@turnerT 1150 to 1500 is far from much smaller.
@boolaHI Haverford is an average of 2110 and Swarthmore is 2150, ACT is 32 for Haverford and 31 for Swarthmore.
No evidence to suggest with both so selective and with so many variables that anyone can make the statement made.
Haverford is a lot smaller insofar as the impact on admissions is concerned. 23% is a lot in my book.
Looking at the most recent common data sets, the SAT differential is 2115 (H) to 2180 (S). The ACT is slightly higher for Haverford, but only 39% of the students submitted an ACT at all. Swat is more selective, with only 17% of students admitted, vs 25% for Haverford. I am going to guess the OP is female – the acceptance rates for females are 15% at Swat and 23% at Haverford. The OP does have a better chance of acceptance at Haverford.
@intparent There is no way to make that statement with stats so close. The acceptance rate is probably due to the fact that Swarthmore is better known and gets more applications, which it does. You have no idea whether many of those are low outliers. This is pretty common.
I would not bet on this. I’m sure there are plenty of rejections from Haverford and acceptances from Swarthmore.
There is only a 1 percentile difference on the SAT in favor of Swarthmore and 1 percentile difference on the ACT Haverford’s way.
Here’s what I find interesting: Swarthmore is the one with an engineering program, but, according to
College Scorecard, Haverford tops Swarthmore in terms of expected income 10 years after enrollment:
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?216287-Swarthmore-College
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?212911-Haverford-College
No… The percentage differences are 3.6% on the SAT, and 2.8% on the ACT. Remember thT the lowest possible score on the SAT is 600, not zero. And how do we know the OP doesn’t have low scores? They have not said.
Also, the common data set shows no info on whether Swat gets more low scoring/unqualified applicants – there is simply no data. One could also argue that Swat’s reputation as a mini UChicago might scare off lower scoring applicants.
Thanks for you guys’ comments! I actually have a 33 on the ACT with a 12 on the essay, a 760 US history, 730 literature, and 720 world for the SAT subject tests. Also I’ll have taken 8 AP’s by the time I graduate.
@turnert sorry, I misread “much smaller” to be enrollment.
@mangosmoothie123 You have strong stats and applying early decision will help you. You have a solid chance of getting into Haverford early decision. Make sure your Honor Code essay is good as that is very important to the admissions committee.
One reason why the acceptance rate of Swarthmore is lower than Haverford’s is because Swarthmore tries very hard to keep the rate low. First, they have Early Decision II, which increases the number of overall ED applicants, thus increasing yield and lowering acceptance rate. Second, last year they cut down their supplemental essays and experienced a 40% increase in applications (this is not a coincidence and one of their goals in cutting essays was to decrease acceptance rate).
Ok great! Thanks for your help!
@intparent I don’t think you understand. A 31 is the 97th percentile and a 32 is the 98th percentile.
@tonroxmysox That is very interesting. Swarthmore has no supplemental essay? Colby did the same and had the same increase.
So with SATs around 2150 and a 31 AVG ACT, Swarthmore is basically like most of the top East ern LACs. Really not much of a difference except for the fact the applications are inflated. Well it is different because the athletic program is much smaller.
We liked Haverford better as we thought the geographic location on the Mainline was far superior. Both are great schools
@TurnerT: What is your source for Swarthmore’s ACT average?
College Data shows a 31 average. Did you think it was higher? There aren’t that many students scoring above a 31 to drive averages higher than that.
The CD data is flawed. The same source also shows Swarthmore’s middle range ACT as 31-34. By inference from this figure, Swarthmore’s mean ACT would be 32.5.
You cannot infer an average from the middle 50% range of data. Sorry. Prep Scholar also shows a 31. Maybe the average is 31.4 and College Data rounded it down.
College Data reports what colleges submit.
If the average was higher than 31 Swarthmore would have asked College Data to correct it.
“You cannot infer an average from the middle 50% range of data.” (36)
Of course you can. The resulting figure may not be precise, but the inference would still be logical.
“College Data reports what colleges submit.” (36)
Submit to whom?
“If the average was higher than 31, Swarthmore would have asked College Data to correct it.” (36)
This is another speculative, unsourced statement, and is, like your other statements, additionally problematic because of its categorical tone.
I think Haverford students tend to be sensitive about the perception that Swat draws more intellectual students.
@TurnerT Swarthmore still has a supplemental essay, but it is a short essay about why you like Swarthmore. They used to have more essays and a longer why Swarthmore essay but they cut them down last year.