Swatty or Pton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>Since I'm unable to visit either campus, I'm wondering if you guys can give me your input on which sounds like a better fit for me. If there's something I forgot to mention please ask. Thanks!</p>

<p>ACADEMICS:</p>

<p>I plan to major in either Mathematics or Astronomy/Astrophysics with a concentration in pre-dental.</p>

<p>I would prefer a campus with an intellectual tone.</p>

<p>I'm looking for close interaction with professors.</p>

<p>A non-competitive but intense environment would be ideal.</p>

<p>SOCIAL LIFE:</p>

<p>I'm not into the drinking or partying scene, so I would prefer a school where these things don't rule campus life. However, if that isn't possible, I would prefer a school where I can do lots of EC and activities outside of campus.</p>

<p>Wouldn't want a big Greek scene.</p>

<p>I want a school with rabid school spirit. Students should LOVE their school and not be afraid to say it.</p>

<p>LOCATION:</p>

<p>I love the outdoors and would like a beautiful campus and surrounding area with easy access (i.e. <1 hr drive) to fishing, hiking, and camping. </p>

<p>I would like there to be a medium sized city ( >= 100,000 people) within an hour away.</p>

<p>I'd prefer the campus to be set aside from the surrounding city and feel like a seperate entity.</p>

2

<p>ACADEMICS:</p>

<p>I plan to major in either Mathematics or Astronomy/Astrophysics with a concentration in pre-dental.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>I would prefer a campus with an intellectual tone.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>Wouldn't want a big Greek scene.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>LOCATION:</p>

<p>I love the outdoors and would like a beautiful campus and surrounding area with easy access (i.e. <1 hr drive) to fishing, hiking, and camping. </p>

<br>


<br>

<p>I would like there to be a medium sized city ( >= 100,000 people) within an hour away.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>I'd prefer the campus to be set aside from the surrounding city and feel like a seperate entity.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>I never visited Pton (I assume you mean Princeton?), so I can't comment.</p>

3

<p>Yep, Pton fits into a title more nicely than Princeton. I've heard a lot of comments of apathy and burnout (due to the workload) present at Swartmore. Some truth, the norm, or not at all true?</p>

<p>P.S. When I say school spirit I'm not necessarily referring to sports. Rather, students just love being where they are (as opposed to griping because the didn't get into Harvard, Yale, etc..)</p>

4

<p>I don't know enough about Princeton to make a comparison.</p>

<p>I don't believe "burn-out" or "apathy" are common at Swarthmore -- well, at least until the honor seniors are busy finishing their thesis and preparing for their four sets of written and oral exams by outside examiners. There is about a month there where they disappear into a special zombie section of the library.</p>

<p>Of course, like anywhere else you have some complainers, but by and large the love for Swarthmore by everyone involved -- students, faculty, administration, parents -- is pretty strong. Of course, you get that at a lot of schools, but the most striking thing the most recent accreditation review panel noted about Swarthmore was the unusually strong sense of community and especially the degree of "trust" students and faculty have in the administration to make the right decisions. Based on my observation, I would say that the "trust" and the sense of community is indeed the most striking thing about Swarthmore. Everyone seems to share the same view of what the school should be, and is protective of that. What's interesting is that it seems to be a part of the campus culture that extends quite far back in the school's history.</p>

5

<p>Thanks interesteddad, that's a big help.</p>

6

<p>"P.S. When I say school spirit I'm not necessarily referring to sports. Rather, students just love being where they are (as opposed to griping because the didn't get into Harvard, Yale, etc..)"</p>

<p>It is rather the opposite. I don't think people grouch about not getting into Harvard or Yale. Rather, they usually point out that they are getting a "better" education than they would at H or Y. Don't flame me for this. This is just the collective opinion of the student body there and I have no control over that....many students (my son included), thinks he is getting the best liberal arts education in the country without exception.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
I don't think people grouch about not getting into Harvard or Yale.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>There's not much of that at Swarthmore. I think students fall into one of two categories. Either they wouldn't have gotten into Harvard or Yale and are thrilled to have gotten into Swarthmore. Or, they would or might have gotten into Harvard or Yale, but chose Swarthmore because they prefered the style of education Swarthmore offers.</p>

<p>A lot of Swatties recognize that each student should focus on finding the school that is right for the individual. For some students, Swarthmore is the right choice; for others, it is not. They tend to be pretty frank about that in talking to prospects. I know that my daughter has flat out told "specs", "you shouldn't come here, it's not right for you."</p>

8

<p>ID, my son is unabashedly of the opinion, he is getting the best liberal arts education in the country, hands down..... :)</p>

9

<p>"When I say school spirit I'm not necessarily referring to sports. Rather, students just love being where they are (as opposed to griping because the didn't get into Harvard, Yale, etc..)"</p>

<p>I went to Swarthmore (graduated '03) and unless there's been an enormous shift in the last two years the contingent of students who went grudgingly and would have preferred to be somewhere else is miniscule. Swarthmore is a very unusual kind of place: as you know, it's smaller, more liberal, more intellectual, less grade-inflated, and much more work than the other schools in its class, so people only apply if they're looking for something that idiosyncratic. The result is that the vast majority are there because that's where they want to be.</p>

<p>I performed a highly unscientific poll by I asking my friends from college where they applied, and the names that came up frequently were Chicago, Dartmouth, and Princeton - Chicago because it's a more intellectual place than most elite schools, and Dartmouth and Princeton because they focus on undergraduates more than the rest of the Ivy League. Very few even applied to Harvard or Yale. Many turned down both Chicago and Dartmouth. None of the people who applied to Princeton were accepted, but every single one of them spontaneously volunteered (I didn't ask) that they were glad they weren't, because if they had been accepted they might have gone, and in retrospect they're sure that Swarthmore was a much better choice for them. Of course, that doesn't answer the "Swarthmore or Princeton?" question, since the reverse is true as well: Swarthmore's not for everyone by any stretch of the imagination.</p>

<p>In perhaps the most definitive showing that people go to Swarthmore because Swarthmore is where they want to be, none of the people I asked even applied to Amherst or Williams, though a handful applied to Carleton.</p>