<p>I was talking to a friend of mine who matriculated at Vassar this fall, and she tells me that Vassar and Swarthmore are basically sister schools, with the biggest differences being their intensities (Swat being more intense) and cultural nuances (the Swarthmore culture being more goofy/quirky, while Vassar is more about abandoning gender/sexuality stereotypes). She also told me that while Vassar students are more likely to spend a Friday night partying or smoking, Swarthmore students are more likely to spend the night watching a movie or playing games.</p>
<p>I visited my friend at Vassar, and was SUPER turned off by the drug culture there. Everyone basically says the same things about drugs at colleges: They're there if you want them, but you don't HAVE to do them. However, this generally doesn't seem to be that accurate, and drugs seem to play a much larger role than people are willing to admit.</p>
<p>Can anyone speak to the true nature of drug use at Swarthmore? Is it pretty minimal, or is it something that will be relatively hard to avoid?</p>
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<p>On a very different note... I play the cello; if I were to bring my instrument to Swarthmore, would the college have a place for me to store it other than in my dorm room?</p>
<p>And, does Swarthmore have a post-admissions notification event for recruiting admitted students (kind of like Brown's "A Day on College Hill"?</p>
<p>a) My daughter graduated from Swarthmore, but had very good friends from study abroad at Vassar and spent several weekends there. I understand what your Vassar friend is saying, but my daughter didn’t find Vassar and Swathmore to be that similar. The three signficant differences she mentioned to me were that Vassar seemed huge in comparison, that the student body seemed more visibly affluent, and that the prominent drug use (especially cocaine) was not something she had seen in the Swarthmore social scene.</p>
<p>b) Yes. Swarthmore has lockers, practice rooms, and ample Steinways in the Lang Music Building for majors and non majors, alike. No problem.</p>
<p>c) Yes. Swarthmore has a Ride the Tide overnight event for admitted students. I think it’s a two-day affair now, with one overnight with a student host. It’s a good event with an opportunity to interact with both students and faculty. It’s kind of crazy because I think they get like 300 people, which is a lot when you figure there are only 1400 students on campus to begin with.</p>
<p>Swarthmore’s post-admissions event is called Ride the Tide, I believe, held around the 3rd week of April.</p>
<p>I actually think Swarthmore and Vassar are much different places in many ways. Academically, most people wouldn’t put Vassar in the same category as Swarthmore. Vassar is also in a good deal of financial distress and is cutting, for example, its Creative Writing program and many of their tenured professors are now worried about making it to retirement.</p>
<p>Every college in America has its share of partiers. If you want to avoid this aspect completely, perhaps you might consider commuting to a nearby college and avoiding the social whirl altogether.</p>
<p>I do think there are some similarities and overlap in the students at Swarthmore and Vassar. Certainly, my daugther’s friends at Vassar could have been Swatties (family backgrounds, etc.) I think both schools tend to pull strongly from “city” kids – students who live in large cities and/or enjoy city things – art museums, theater, etc. Both draw strongly from New York City, for example.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is much, much more diverse. It’s really difficult to overemphasize the role of diversity at 21st century, Swarthmore – not just in the percentages, but in the way that diversity shapes the campus community. It’s clear that the new President Rebecca Chopp has been taken by the success Swarthmore has had with what is described as the “third wave” of diversity, where it becomes part of the fabric of all levels of the community. It has been very striking at every Swarthmore event I’ve attended. </p>
<p>I would be surprised if Vassar is comparable, which is not to take anything away from Vassar. Swarthmore’s a real leader in this area.</p>
<p>SwatGrad, you state that Vassar “is in a good deal of financial distress.” For those of us trying to evaluate college options for current seniors, are there any sites or sources you would be willing to share - so that families are able to research how healthy a college’s finances might be before committing? Is there a centralized source for this kind of information or will it require delving through each college’s website and current/past student newspaper articles? Thanks in advance for any leads you (or anyone else) can share!</p>
<p>I don’t have a centralized source, but I know that there recently were cutbacks in Creative Writing program due to financial issues. Also, I personally know the daughter of a tenured professor there and there is worry in the family he might not make it till retirement due to the squeeze.</p>
<p>It is fair to say that Swarthmore is one of the more well-run shops in this business with a very healthy endowment per student and a long history of conservative financial dealings.</p>
<p>I think I learned about the cutbacks right here on CC so you might want to search the Vassar page.</p>
<p>Vassar’s #1 problem is that they grew enrollment faster than their endowmnent, diluting their “per student endowment” which now stands at about one-third that of Swarthmore. This means that they have been forced to try to compete with the “big boys” on things like need-blind admissions, but with less available money from the endowment each year. So where, Swarthmore spends an average of 4.2% from its endowment, Vassar struggled to get its endowment spending rate down below 5.5% – even before the market crash. They had been “out of elibrium” (i.e. spending down the endowment) earlier this decade, leaving them with no cushion at all to absorb the market crash. That’s why they’ve seen immediate cuts in staff (80 positions) and faculty (19 fewer non-tenure positions) where Swarthmore has not.</p>
<p>Vassar is by no means alone. Most colleges are having to cut real muscle from their programs right now. </p>
<p>I’ve posted a fairly detailed synopsis of Swarthmore’s budget situation here, so I won’t repeat it all.</p>
<p>I suppose I’m a little off topic now, but I wanted to give the perspective of a current Swattie for you, OP. I’m currently a sophomore, and while I’m an English/Film double major, I’m also heavily involved in the Music Department through private lessons, a chamber ensemble, and the college chorus. </p>
<p>I have never ever been turned off by any drug culture at Swat. Sure, there are partiers, but for the most part, people mostly hang out to have fun. It’s what I’ve always done! For me, it’s never involved alcohol, and there’s never been any pressure to include alcohol, though there are certainly others who do drink and party. It’s never a problem, though, and it’s never overwhelming. As for harder drugs, they’re all but nonexistent. I haven’t even had a problem with smelling pot around campus. I’m sure that, if someone were interested in drugs, they could certainly do them, but from my experience, most Swatties don’t participate in a drug subculture. I agree that the overall vibe of Swat outside of academia leans towards the goofy and quirky sides of things, though those are by no means the only terms applicable! </p>
<p>There’s definitely a place to store your cello. Lockers, like interesteddad mentioned, are readily available to those who ask for them, and you’ll get a key and everything. My friend, who plays the harp, stores her harp in the Ville (the town of Swarthmore just off campus), so that’s an option, too.</p>
<p>I’d agree with AE here. There is a drug scene, for sure. It is very easy to avoid.
Personally, I smelled pot somewhat frequently, heard about a significant amount of Adderall and the like, but I did not see much in the way of harder drugs.</p>
I’m currently a sophomore, and while I’m an English/Film double major, I’m also heavily involved in the Music Department through private lessons, a chamber ensemble, and the college chorus. </p>