Swat vs. Haverford

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
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<p>I know this topic has been discussed in the past (I've read all of the threads about it), but I want to hear from actual students of both schools regarding the facets of each institution that are most important to me.</p>

<p>I'll start by saying that my primary academic interests are English, literature (especially Indian, Asian, and American literature), psychology (behavioral and socially-focused as opposed to biologically-focused), philosophy, and religion (especially Eastern and non-Judeo-Christian religions). This is perhaps a vague statement, but I'm also looking for an education that encourages creativity and interdisciplinary thinking, which I know is emblematic of liberal arts schools in general, but perhaps thrives more at certain institutions than others.</p>

<p>In terms of post-college, I'm interested in journalism, some sort of writing that's creative in nature (screenwriting, novel writing, being a freelance writer), psychological research, and law with some sort of social justice-focused application, in that order.</p>

<p>And in terms of a student body, I mostly want to be around open-minded, creative, warm, seriously intellectual, caring and laid-back people. This is perhaps a silly generalization, but I also seem to get along especially well with international students (I was in college for a short period of time this year) and, while the student body stats are available for each institution, I'd be interested to hear about the degree of interaction between internationals and non-internationals at each school. Also, the degree of interaction between people of different ethnicities is something I'd be interested in hearing about, as this seems to differ at least somewhat between institutions.</p>

<p>Night-life: Laid back--lectures, movie screenings, trips to to Philly, late night discussions. Not into parties really--don't care about how good the parties are at each.</p>

<p>Any input from current students or people who have spend significant amounts of time at each school? And interesteddad, while I appreciate your statistics-driven posts and find them both interesting and valuable, I am really more interested in hearing from people who have more direct experience with each school than being the parent of a student. </p>

<p>And for one last final, perhaps irrelevant reference point, Wesleyan was my top choice (because of the general vibe, the strengths of the humanities departments, the varied social options, the creative spirit) but financial aid sucked too much.</p>

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<p>hmmm, I don’t want to bash haverford because I didn’t go there and I knew some people there who really loved it, but I think most people would chose swarthmore over haverford. I’m a recent swat alum with a religion minor–that department is amazing! I also loved both english classes I took, fabulous english professors. I don’t know which school has more internationals, but I was friends with quite a few. they did seem to hang out with each other a lot, but were definitely friends with non-internationals. go to ride the tide to see for yourself, but I think swat might have more of a crazy hippy vibe like wesleyan.</p>

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<p>Swat. Yep, Swat.</p>

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<p>[Professor</a> Bakirathi Mani](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/x19144.xml]Professor”>Last Collection: Bakirathi Mani :: Past Commencements :: Swarthmore College)</p>

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<p>I feel like Swat is more Wes-quirky but Haverford is more laid-back. “Lectures, movie screenings, trips to to Philly, late night discussions” is very Swat, but it probably applies to Haverford too.</p>

<p>A possibly distinguishing factor: will you want to double major? At Haverford, that entails writing two theses. I don’t know the specific data, but from perusal of official brochures that all quote students and their majors/minors, double majors or major+2 minors is significantly more common at Swarthmore than at Haverford. That was a catalyst point for me.</p>

<p>Also, how do you feel about Haverford’s Honor Code? The closest Swat has to an institutional “thing” equally all-encompassing is probably the Honors Program, which is purely academic whereas I get the impression that the Honor Code is very important to everyday social interaction at Haverford.</p>

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<p>k, if you want responses from current swarthmore students the editor-in-chief of the phoenix posted a link to a forum area where you can ask questions:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/884633-forum-prospective-students-ask-your-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/884633-forum-prospective-students-ask-your-questions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>(it’s in the post)</p>

<p>swat swat swat!</p>

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<p>I chose Haverford over Swarthmore… as did a majority (56%) of Swat/Haverford cross-admits for 2013. Just sayin’.</p>

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<p>Question - where is the data on the cross admits? just curious.</p>

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<p>I don’t imagine that it gets published anywhere, since it’s kind of just an informal, friendly competition between the colleges. I heard this number directly from HC’s dean of admissions.</p>

