teacher, talked about my personality and how i’ve had it “hard” (I don’t really agree but that’s what she said) living in a small town.
Teacher Rec #2: from my history teacher, fairly meh
Counselor Rec: completely meh
Additional Rec: From a scout adviser, I’m sure it was great! :slight_smile:
Interview: I thought it was really bad at the time, I just felt like I stumbled through the whole thing! </p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): MO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small rural public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~60,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): QB finalist? is that a thing?</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: scouting and apparently essays
Weaknesses: I felt like my app was sloppy and didn’t convey who I was well! and also, being from a small high school just has lots of negatives (ie if I decide on swat I’m sure the workload will be completely different in like every way imaginable–I’ve just floated through high school. So yeah, that. If they even realized… x.x
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: i dunno. i guess just tiny things added up
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected WUSTL so far accepted, also two local state Us in MO.</p>

25

<p>My son got the acceptance mail today ^^</p>

26

<p>Admitted to Swarthmore 2018! Overwhelmingly excited beyond belief. </p>

27

<p>Is there some particular reason that some of us received our acceptances earlier…? I had honestly never heard of early acceptance letters like this. Sorry if this is the wrong venue to ask, just curious about it.</p>

28

<p>It is hard to say because it depends on the school. I think that early acceptance letters are a way for schools to target students that they really want. The schools assume that certain students will have many acceptance letters by April, so they try to stroke their egos early and get them excited about the school. However, they are somewhat ambiguous. The schools do not necessarily take their 100 strongest candidates and send them early acceptances. Some schools target students who are interested in science or who are interested in arts. Some target minorities or low income students. I honestly think that the early acceptances can be a bit confusing. I got one from Swarthmore this week, but there is a school I applied to that is much easier to get into that sent early acceptances out as well. I didn’t get a letter from them. People who didn’t get one from Swat really shouldn’t feel badly. You could be just as strong as the people who got one, but Swarthmore just isn’t “targeting” people like you this year for whatever reason. You could still get in in late March. In the end it doesn’t matter if you get in early, regular, or off the waitlist. </p>

29

<p>No one in my area has gotten an acceptance letter from Swat, as far as I know.</p>

30

<p>Got an Early! </p>

<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2120 (690CR, 710M, 720CR, 10E), didn’t send but it’s on my transcript
ACT: 34 (all 34 except reading 33 and Englisg+Essay=35, 12 essay)
SAT II: lol I didn’t send, and this wasn’t on my transcript, but 710 lit and 750 Math I. Yes, Math One.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): probably like 3.96 we only send in weighted.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/227
AP (place score in parenthesis): 33444555
IB (place score in parenthesis): lol my school is mediocre we don’t have IB
Senior Year Course Load: physics (no AP/Honors available), AP Stats, APUSH, AP Lit, band (and yes, that’s the hardest courseload possible for me – I’ve literally taken all the AP classes we have to offer)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): some NHD stuff at the national level, NMF, whatever AP scholar, some smaller state-wide awards that I won’t name (but you could totally figure out who I am if you have great internet skillzzz)</p>

<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): band – symphonic, pep, community, et al (section leader, principal clarinet), literary anthology (editor in chief), debate (captain)
Job/Work Experience: nope
Volunteer/Community service: not that I mentioned
Summer Activities: NHD a couple of years, travelling a couple of years. I don’t think this is even asked on the app.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): BECAUSE I CAN TOTALLY QUANTITATIVELY JUDGE MY OWN WRITING AND PUT IT ON A SCALE OF 1-10. I talk about the community of band, and say have the word “saliva” be a symbol of familiarity. It’s a fun CA essay, but could be perceived as kind of elementary. I wrote it in like 3 days because I felt that my original CA essay didn’t really reflect me as well and I wanted parental feedback and I did not want to show my parents my 1st CA essay. My Why Swarthmore supplement was ripped off of an essay I wrote for the Midd Diversity program in like 2 hrs (although I really do think it suits Swarth better than it did for Midd). My life experiences essay basically is a “Why I’m diverse and completely unique YOU’LL NEVER FIND ANYONE LIKE ME,” more eloquently than that, of course. Of course, it does have basis, and I do have a pretty unique story.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: idk man I read some of one teacher rec (she made no effort to hide it from me when I was helping her with computer stuff) and it seems good I guess
Teacher Rec #2: I saw her start to fill in the bubbles on CA, and I can attest that they’re not straight down top 1%s.
Counselor Rec: straight down top 1%s, probably generic because he has to write a bajillion of them. But for all I could know, it could be a literary masterpiece. But probably generic.
Additional Rec: nope
Interview: nope </p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): HI
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: mediocre public
Ethnicity: Golden Oreo, Twinkie, some other metaphor representing white and Asian.
Gender: XX
Income Bracket: it’s need blind. This doesn’t matter in admissions. They didn’t even get my IDOC until today. We live comfortably, but not luxuriously. The best way I can describe this is that one year, we went on vacation to Paris because my mom had a conference there, and then our 4-person family lived in a 2-person apartment and took the metro exclusively. Went to the Louvre on the night discount. Bread and cheese for lunch. We didn’t go up the Eiffel Tower because it was expensive and my mom hates heights.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): my dazzling personality repels boys. I guess you could call that a super power. But in actuality, the closest thing I have is my story of intellectual growth and of diversity. Being from HI doesn’t hurt.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: My personality. Wait, no, definitely not my personality. All self-deprecation aside, I have geographic diversity, good stats, and a cool story on my side.
Weaknesses: race, I got some 3s on AP tests, not having straight-down 1%s on every rec, my volunteering is laughable, my SAT looks mediocre, I’m not 1st gen, and URM,
Why you think you were accepted: Honestly, geographic diversity. Swarthmore and other LACs aren’t very well known here, so their HI pool is slim pickings. What confuses me is this: I applied to DiscoSwat, and got rejected. I used nearly the same essay in my Swarthmore supplement. I literally changed like 5 sentences to make it sound a little less cliche. And now I’m in. I’m not complaining though, I’m incredibly happy to have gotten in now, because now’s the time that actually matters.
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted into: Alabama (NMF scholarship), University of Pittsburgh (full tuition), Maryland (one of the Banneker/Key levels), Wellesley (Likely on early evaluation), Bowdoin (diversity admit, I presume, because all early writes seemed to be for diversity), Vanderbilt (MOSAIC diversity early write). Waiting on HYPS, Columbia, Amherst, Carleton, Colby. Deferred SCEA Yale. </p>

