I’m deciding between ED to Swarthmore (with athletic recruitment) or ED to Claremont McKenna (without athletics). What are your opinions and takes? Thank you!
Isn’t it a sure admit if you apply ED with coach support? If so, that is way better than the 10% lottery to Claremont.
What major are you thinking about? Which sport?
I’m a runner and I’m thinking about international relations, environmental studies, and many more. Yes Swarthmore is almost a sure admit, but CMC is much closer and I really liked it when I stayed overnight. That is my dilemma; I can’t decide between a school I really like and a school that I like enough to ED with sports.
Swat is highly intellectual and rigorous. CMC is a bit more pre-professional in vibe, but you have the other Claremont Colleges there, which gives you outstanding course options for a LAC.
Swat is also in a consortium – you can take classes at Penn, Haverford and Bryn Mawr – but they are farther apart than the Claremonts.
Both are outstanding, obviously – they’re just quite different in many respects.
If you can handle a lot of coursework and don’t mind four seasons, admission to Swat would be hard to pass up. Some think it offers one of the very best undergraduate educations in the world – there’s a reason it is part of the WASP quartet (Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona). If they are even in your mind, or close, the fact you have a much better chance of getting into Swat could be the deciding factor.)
Seems like you prefer CMC to Swarthmore if I understand correctly? Based on your last statement? “I can’t decide between a school I really like and a school that I like enough to ED with sports.”
Why not do CMC ED if it’s your top choice without a doubt and Swarthmore ED2 with athletic recruitment if you aren’t admitted to CMC?
I’m a little perplexed that these are your top two. They are culturally almost the opposite of each other. Are you certain you’d have no hesitations going to either? Because if you will, you really shouldn’t do ED.
We visited both during our college trips two years ago. @nastalgicwisdom is correct that these are two very different schools that give off very different vibes. CMC is a pretty conservative – as far as liberal arts colleges go – culture with a pro-business vibe, and Swarthmore is on the other end of the spectrum with a Quaker history and a reputation for sending very high percentages of graduates into Ph.D. programs and then academia. Have you considered Pomona (another school in the consortium)? That would be much more like Swarthmore than CMC.
Also, I’m surprised that Swarthmore is recruiting you and that CMC has no interest at all. I assume that you’ve talked to the CMC coach – even a letter on your behalf (something short of full support) might be the difference. If you decide to pursue ED at CMC, I’d definitely pursue that. Then, as the above poster suggests, you could still apply ED2 at Swarthmore.
Interesting choices. These are very different schools in student culture, academic strengths, etc.
Most people I know who are interested in Swarthmore and look at the Claremont Colleges tend to focus on Pomona, not CMC. And most people I know who are interested in the CMC experience are interested in places like Colgate and W&L.
CMC athletics tend to be more competitive than Pomona’s. Perhaps you could get some interest from the Pomona coach.
Even though I graduated a long time ago from CMC, I wanted to emphasize that I think it’s less pre-professional and conservative than its stereotyped reputation. I was a recruited XC runner and I stay in touch with the coaches at CMC and I do have to say that based on a conversation I had with the coach last Spring, I’m not sure he has a ton of pull in admissions anymore. There are so many qualified, talented student athletes, that he feels like he doesn’t have as much sway as he used to have and has better luck with influencing admissions at Scripss and HMC. If you love Swat and like the coach and he’s confident in your application, it would be tough to turn down ED admissions help
@nostalgicwisdom If the OP passes on ED1 at Swat as a recruited athlete, coach will move on and likely not support athlete for ED2 round.
^^ Agreed. But OP could always ask. Also, OP should line up another school for EDII - just in case. In the NESCAC, Middlebury will sometimes step up for an athlete in EDII.
OP - how did this turn out?