<p>Back to Swarthmore–my memory is economics was strong, but I recently celebrated my 30th reunion and doubtless the faculty and programs have changed a bit since then :)</p>
<p>As far as the “kind of student,” the classic Swattie is intense about inquiry, learning, using learning to change the world in positive ways. And the work is challenging, we had T shirts that said “Swarthmore. Anywhere else it would have been an A.” But it doesn’t mean that Swarthmore students spend the whole time studying or staring at their navels or something. There are lots of fun things folks do in their spare time, and the campus is gorgeous. It’s not a party school, but I did go through periods of drinking what, for me, were rather large quantities of beer (@Stargirl, stop reading this–I don’t want to corrupt you!) . </p>
<p>It is small. I didn’t go to BS, but to a small public HS with graduating class of 140, so to me it was larger. And I was 16 when I started college, so was happy to be on a small campus. I’m sure it’s too small for some. But there were plenty of folks I never got to know while I was there. Outgrowing? Well, there aren’t grad students so if you are starting to work on grad level stuff as an undergrad you’d have to do something creative like independent study or take classes at UPenn (a shortish train ride away). </p>
<p>I went to an admissions presentation last reunion, and a couple of things stood out. He said that they were far more interested in WHY students were involved in activities than what they were, and not particularly interested in toting up the quantity. He was looking for rigorous curriculum, but didn’t think there was much value in taking ridiculous numbers of AP classes (he gave a number above which he didn’t think it mattered, and sorry I don’t remember what that number was!). He said the “why Swarthmore” essay was particularly important in making the case how the student would benefit from being at Swarthmore AND how Swarthmore would benefit from having the student in their community. </p>
<p>This probably belongs on the worry thread, but I just got an email from Tufts saying that their admit rate this year is 17.4% and 14% for engineering students (down 10% in the last 5 years). Any suggestions for schools similar to Tufts/Wesleyan (LACs that are politically active and emphasize community service), with higher acceptance rates? Preferably 30%+ acceptance rates. @SudsieTufts might be a good fit for your daughter - quirky, quiddich! and a big engineering/pre-med STEM contingent, stong LAs and drama. Sadly no castles…</p>
<p>I attended a dinner presentation at the honors college of our state U last night. Dr. Mark Jacobs, the dean, was recruited from his 28 years at Swarthmore where he left his position as associate provost to transform the honors college into an ivy-like experience. Most of his talk was describing how, in his 11-year tenure here, he and his team have built the school-within-a-school around the idea of “Swarthmore dropped into the larger U” with the “house” system found at many of the ivies. He showed pictures of Swarthmore and how he worked with the architects who built the new nine-acre campus in 2005 to reproduce several of the features of his old college.</p>
<p>@Sudsie: Dr. Jacobs echoed the words you heard at your reunion. He said that admissions does not focus on numbers so much as indication of intellectual rigor and that has given the college a “quirky” vibe similar to Swarthmore. I’ve never been to Swarthmore so I can’t vouch for the success of his efforts, but he seems to feel that Swarthmore is the perfect model for building a world-class honors college. And, he must be doing something right because, although the average SAT score of incoming students is not quite as high as some of the schools he was comparing the honors college to, year after year its students successfully compete for some of the most coveted scholarships. For example, the honors college is among the top producers of Fulbrights; last year, students submitted 58 applications for 23 awards, a success rate higher than Harvard, Brown, and Yale. He emphasized that these results come from admitting students who value intellectual pursuits over stats like how many APs they can stuff into an application.</p>
<p>Now, if only CK would look at this option seriously…</p>
<p>Regarding Tufts, my Ds college counseling office calls it the “Tufts effect”, no college wants to feel like a safety and kids who apply without demonstrated interest (visit, meet AO at college fair, visit website often, comment on specific programs of interest in essay) will very likely be rejected even if super qualified on stats, because yield is important to Tufts, and they track demonstrated interest. </p>
<p>@chemmchimney, The following LAC (or similar type) schools were often mentioned by STEM families on the 2014 acceptance thread:
Bucknell, Oberlin, Lehigh, Lafayette, Grinnell, Case Western, U. Rochester, Macalester, Carnige Mellon,Harvey Mudd.
I’m not sure about the current acceptance rates but they’re worth a look.</p>
<p>Thank you @sudsie for your response. A good friend of my daughter’s who has a very similar intellectual profile, interests and artistic values is heading there next fall. Since she respects his opinion, she wants to visit. </p>
<p>Re excessive AP classes, I’m afraid my d will fall under that category. She will have 11 by graduation. I hope they realize that she took most of them at her old school where it was either regular or AP and not because she was trying to “load up.”</p>
<p>@SevenDad I seem to recall that Upenn had a t-shirt that read UPenn not Penn St, show that your IQ is greater than 70. I recall this from the Penn magazine that my relative received when they attended/graduated from UPenn. The latest gag shirts for Penn St include some play on penitentiary due to the scandal. </p>
<p>@grx567 I forget the name of the game, but you basically go around in a circle, trying to name as many items falling into a certain category without repeating. We were in the last round, just me and said Harvard student, and I chose colleges as our subject. We each took turns naming schools, and she ran out of ideas before I did. :)</p>
<p>So, is she acquiring a better sense of which (U or LAC) better fits her “learning style” and/or some other important consideration that will help shape a future apply-to list? (I’m interested in the question of whether kids do become convinced, on open and articulated grounds, that their clear preference is for Unis or LACs, which then dominate the apply list. Or do they almost always apply to a mix because the pros and cons on multiple variables won’t admit a size distinction.) Also, I’m pretty much thinking that large research Unis we’d consider come in two sizes, 5-8k and 12-15k. Would you let us know if you get a markedly different feel at these two different populations? </p>
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