<p>Hey I am an incoming senior in high school and I am thinking about attending Swarthmore. I am going to be getting in due to athletics, as I do not have the academics to get in by myself. With that being said, it's not like I have bad academics (about a 3.4 gpa and 2180 on SAT) they just aren't anything special that could get me into swat on my own. So my question is this: will the academic workload totally overwhelm me? I did get a 3.9 gpa this past year and the 2180 on SAT so I am starting to come into my own academically, but I'm just not sure if the workload at Swarthmore is that much more than let's say like a Holy Cross.</p>
<p>Hmm, 3.4, hunh? It depends on the context of your high school. If your high school is a private one that is incredibly rigorous and goes well beyond what normal high schools typically offer, it won’t hurt you in admissions. If there a positive trend (as you have told us), and if the admissions officers are convinced that you can do the work, it won’t hurt you in admissions. </p>
<p>Getting to your main question, the workload is reputed to overwhelm everybody. It’s up to you how you handle it, and how well you do the handling depends on your self-discipline.</p>
<p>Yes, the workload at Swarthmore is significantly more than let’s say Holy Cross.</p>
<p>There’s a saying at Swarthmore that sometimes goes on a tee shirt: Academics, Friends, Sleep - Choose 2.</p>
<p>While not true for everyone all the time, it does have a certain accuracy. Most Swarthmore students shortchange sleep a goodly amount of the time.</p>
<p>That said, even as an athlete Swarthmore won’t admit you if they don’t think you can do the work.</p>
<p>Jjwin89-
As dadx3 has said, the workload at Swat is quite significant. I have a son who is a graduate of Swat and one who is a rising senior. There’s a lot of work and you have to learn how to deal with it. That’s partially the reason why Swat is totally Pass/Fail the first semester. Most incoming freshmen have never dealt with a workload like this, unless they came from a high school well-known for extreme academic rigor. You’d have to find out what a lot of the athletes major in to find out how they keep up with their sport and their academics. Not implying at all that the athletes are looking for “easier” majors. In fact, the star goalkeeper from a couple of years ago when the soccer team was very highly ranked in the country, was a computer science/engineering guy.</p>
<p>As for the 2180 SAT, the writing portion is really sort of irrelevant so the question is how you did just looking at the CR+Math combined. When you say that you are going to be admitted because of athletics, has a coach said something to you to indicate this? My understanding is that admissions has the final decision about whether you are academically admissible.</p>
<p>I agree that context is really important when they look at your GPA and stuff. Also try to retake SATs and see if you can pull it up a bit? Essays and interviews might tilt things in your favor too.</p>