<p>Well, i have narrowed it down to these two schools and i would love any input. It may seem late in the game but both schools have so many positives and i want to make absolute sure i have a clear picture of both before the 1st! I am going into Poli Sci with a focus on Middle Eastern Affairs. I know there are a couple of these threads around but i found them to be more petty name calling and such than substantive discussions of the pros and cons of both schools. All input is appreciated!</p>
<p>Here are a few things about the schools, off the top of my head. If you give some more information about what factors are important to you in your decision, we can give you some more specific information about Swarthmore in that respect (and I imagine the Amherst board can do the same for themselves). </p>
<p>Things Swarthmore Has:
-Better access to a big city (Philly)
-Warmer weather/less snow
-Honors program
-Quaker heritage</p>
<p>Things Amherst Has:
-More focus on athletics
-Colder weather/more snow
-Stronger/easier-to-use consortium
-Better college town</p>
<p>I also had to make a decision between Amherst and Swarthmore. Both are fantastic schools and we are lucky to have that dilemma! ;)</p>
<p>I attended RTT at Swarthmore which sealed the deal for me. I am a self proclaimed nerd (although fun loving), not really into sports, wanted access to not only Philly but NYC (my original home and lots of theatre - which I am into), loved the peace and conflicts studies at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>The one thing I heard that frightened me a bit was the stress factor at Swarthmore. These boards have helped me realize that although I will be frequently studying and the grading system is tough, as a student who needs to be challenged and thrives on keeping busy 24/7, this was the school for me. It certainly helped that everyone I met on my visit was nice and seemed genuinely helpful.</p>
<p>Good luck on your decision from a Swattie 2013!! :)</p>
<p>There is information about Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at Swarthmore below. Basically, Swarthmore has been a leader in ramping up these programs and now has a complete Arabic offering, strong Middle Eastern faculty in several departments, and strong student interest - both in Arabic (Swat’s second most popular language after Chinese) and study abroad. In addition, Swarthmore has the one of the most impressive student-run Middle Eastern oriented activities in War News Radio – see the essay in this month’s Harvard Education Review, excerpted here:</p>
<p>[Swarthmore</a> College | Conflict Education <br>Through Student Journalism](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/x25805.xml]Swarthmore”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/x25805.xml)</p>
<p>And the complete essay here:</p>
<p><a href=“Metapress | A Fast Growing Resource for Young Entrepreneurs”>Metapress | A Fast Growing Resource for Young Entrepreneurs;
<hr>
<p>In contrast, Amherst has one 5-college post-doc lecturer teaching a couple of Arabic courses – basically they have not ramped up their program here at all.</p>
<p>I would also strongly recommend a close look at the financial situations at both schools and the short-term impact over the next four years. One year ago. Amherst and Swarthmore were equally impressive – two of the most financially secure colleges in the country. Since then, severe cash flow issues have emerged at Amherst as a result of aggressive endowment investing, monster cash call commitments to private partnership funds, and a lack of liquid investments. It’s so bad that Amherst was just force to issue $100 million of taxable bond debt to cover operating expenses – unheard of for schools with million dollar per student endowments like Swarthmore and Amherst had a year ago. With similar sized endowments, Amherst now has nearly double the debt of Swarthmore (which means nearly double the interest payments each year), yet they have not built a new science center or built new programs like Arabic. They also have more than double the cash call commitments over the coming years.</p>
<p>As a result, Amherst is under much more budget pressure. In addition to hiring slowdowns and salary freezes, Amherst has announced plans to increase enrollment by 180 students, more than 10%, which will impact class-sizes, etc.</p>
<p>Swarthmore appears poised to weather the recession with minor nips and tucks a salary freeze, leaving one tenure track faculty position vacant (a German professor), and increasing enrollment by 34 students over four years (which will still not fill the available dorm rooms without tapping overflow and lounges).</p>
<p>These are serious considerations that will impact every student over the next four years.</p>
<hr>
<p>One other point that hasn’t been touched up is diversity. Both are quite diverse, although Swarthmore slightly more so. But, there is a big difference in campus culture. Amherst has “theme housing” where members of an ethnic group can live together in a separate dorm or floor. Swarthmore not only does not have theme housing, but the campus culture has always strongly rejected housing segregation in favor of all Swatties living mixed together. Some people prefer one approach or the other, but they are very different cultures.</p>
<p>sojanicky29,
My S is a Swat grad 07 who was an Honors poli sci major with a specific interest in International Relations. He also came down to a choice of Amherst/Swarthmore and decided to apply to Swarthmore ED. He is now a second year Ph.D. student in Poli Sci with an IR focus. If you have specific questions about Swarthmore’s poli sci department, I could probably get you a quick answer from him.</p>
<p>momof3sons, (my mom has 3 sons too) could you ask about the variety of courses dealing with IR? Specifically international economics and politics, I’m more interested in the general theories and approaches as opposed to specific area studies at this point. I saw their course catalog online and was a little dissappointed. I am very interested in attending Swarthmore, and it is definitely one of my top choices.</p>
<p>Did you get the PM with the answer from my S?</p>
<p>FT Lex-I posed your question to him, too, and I will let you know if he is able to answer it.</p>
<p>Here is the answer to your question from my son-</p>
<p>"The Swarthmore educational style involves getting broad
exposure in the field. So, there aren’t a great variety of
IR courses, per se. Most years, there will be a basic intro
IR course, honors field seminars in int’l security and int’l
political economy, and two or three upper level topical
courses. For next year, there’s a globalization course, an
American foreign policy course, and a course on causes of
war. This is the link to the polisci projected course list:
[Swarthmore</a> College :: Political Science :: Courses](<a href=“Courses :: Political Science :: Swarthmore College”>Courses :: Political Science :: Swarthmore College)</p>
<p>You wouldn’t even be likely to have time to take all of
those in four years (for reference, I took three courses in
political theory, one in american, two in comparative, and
two in IR over my time at Swat).</p>
<p>The area studies courses are really comparative politics.<br>
The straight IR courses tend to be very broad in scope. </p>
<p>Hope that all helps."</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. In some ways, that’s a good thing. I am interested in many different types of subjects, so maybe I will get a chance to indulge in more than one. :D</p>
<p>So what did you decide?</p>
<p>I will be going to Swarthmore next year! Your input was greatly appreciated and i can’t wait to meet everyone.</p>
<p>My son is going next year, too. I wish you both a great Swat experience!</p>
<p>Congratulations on having children who matriculate. </p>
<p>You readers, who are students need to understand that many of our writers are parents and authors with an agenda.</p>
<p>If you have the ability to choose the college of your choice, do examine the schools much less their curriculum.</p>
<p>When you do consider colleges, consider your interests, fit and forseabity.</p>
<p>Look to your future interests outside what others would encourage you to do.</p>
<p>Campus environments are small considerations when compared to overall objectives.</p>