<p>holy crap- i've actually never heard of swathmore, (from the west coast) and my friend told me the other day that this is where he wants to go, so i thought i'd just check it out--this school looks just as competitive to get into as harvard. I got into a top 25 school myself, and i doubt i would have been accepted here.</p>
<p>yeah swarthmore's awesome. also williams, amherst, etc etc. You really should look at more LACs aside from just ivies ;]</p>
<p>The west coast is more famous for techie/pro-prefessional schools : Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford, UCLA, USC </p>
<p>The really exceptional LACs in southern CA include Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Harvey Mudd etc.</p>
<p>Swat is indeed awesome :)</p>
<p>well i'm goin to notre dame next year, the reason i wanted to come look here because my friend had a 1500 SAT and is number 3 or 4 in our class and was applying to a school i had never heard of. I kind of want the football team and a little bigger school myself, but i definitley know a little about this school now!</p>
<p>Swarthmore is a bit easier to get into than Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford. About the same as the next hardest schools (Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Pomona, Williams, Amherst, etc.).</p>
<p>Swarthmore's reputation is one of the most academically challenging schools in the country, along with UChicago. Definitely not the place for rah-rah football. Swarthmore dumped its football team a few years ago, basically saying that it was impossible for a school with 700 men to be even remotely competitive and maintain the high academic standards and diversity goals of the admissions office. Quite a rational decision, actually!</p>
<p>You should look for rapidly improving football prospects for the Irish with Charlie Weis as the new coach. He is the perfect head coach for Notre Dame: alumni of the university (didn't play sports), three-time Super Bowl winning coordinator, great teacher. Rumor here in New England has been that he has a genius level IQ.</p>
<p>Well, Swat's reputation is one of being academically challenging. But the good thing about that is, you are free to pursue just about anything you want. I don't know about the sciences but I can say that is true for the social sciences and humanities. So, yes, if you can read and write well, if you are willing to do the reading and research required to pursue your interest, you can do anything you want and you are ENCOURAGED to do it.</p>
<p>I am turned off when people say Swat is for "wierd" people. See Parents' Forum for comments like that. Swat is for interested and passionate students. And Swarthmore administration makes no apologies for getting rid of it's football program.</p>
<p>"Swat's reputation is one of being academically challenging. But the good thing about that is, you are free to pursue just about anything you want."</p>
<p>That is very true. At Swarthmore people do not feel the need to put on the "laid back" facade in order to be "cool". As a result, to some it may look like there are a lot of "weird" people there. For the most part though they are just passionate for whatever it is they are "into", and are not tempted to conceal it.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>I am turned off when people say Swat is for "wierd" people. </p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>I think it depends on your frame of reference. At Williams, many of the most academic/intellectual students gravitate towards a particular group of dorms -- kind of a long-standing self-segregation away from the party dorms, the varsity athletics dorms, the future investment banker dorms, or what have you. At Williams, they call this group of dorms the "Odd Quad". So, from that perspective, it is probably "weird" to have an entire school were the majority of the students are "into" their studies and describe their classes as "fun".</p>
<p>I think that the reason Swatties enjoy the college so much is that they are mostly the "really smart kids" in high school and often felt some degree of being ostracized by the various high school 'cliques'. I think it's very comfortable for "really smart kids" to be the dominant campus culture, where participating in class or talking to the professor is considered "cool".</p>
