Swarthmore is welcoming more transfer students than in the past

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
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<p>From the Swarthmore Daily Gazette:</p>

<p>Admissions opens more doors to prospective transfer students
<a href="http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/#la1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/#la1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>by Urooj Khan
Gazette Reporter </p>

<p>This fall, along with 372 freshman, Swarthmore welcomed 16 transfer students-a marked increase from numbers accepted in the past. The influx of transfer students at Swarthmore this year is part of the Admission Office's new efforts to accept more such students every year. According to Jim Bock, the number of transfer students accepted "[has] been small, [has] been tiny, [has] been 2 or 3 students a year. We'd like to bring in more students to build a sense of community among that population."</p>

<p>In the past, there was simply not enough space to accommodate transfer students who applied. "In 1996, we had a 158 people apply, but we took no transfers, we didn't have enough room. The class of 2000 had overenrolled by 40 students. We ended up literally sending everybody their money back," says Bock. In subsequent years, Swarthmore had 3 transfer students matriculate, and then only 1 student.</p>

<p>The situation put the Admissions Office in a difficult position. "I've always believed that either we have a transfer process, or we don't." says Bock. "At that point, we had to start pulling back because we were encouraging people to apply, but then we weren't actually accepting anyone."</p>

<p>Now, the Admissions Office is making a conscious effort to let it be known that Swarthmore is interested in accepting more transfer students. "Now when prospective students ask the question [regarding selectivity], we can honestly answer that it is about as selective as freshman admissions. Before, we had to be honest and says 'Well, it's nearly impossible.' It wasn't very encouraging." According to Sarah Burford '08, a transfer student from Mount Holyoke, the statistics on acceptances were "definitely very intimidating."</p>

<p>Now, Swarthmore is seeking to carve out a greater space for transfer enrollments. The change will not be dramatic-in fact, Swarthmore has steadily been increasing the number of transfer students accepted over the past few years. "Last year, we had 8 transfer students matriculate. The year before that, we had 12. So this process has been going on." says Bock. Admissions isn't looking to grow the overall enrollment. "We have a set number of freshman that we can accept, a set number of transfer students that we can accept. We are just looking to balance enrollment out a bit more."</p>

<p>Though transfer students are typically from 4 year colleges, introducing Swarthmore to students at community colleges will be a big part of the outreach program. "We want to reach out to students who didn't believe they were ready to come here, or afford this financially." For the first time ever, Bock met with the Vice President of the Community College of Austin this year. Since Swarthmore can only accept about 15 transfer students overall, there won't be a huge number of students coming from community colleges. But the outreach will allow a greater diversification of the pool. "It's not a ton of outreach, but it's more then we've done before, which was zero. Now, people who would not have been aware of a place like this could apply too." says Bock.</p>

<p>Bock believes the Swarthmore community as a whole will benefit from an increase in the number of transfer students. "Students bring a lot to community in terms of experience-they've been through the process twice, they come a year wiser, a year smarter.' Burford agrees, commenting that "all of the transfer students are really interesting people-we all have such varied experiences, it definitely makes for a more colorful community."</p>

<p>It is also a source of support for transfer students who now have a lot more students around them with similar experiences. "I enjoyed having a large number of students there with me, I liked that feeling of community." says Burford. "I really appreciated that they had a special meeting for [transfer students], they had a special ASAP workshop, they had several programs that allowed us to meet with this other group of people." In addition, the greater number of transfer students here has given housing more flexibility in assigning roommates. "Overall," says Burford, "Swarthmore has been great to me...the transition here has been very smooth."</p>

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<p>I love Jim Bock. He is such a helpful and friendly man. And he has a sense of humor, too!</p>

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<p>figures the school I'm leaving would be the one that was getting easier to get into as a transfer...lol.</p>

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<p>IMissBoston:</p>

<p>Based on your interests, you should check out this study abroad program no matter where you end up in school:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ihp.edu/programs/c21c/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ihp.edu/programs/c21c/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It's right up your alley and has often students from Swarthmore and all of the schools still on your potential transfer schools. It's a no brainer for someone interested in international development, urban planning, and environmental issues.</p>

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<p>Thats funny! I actually just discovered BU's IHP offerings about a month ago, and I'm definitely interested in doing them. Thanks!</p>

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<p>The IHP programs won't be affiliated with BU after the current semester. Their transcripts will come from SIT in Vermont. The Cities of the 21st Century program is also loosely affiliated with MIT's Urban Planning department.</p>

