<p>Does anybody know how Swarthmore's acceptance rate compared with Amherst's this year? I think in years past Amherst was more selective by just a few percentage points, but this year I've hear otherwise. Can anyone verify?</p>
<p>Historically, USNEWS has ranked Swarthmore as slighly more selective. Slightly higher acceptance rate than Amherst, offset by a higher percentage of freshman in the top 10% of their high school classes and a higher 25th percentile SAT median. Last year, USNEWS had them tied at #2 for selectivity, behind Harvey Mudd, as Amherst bumped its SATs up.</p>
<p>This year, the acceptance rates are virtually identical -- 18 point something percent for both.</p>
<p>I don't think there's much in it either way. Both are very selective (the same can be said for Williams and Pomona). Some students would have an equal chance at both schools. Some students would have a little easier chance at one or the other. It's really splitting hairs. </p>
<p>The only big difference is that Amherst accepts more recruited athletes (roughly double) because they are stocking a football team and a men's ice hockey team (requiring about 10% of its male student body), neither of which Swarthmore has. If you disregard the recruited athletes, Swarthmore and Amherst accept very similar students and have similar priorities in admissions, although just due to geography and tradition, Amherst may draw slightly more heavily from New England and the New England prep schools. </p>
<p>Amherst has a slightly higher percentage of very low income Pell Grant students, but also a slightly higher percentage of wealthy students qualifying for no financial aid. Swarthmore has a slightly more diverse student body ethnically -- fewer African American students, but more Latino(a), and Asian American students. Amherst tilts slightly male (52% to 48%) -- a function of its history as an all-male school and stocking the two large male sports teams. Swarthmore tilts slightly female (by the same percentage) -- again a function of its history as a co-ed school and the fact that it isn't stocking football and men's hockey teams. </p>
<p>Swarthmore tilts slightly more heavily to public school students, probably a reflection of Amherst's pull from New England (the most heavily private prep and Catholic school oriented region of the country).</p>
<p>The differences in campus culture, location, and other things are certainly a more valid basis for comparison than selectivity, IMO. It would be hard to go wrong either (allowing for some differences in academic offerings). I would say that at least half the student body at the two schools are interchangeable -- although it's probably the non-interchangeable students who define whatever differences there are in campus cultures. Amherst is slightly preppier, somewhat more party oriented, and slighly more pre-professional in outlook (i.e. more MBAs). Swat is slightly less athletic, a little more more academically oriented in career paths (i.e. more PhDs), perhaps a little geekier, and probably emphasizes social action and global issues a bit more overtly.</p>
<p>Is the workload at Swarthmore significantly harder than at Amherst?</p>
<p>Pretty much, yes. Amherst is by no means a slacker school, but Swat is widely regarded as the place to go for insane academic rigor. It depends on the major, etc. but I think Swatties work a good deal harder than students at many top schools.</p>
<p>I believe that the range of workloads between different Amherst students or between different Swarthmore students would be greater than the differences between the two schools. You could work very hard at either school if that is what you choose to do. You could work sort of hard at either school if that is what you choose to do. There are slackers who survive at Swarthmore and, presumably, at Amherst as well. </p>
<p>It would be a total waste to go to either of the two schools planning to be a slacker. There are places where it's easier (and far less expensive) to be a slacker. Aside from that, college is a lot more fun if you actually enjoy the courses you are taking.</p>
<p>When I was in school, Swarthmore and Williams were known for their efforts to resist "grade inflation". Amherst didn't have the same reputation.</p>
<p>It's obviously difficult to compare grading standards between different schools. However, graduate and professional schools have to do it. In 1997, Boalt Hall (the UC Berkeley law school) was involved in a lawsuit over its admission practices, and was forced to disclose its "GPA weighting" system for undergraduate applicants. The results were published by the LA Times and are available [url=<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000829094953/http://www.pcmagic.net/abe/gradeadj.htm%5Dhere%5B/url">http://web.archive.org/web/20000829094953/http://www.pcmagic.net/abe/gradeadj.htm]here[/url</a>]. </p>
<p>Nationally, the school that got the highest upward GPA adjustment from Boalt was Swarthmore, with Williams as a close second. Amherst GPAs got a positive upward adjustment too, but not as much.</p>
<p>Note that these results are ~ 10 years old</p>