<p>I have to agree completely with ID. My daughter, a 2004 grad, is in no way a geek, but she loves everything involving the use of the mind, and in her particular class in high school, that attitude was definitely not cool. Her Swat buddies had lots of different passions and interests, and the dinner table conversation was always entertaining. It was wonderful for me to see her develop a whole group of friends, about 15 or 20 who remained in the group the whole four years. Their PRIMARY social time was at the dining hall, but they had lots of fun gatherings at other times, too. I never got the sense that she was stressed too much about the work itself, perhaps partly because when it was time to study, that was cool too!</p>
<p>Heys ppl, i'm not really a cc regular anymore, but i stumbled past this thread, and decided to add myself nonetheless, for a more accurate depiction of the application pool.</p>
<ol>
<li>twink1etwinkle - bio/english, 1500(800V, 700M), 770/760/710, 3.8 UW, no rank, musician/writer</li>
<li>anothersuitcase - English/Music/Anthropology, 1450 (740V, 710M), 800/760/700, 3.96 UW, 5 out of 600, musician (voice)/writer</li>
<li>astrix - Economics / Computer science, 1490 (750V 740M), 770/760/720, no gpa, 3/81, student council, comp stuff</li>
<li>lindseyluJH - Philosophy/Linguistics/Anthropology, 1530 (790V, 740M), 800/790/760, 4.12 Weighted, top 5%, many school and community leadership positions</li>
<li>WillyWonka- Philosophy/a language, 1580 (800V, 780M), 800/800/660, 3.9UW, 1-2/250</li>
<li>bohemianrhapsody - Undecided, 1530, 800s in SAT IIs, unknown GPA, 2-3/327</li>
<li>lucy517 - history/international/latinamerican studies, 1480, 770/760/750, 4.0 UW, 7ish/300ish</li>
<li>jamescarville, 1550, 800/780/780/750. Top 5% of ~190, math / engineering</li>
<li>lisasimpson - bio/political science, 1490 (750V, 740M) 800/760/750, 4.0 gpa, 2/237</li>
<li>ReDbUll298 - political science/English, 1510 (730V, 780M) 790/680/660, 5.35, 4/310, soccer/track</li>
<li>Harpingchic - Music/French, 1500, 760/750/750. 2/308, 4.0 UW, music (harp, all-state flute..)</li>
<li>EncomiumII-Classis, 1560,800,790,780,770 4.0 UW, 4.8W, 1/440, 5 chemistry, 5 biology, 5 U.S. history, national awards in spanish, latin, and chemistry</li>
<li>college_hopeful, Classics, 1480, 770/740/730, ~3.9, top 5%, legacy</li>
<li>Jaco Pastorius- Economics, 1500, 740/720/760, bad GPA (freshman year sucked), 13 APS, bass</li>
<li>Insertnamehere-Poli Sci, 1550 (M760/V790) 80/780/720/720 3.9 GPA xc/track</li>
<li>marlgirl - math/physics/psychology, 1550 (770V, 780M), 800/800/760, 3.96UW, 4.65W, 1/87 (rank not reported)</li>
<li>kara17 - ethnic studies/astronomy, 1520 (770V, 750M) 780/770/720, 4.0 (uw) gpa, no rank</li>
<li>ckakalacheva - Biology 1510 (710v/800m) 660/760/700/750 TOEFL 290 (Bulgaria)</li>
<li>allureNY86 - English and Visual Arts, 1500 (800v), 800/720/720/710, 96.8 W, unranked, various awards in Chinese; artist/writer/languages fanatic/scientist.</li>
<li>Geniusriki- Biology, 1480 (800V/680M), 750/760/750/730/720, 4.0 uw, 1/22, deferred EDII</li>
<li>Kayoshin- Computer Science 1480 (720V, 760M), 750/790/800/740, 3.5 uw, 18/240; piano, karate, sketching, science fairs, good recs.</li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck to everyone here!</p>
<p>edit: so sry for interupting the convo that was going on tho ^^"</p>
<p>kayoshin! long time. how've you been :)</p>
<ol>
<li>twink1etwinkle - bio/english, 1500(800V, 700M), 770/760/710, 3.8 UW, no rank, musician/writer</li>
<li>anothersuitcase - English/Music/Anthropology, 1450 (740V, 710M), 800/760/700, 3.96 UW, 5 out of 600, musician (voice)/writer</li>
<li>astrix - Economics / Computer science, 1490 (750V 740M), 770/760/720, no gpa, 3/81, student council, comp stuff</li>
<li>lindseyluJH - Philosophy/Linguistics/Anthropology, 1530 (790V, 740M), 800/790/760, 4.12 Weighted, top 5%, many school and community leadership positions</li>
<li>WillyWonka- Philosophy/a language, 1580 (800V, 780M), 800/800/660, 3.9UW, 1-2/250</li>
<li>bohemianrhapsody - Undecided, 1530, 800s in SAT IIs, unknown GPA, 2-3/327</li>
<li>lucy517 - history/international/latinamerican studies, 1480, 770/760/750, 4.0 UW, 7ish/300ish</li>
