<p>As a fairly recent Swarthmore graduate ('03), I agree with most of what InterrestedDad said. I'd like to add a few personal comments:</p>
<p>a) I think ID overestimates the accessibility of Philadelphia. In my experience, going into the city was a bit of a pain and a relatively rare thing for students to do. I would definitely characterize Swarthmore as a "suburban" area, not an "urban" one.</p>
<p>b) ID is absolutely right about the intellectualism of the place. At Swarthmore, I was heavily involved with SWIL, the science fiction/geek club, and discussions with friends in that group (and other students) quickly devolved [sic] into discussions of intellectual issues. I'm at Stanford Law now, and many of my friends are undergrads in a similar science fiction/geek subculture, and "intellectual" discussions are much rarer among them than among my Swarthmore friends.</p>
<p>d) ID is absolutely right about the drinking culture, such as it is, and the absence of showyness. When I was there, wearing expensive designer clothing, or otherwise showing off your parents' wealth, would have been a fairly serious faux paus (though I think it was more acceptable among the fraternity subculture).</p>
<p>I don't think that I overestimate the accessibility (20 minutes by train or Swat shuttle van is pretty darn accessible). However, I do think I underestimate the desire of Swatties to bother with going into the city. There's another issue: going into the city for dinner does mean spending $25 or so. The culture of respecting kids who don't have extra spending money tends to cut down on group excursions. </p>
<p>Having said that, even being able to walk up to Bertucci's for pizza is a nice escape from "the ivory tower" that is not available at more remote LACs. Once you hit the Baltimore Pike a quarter mile from campus, you've definitely left the bubble. I think "leaving the bubble" from time to time is essential for mental health at any LAC.</p>
<p>As for the term "suburban", I agree with you from a northeasterner perspective. But, the area around Swarthmore is not even remotely similar to what a student from, say, Houston or Atlanta or Orange County would envision by the term "suburban". We are really talking about an old "close-in" residential neighborhood. I doubt there has been a house built in the borough of Swarthmore in 50 years -- unless it was a tear-down and rebuild (and it's probably tough to get the zoning permit for that!)</p>
<p>I agree with ID - philly is very easy to get to. Even if you do not go into the city every week (which at some times I did), it makes a big difference to ME that I could, on the spur of the moment go to a sixers game, an experimental puppet show, a huge club, a free talk by hell hooks, a mozart concert, a roots concert, or the free entrance times at the PMA to look at suits of armor (and to run up the rocky steps). The difference between living 20 minutes from a huge city, and an hour or so from a more minor city is BIG, in terms of ease of transportation and variety of things to do once you get there. That said, the Swarthmore area itself is fairly dull, meaning at most times, most people choose to stay on campus - which means there is ALWAYS stuff going on on campus. And it must be said, the Swarthmore area is not too bad - there are quite a wide variety of diner/cafe/ resteurants within easy walking distance, and some of them can be quite fun in a kitchy way. </p>
<p>Re drinking culture:
There are pockets, at swarthmore, of the classical, fraternity style drinking culture. There are pockets of people who never drink, and never go anywhere where drinks will be served. What is much more commen at swarthmore, and what, I think, is more unique to swarthmore, is that most students fall somewhere on a line between these extremes, AND one any given night may choose activities anywhere on the line between these two extremes, AND have a variety of friends who fall in a variety of places on this spectrum. So it would not be unusual for a group of friends to get totally trashed at pub night on a thursday, and then spend Sat. night together watching disney movies. At other schools, I think you are more likely to find large groups of people from whom every night is get trashed night, or every night is disney night (which is fine too!).</p>
<p>A sidenote comment: I don't know what's the big deal about running up the PMA steps. These are VERY easy steps. </p>
<p>But I agree, Philly is easily accessible and is an interesting city. PMA has a lot to offer as do other museums there. Some restaurants are pretty unique. There is a fine Cuban restaurant that my son and I visit. Fantastic mojitos and the food was great too! Mmmm fried plantains and sweet potatoes...mmmm</p>