<p>Next year is IHP's 50th anniversary; like most independent study abroad programs, they've bounced around several schools for handling the administrative transcripts. I never thought that BU was a particularly good fit, although they had the staff for it. I think the style of academics are pretty foreign to BU students who have gone on the trip. They are more Swarthmore style academics in terms of demanding a lot of participation by the students with presenting reports from the field trips, questioning guest lecturers, trying to sort through lots of competing narratives, etc. In most of these places, it takes understanding two or three wildly different narratives to even begin to grasp what is going on.</p>

<p>The Harvard student on the trip last fall almost quit after the first week in New York after figuring out how hard it was going to be. He had apparently not talked to anyone who had done the program and was expecting a normal vacation-type study abroad program. The schedule the first week in New York was an eye opener: a day at the NYC Planning Department, a day doing neighborhood visits all over the city, walking from Columbia's International House across the George Washington Bridge. Walking the Brooklyn Bridge. A day at the United Nations. A church service in Harlem. Followed by presentations to the class on the various field visits. All designed to learn how to "read a city" before jetting off to Buenos Aires for the first leg.</p>

<p>Anyway, you would learn more about international development and urban planning in one semester than you would for the entire rest of your college courses combined.</p>

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<p>So I wrote a big long reply and then lost it...gah!
Anyway, I feel this is kind of off topic but I'm going to continue because I'm very interested. Interesteddad-are you affiliated with the IHP program? You seem to know quite a bit about it. I'm glad to hear that it is affiliated (albeit loosely) with MIT's urban planning, because MIT has one of (if not the) best UP program in the world. The only reason I didn't apply was because of MIT's science/math SAT II requirements, which I wasn't about to fulfill while in the middle of classes at Swat. It's really too bad, because I love the mathmatical and modeling approach to planning, and MIT is perfect for that-which is why I may (hopefully) pursue engineering wherever I end up. I will see where I stand with major requirements come junior year, but I would love to participate in the program-I was bitten by the traveling bug last year while in Ecuador, and I definitely hope that study abroad will be an option for me.<br>
It is really a shame for me that Swarthmore doesn't have my specific interests, because I truly love the school. It would be a tragedy for me if my desire to transfer deterred anyone from applying to or attending Swarthmore. It's a fabulous school, but just not big enough to have classes in my specific area. (note:this may be remedied by taking classes at penn/BM/Haverford, but my desire to be closer to home lead me to seek other options)
As a freshman applicant, I had a major bias against Harvard (classes too big, ugrads just supply the money for the grad program, not a rigorous academic program) and didn't apply. However I hope (against all sense and probability of getting in) that I get in now. It takes all kinds at a large university like Harvard, and therefore I think it's easier for students to slip through the cracks and cruise. But there really is no beating a large institution like Harvard if you have true passion in one particular area. I didn't have that before I went to Ecuador, and I think Swarthmore would have been perfect for me had I not taken a year off. Now I'm lucky, but also cursed, because I could have had a wonderful four years at Swarthmore and found myself and my calling in a much more calm and liberal-artsy way than the way that I'm doing it now-uprooting myself to pursue a specific goal. I'm scared! But there's not a whole lot I can do about it now...</p>

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<p>People should note the article was from October 13 and it was about last year. From my recent discussions with Jim Bock, the minor housing crunch Swarthmore is experiencing might limit the number of transfers down to more the 7-10 range...still a lot higher than the 2-3 in the past, however. </p>

<p>That said, as with many elements of the admissions process, things can change quickly. :P</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Interesteddad-are you affiliated with the IHP program?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No. Only as a parent. I just know that almost everything they do on the trip is right up the alley of international development, urban planning, and environment. For example, a tour of the new Pudong business district in Shanghai by the head of the planning department. Or the development of the Mysore Industrial Corridor in Bangalore, India -- where urban planning (actually in this case, planned development outside of the city), international development, and the environment converge.</p>

<p>Actually, given your interest in Engineering and International development and the environment, I'm surprised that you aren't finding options at Swarthmore. The biggest strong point for Swathmore's engineering is the ability to tie other other fields into it -- either through the Environmental Studies minor or through the social science departments. There are not a lot of specific urban planning courses at Swarthmore, but a program like IHP gives you four (of your 32 courses) in urban planning in a way that is simply not possible sitting in a classroom -- for example, half the group doing on-site field visits to the official government recylcing operation in Buenos Aires and half visiting the unofficial Cartoneros recycling system:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/876720/posts%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/876720/posts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Arador:</p>

<p>Swat just needs to start providing stretch limo transportation back and forth to ML. Have the MLers arrive at the circle next to Parrish and step out onto the red carpet every day. That would take care of the housing lottery!</p>

<p>Seriously, though. The wild whipsaw from year to year between fall and spring study abroad must be driving housing nuts. There are fifty more students on campus this spring than last fall, so they go from empty rooms to a crunch.</p>