<li>jamescarville, 1550, 800/780/780/750. Top 5% of ~190, math / engineering</li>
<li>lisasimpson - bio/political science, 1490 (750V, 740M) 800/760/750, 4.0 gpa, 2/237</li>
<li>ReDbUll298 - political science/English, 1510 (730V, 780M) 790/680/660, 5.35, 4/310, soccer/track</li>
<li>Harpingchic - Music/French, 1500, 760/750/750. 2/308, 4.0 UW, music (harp, all-state flute..)</li>
<li>EncomiumII-Classis, 1560,800,790,780,770 4.0 UW, 4.8W, 1/440, 5 chemistry, 5 biology, 5 U.S. history, national awards in spanish, latin, and chemistry</li>
<li>college_hopeful, Classics, 1480, 770/740/730, ~3.9, top 5%, legacy</li>
<li>Jaco Pastorius- Economics, 1500, 740/720/760, bad GPA (freshman year sucked), 13 APS, bass</li>
<li>Insertnamehere-Poli Sci, 1550 (M760/V790) 80/780/720/720 3.9 GPA xc/track</li>
<li>marlgirl - math/physics/psychology, 1550 (770V, 780M), 800/800/760, 3.96UW, 4.65W, 1/87 (rank not reported)</li>
<li>kara17 - ethnic studies/astronomy, 1520 (770V, 750M) 780/770/720, 4.0 (uw) gpa, no rank</li>
<li>ckakalacheva - Biology 1510 (710v/800m) 660/760/700/750 TOEFL 290 (Bulgaria)</li>
<li>allureNY86 - English and Visual Arts, 1500 (800v), 800/720/720/710, 96.8 W, unranked, various awards in Chinese; artist/writer/languages fanatic/scientist.</li>
<li>Geniusriki- Biology, 1480 (800V/680M), 750/760/750/730/720, 4.0 uw, 1/22, deferred EDII</li>
<li>Kayoshin- Computer Science 1480 (720V, 760M), 750/790/800/740, 3.5 uw, 18/240; piano, karate, sketching, science fairs, good recs.</li>
<li>NoCreativity- Cant remember major! (biochem?) 1480 (740 split), 740CH/730M1C/750WR, 4.0 uw, 1/625?; captain waterpolo, mock trial, etc etc.. blah blah</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>twink1etwinkle - bio/english, 1500(800V, 700M), 770/760/710, 3.8 UW, no rank, musician/writer</li>
<li>anothersuitcase - English/Music/Anthropology, 1450 (740V, 710M), 800/760/700, 3.96 UW, 5 out of 600, musician (voice)/writer</li>
<li>astrix - Economics / Computer science, 1490 (750V 740M), 770/760/720, no gpa, 3/81, student council, comp stuff</li>
<li>lindseyluJH - Philosophy/Linguistics/Anthropology, 1530 (790V, 740M), 800/790/760, 4.12 Weighted, top 5%, many school and community leadership positions</li>
<li>WillyWonka- Philosophy/a language, 1580 (800V, 780M), 800/800/660, 3.9UW, 1-2/250</li>
<li>bohemianrhapsody - Undecided, 1530, 800s in SAT IIs, unknown GPA, 2-3/327</li>
<li>lucy517 - history/international/latinamerican studies, 1480, 770/760/750, 4.0 UW, 7ish/300ish</li>
<li>jamescarville, 1550, 800/780/780/750. Top 5% of ~190, math / engineering</li>
<li>lisasimpson - bio/political science, 1490 (750V, 740M) 800/760/750, 4.0 gpa, 2/237</li>
<li>ReDbUll298 - political science/English, 1510 (730V, 780M) 790/680/660, 5.35, 4/310, soccer/track</li>
<li>Harpingchic - Music/French, 1500, 760/750/750. 2/308, 4.0 UW, music (harp, all-state flute..)</li>
<li>EncomiumII-Classis, 1560,800,790,780,770 4.0 UW, 4.8W, 1/440, 5 chemistry, 5 biology, 5 U.S. history, national awards in spanish, latin, and chemistry</li>
<li>college_hopeful, Classics, 1480, 770/740/730, ~3.9, top 5%, legacy</li>
<li>Jaco Pastorius- Economics, 1500, 740/720/760, bad GPA (freshman year sucked), 13 APS, bass</li>
<li>Insertnamehere-Poli Sci, 1550 (M760/V790) 80/780/720/720 3.9 GPA xc/track</li>
<li>marlgirl - math/physics/psychology, 1550 (770V, 780M), 800/800/760, 3.96UW, 4.65W, 1/87 (rank not reported)</li>
<li>kara17 - ethnic studies/astronomy, 1520 (770V, 750M) 780/770/720, 4.0 (uw) gpa, no rank</li>
<li>ckakalacheva - Biology 1510 (710v/800m) 660/760/700/750 TOEFL 290 (Bulgaria)</li>
<li>allureNY86 - English and Visual Arts, 1500 (800v), 800/720/720/710, 96.8 W, unranked, various awards in Chinese; artist/writer/languages fanatic/scientist.</li>
<li>Geniusriki- Biology, 1480 (800V/680M), 750/760/750/730/720, 4.0 uw, 1/22, deferred EDII</li>
<li>Kayoshin- Computer Science 1480 (720V, 760M), 750/790/800/740, 3.5 uw, 18/240; piano, karate, sketching, science fairs, good recs.</li>
<li>NoCreativity- Cant remember major! (biochem?) 1480 (740 split), 740CH/730M1C/750WR, 4.0 uw, 1/625?; captain waterpolo, mock trial, etc etc.. blah blah</li>
<li>zephyr151 - Political Science 1530 (800V) 800w/790math2c/790worldhist, 3.95uw, 2/490, JSA, debate, tutoring, political obsessiveness/activism, great essays solid recs</li>
</ol>