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<p>Haverford seems like a delightful and caring school. Academically, it is not in the same league as Swarthmore, but it’s definitely a place where you could get a great education in a warm and laid-back atmosphere.</p>

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<p>I would say Haverford is academically very much in the same league as Swarthmore.</p>

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<p>I agree with hellowhowareyou about Swat and the Ford being similar academically. I know this because my brother graduated from Haverford Phi Beta Kappa and he’s very smart.</p>

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<p>Kind of like how the Lakers and the Clippers are in the same league in basketball.</p>

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<p>^You do know that Haverford is allowed to be just as good of a school without threatening Swarthmore’s status as another great school; maintaining this illusion that one is a dramatic improvement on the other would be rather silly when schools of this caliber have so much in common</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/community-forum-issues/459145-cc-members-do-you-suffer-pds.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/community-forum-issues/459145-cc-members-do-you-suffer-pds.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>And to the OP, a great place to find information would be the Haverford and Swarthmore 2014 facebook group discussion boards, because a lot of current students have answered very similar questions there for incoming frosh</p>

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<p>I won’t provide any numbers because I was instructed not to by the original poster, but for anyone else with acceptance letters in hand from both Swarthmore and Haverford, I would strongly suggest taking a hard look at the relative financial condition of both schools.</p>

<p>I would recommend looking specfically at:</p>

<p>a) Endowment losses </p>

<p>b) Endowment size</p>

<p>c) Debt as a percentage of endowment</p>

<p>d) Cash call commitments as a percentage of endowment</p>

<p>e) Details (if made public) on budget cutting plans for the next three years.</p>

<p>The financial condition of a school will have a very real and very signficant impact on students over the next four years.</p>

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<p>I agree, in the same sense that the Clippers are allowed to be as good as the Lakers without threatening the Lakers’ status as a great team. So, yes, Swarthmore and Haverford are in the same league (just like the Lakers and Clippers), and Haverford is allowed to be good (just like the Clippers).</p>

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<p>I think as far as your academic needs go, both schools will provide equivalent experience. The question is which one will feel right, go above and beyond, and give you that warm and fuzzy feeling when you think about it. Financial, academic, and social comparison is useful, but you can go to the richest school with the best academics and the coolest people and STILL be unhappy if it isn’t your natural niche. I was confronted with the same question you are facing a couple months ago, and going to each school to feel out their respective vibes really tipped the scale. Without suggesting that what suits me would suit you, Haverford was by far the better environment for me, and there were several factors about Swarthmore that I found off-putting in spite of what a great school it is. You might have the exact opposite reaction, and that’s great, the point is to have that reaction in the first place. Thus while interestdad’s kind of analysis is useful, nothing matters more than finding a place that you can really envision as your home. Moral of the story: go visit each with an open mind and gauge your reaction upon thorough inspection of their facilities, students, classes etc.</p>

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<p>That would depend on the severity of the financial situation. You can do all the envisioning you want and, if the money isn’t there, it isn’t there. For example, I suspect that the men’s swimming and diving recruits envisioned a wonderful four years of their sport at UC-Davis – until the team was eliminated this week.</p>

<p>These financial issues are not inconsequential. For example, if a school I were considering had the largest endowment losses of any college or university in the country, over 35%, I would want to take into consideration the unavoidable impact of those losses on the current levels of programming.</p>

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<p>Haverford lost a lot of money and Swarthmore is loaded, we know. If it were really going to ruin the experience, I doubt they would still be matching the $10 million grant from the Jaharis Foundation to build a new dorm in 2012. You go to college for the people, the teachers, and the environment; not how “well endowed they are.” The endowment argument is reminiscent of two guys whipping it out to see who is more of a man- and frankly it sounds just as silly to me. Haverford will be fine and continue to provide an excellent education (<a href=“http://www.haverford.edu/news/stories/31911/51[/url]”>http://www.haverford.edu/news/stories/31911/51&lt;/a&gt;)</p>