<p>AYYYYY YEEEEEEEEE I’m so much luckier than I thought I’d be. I use Parchment and it said I have like an 18% chance of getting in. The first thing I said when I opened the mail was “haha (in a really sassy voice) suck it, Parchment.” This is super freaking awesome, though. I never thought that I’d get into Swarthmore, and I’m hoping that this translates to more good news in the next 2 weeks. </p>

<p>I’m guessing most/all of you guys were invited to the fly-in in late April? I’m really going to try to make it because I didn’t get to go to DiscoSwat and I want to get out of the island, and I can’t go to the Bowdoin one because of a scheduling conflict. (Also I really want to know how Swarthmore is.)</p>

31

<p>Very unusual that this group is posting actual stats. I don’t remember this being done in past years on CC just because that’s “just not very Swattie.” :slight_smile: No one will give a rat’s behind about your SAT scores/GPA/grades if you attend Swat. I do realize that this is done on many other school’s pages, so it’s interesting to see this carryover to the Swarthmore page.</p>

32

<p>I think one reason it isn’t very “Swattie” is because Swat is such a small school, and as such you are very identifiable by your stats. A lot of the other schools where I have been this are bigger (maybe not all, but I do think that is a factor and maybe one reason people haven’t done it in past years).</p>

33

<p>Momof3…is it possible that the school is doing something different (early letters for some)? If so, I would suggest that maybe the “UnSwattie” postings are an unintended consequence of those actions. It would seem reasonable that folks would try to figure out why they might be targeted by this new process. I know that many of the Ivies send informal letters all but guaranteeing admission to regular decision candidates as early as mid-January…this appears to be a more formal spin on that. </p>

34

<p>“Early writes” are not new for Swat. :)</p>

35

<p>There seems to be a high amount of early letters. The FB page has added over 100 new members, and I can only assume that most of the new members of the group are RD early writes, not admits from ED. I don’t know if this is higher than usual, but to me it seems a little odd to admit over 10% of the class via early write. </p>

<p>Personally, I’ve found stats profiles to be helpful, especially in this highly competitive admissions atmosphere. I think it’s just really a number of us trying to figure things out, and helping others figure things out. As more people figure out that CC is helpful (and at some level, almost necessary) in navigating this process, it makes sense that more people than before are offering up info like stats profiles.</p>

36

<p>You’re right. I think a good 120 people were recently added to the group. I think there were about 170 to begin with from ED rounds. How many people will Swat accept regular decision?</p>

<p>As for stats, I am sorry if I offended anyone, and I doubt that anyone else who posted stats meant to offend anyone either. I think that, for better or for worse, stats are a part of CC culture, and many sophomores and juniors have found them to be useful. Even though they are not the best indicator of success in admissions, they have helped me see the types of students that are admitted. When I was deferred from Princeton last December, I was not upset with the accepted students who posted their stats at all. If I do attend Swarthmore (or any other college for that matter) I can promise you that I would not be telling my high school standardized test scores or GPA to random students. None of my friends in real life know my scores or GPA. The reason why I posted my stats on this page is because students do use them as a resource. But again, I am sorry if I offended anyone because that was truly not my intention. </p>

37

<p>My kid was accepted to Swat last year, but we did not post stats for ANY of her schools because of the identification issue. But if you don’t care about that, there is nothing wrong with posting them, IMHO.</p>

38

<p>They’re not uncommon in some of the other SLAC forums, and I do think they’re often posted in response to queries from other applicants. Based on his name, the first person who posted stats here appears to be a Brown hopeful, so he may just be carrying that tradition over from the Ivy threads. Yes, some of these posts can come off a little braggadocious. (I particularly love the ones that talk about how their recommendations were all outstanding–how would they know??? I thought recommendations were supposed to be sealed!) But personally I like seeing some objective stats.</p>

39

<p>Any news on when Swarthmore will release their decisions?</p>

40

<p>Anyone international gotten anything yet? </p>