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<p>I am never sure how to follow these wait list numbers, but basically it sounds like everyone will be accomodated, and when the next new dorm opens in fall 2008, things will open up more. Was the last dorm opened on schedule?</p>

<p>From today's Daily Gazette:</p>

<p>Final housing lottery results </p>

<p>The A waitlist for rising sophomores started at 930 for women and 967 for men, says Housing Coordinator Liz Derickson '01. There are 77 sophomores on the waitlist in total and "they can expect to be housed in late July or early August." </p>

<p>There are 26 rising-juniors on the A waitlist, all of whom are guaranteed singles, and "they can expect to be housed in July."</p>

<p>Derickson said that while these numbers "are on the high end, they are not unheard of." When David Kemp Hall opens in Fall 2008, Derickson plans to "alleviate some of our housing tensions, by making ML basement overflow housing only, turning some Parrish 4th triples into doubles, and turning some small Pitt/Palmer doubles into singles."</p>

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<p>Collegialmom:</p>

<p>The "dirty little secret" is that students placed on the housing waitlist often (usually?) get better housing than those chosing rooms at the end of the lottery. The housing coordinator usually cuts off the lottery choosing before forcing students to chose the most undersireable rooms. Getting placed on the "A" waitlist is a good thing. All of the juniors could have selected rooms in the lottery, but opted to go onto the waitlist so they would get singles. For example, when my daughter came off the waitlist as a rising sophmore, she had a choice of singles in two different dorms or the double that she and her roomate would have selected if they had drawn a high lottery number.</p>

<p>There are four inefficiencies that contribute to the waiting lists. First is that more students draw rooms in the lottery than will actually occupy a room on campus. Second, there is a preference against housing in Mary Lyons (108 beds) which is a 1/2 mile from the dining hall and 3/4 mile from the farthest point on campus. Third, the distribution of study abroad between fall and spring semesters is often wildly variable. For example, this year 108 students were abroad in the fall and only 50 in the spring; ideally, you would like to see that number balanced. Fourth, the housing director reserves more rooms for freshmen than will actually be needed. These rooms are released in the summer and are assigned to sophmores on the waitlist. </p>

<p>The other factor is that Swarthmore is seeing fewer and fewer students wanting to live in the off-campus housing surrounding the school.</p>

<p>Right now, Swarthmore has 1292 beds on campus, increasing to 1351 beds with the overflow options (Mary Lyons basement, converting lounges in Dana and Hollowell, etc. It's actually a little higher because there are rooms held empty so that the deans have somewhere to stick people having major "issues" during the school year and there are some more overflow options in Strathhaven and houses the college owns that are not counted in that total.</p>

<p>The highest number of students Swarthmore has ever had living in on-campus housing when officially counted in the fall was 1325 in the fall of 2005. This past fall was 1301, although I suspect that the current spring semester number may well exceed the 1325 number, due to the huge number of juniors returning from study abroad. They are probably right at capacity this semester.</p>

<p>The New New Dorm will add another 75 beds and is intended to pull Mary Lyons basement rooms and the Lodges out of the housing pool.</p>

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<p>For sophomores "A" waitlist is "the place to be"...</p>

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<p>Definitely. The "A" waitlist means you'll probably get a good choice of rooms, while using up your worst cohort number. The lottery is set up so that every student is in the third (worst) housing cohort (for that student's class) in one year's lottery, the middle cohort in another year's lottery, and the top cohort in a third year's lottery. So getting a decent room with a third cohort lottery number as a rising sophmore is definitely a "good thing".</p>

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<p>The cohort system no longer exists for the class of '10 or any class after them.</p>

<p>Instead, everyone's numbers will average to roughly the same after their 4 years counting in things like penalties for sophomore-year blocking.</p>

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<p>Hmm,
Figures that all of this changed after my S got stuck with a basement ML room soph year. (This after a year in a Willets double!) Nothing like living in the ML dungeon with pipes and vents criss-crossing your ceiling and your "window" bearing more of a resemblance to a basement "window well" for those of you who live in suburbia. As a rising junior he also got a fairly undesirable location, but went onto a waiting list and I convinced him to plead his case in writing for a room to make up for the ML basement. It must have worked, because he was assigned to a Wharton single for junior year and happily resided in a bigger Wharton single this year. I am glad to hear that they are trying to phase out some of the less desirable options.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
It must have worked, because he was assigned to a Wharton single for junior year

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's a pretty good trade!</p>

<p>For reasons that escape me, Willets doubles seem to the housing of choice for rising sophmores. Willets, I believe, sells out first in the sophmore lottery for the last few years.</p>