<p>Hi, I'm a freshman at UMD considering transferring to Swarthmore for next fall, partially for the academics and partially for the social aspect - UMD is just way too big for me and I've had a lot of trouble finding people that I fit in with (people are really nice but pretty much everyone's idea of a good time is partying which I'm just not into - I really fit in more with a slightly nerdier group and I'm hoping I could find that at Swarthmore). When I came to Swat for accepted students day last year, I really liked all the people there and just felt really good about the school (I chose UMD because I got a full ride, but I'm starting to think it wasn't really worth it). I was just wondering though, from what you've heard is it fairly easy for transfers to make friends at Swarthmore or do friend groups really form in freshman year? My main fear in transferring to Swat is that I would end up still being unhappy and then I would have given up the full ride for nothing. So I'd really appreciate people sharing anything they've heard about how easy it is for transfer students to find a place in the school, and just in general if transfers are happy here and what kind of people really like life at Swat.</p>
<p>Also this isn't my primary concern but given that part of my motivation for transferring is academic, I'd love to hear about the quality of academics, specifically in Political Science, Arabic, and Islamic Studies. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for sharing your opinions on any of my questions, I really appreciate it :)</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a freshman at Swarthmore and I will tell you, you never stop making friends at Swat. I’m from Maryland so I was considering UMCP as well and I have a lot of friends there. I can understand the disconnect you’re having with other students. Personally I was turned off from CP because of its large size and the partying aspect.
I’ve met quite a few transfers at Swat and they seem to be getting along fine. There aren’t strong class divisions at Swarthmore. And I love the size–it’s so small, you keep running into people you’ve met before.</p>
<p>The “nerd” aspect was also one of the reasons I chose Swarthmore. There’s definitely a vibrant nerd community–we had weekly showings of Doctor Who.
Every Friday there are Nerf Gun wars.</p>
<p>And just to let you know how nerdy I am, I had to edit this post to take out all the Avengers references.</p>
<p>I can’t personally speak to the specifics of Poly Sci, Arabic and Islamic Studies (though one of my friends is taking a course on gender and sexuality in Islam and really enjoys it), but overall the academics are great. My biggest complaint has been the big intro classes (I’m not loving Bio 001), but I think that’s pretty much the same in all schools (and might speak more about me than the course itself). I love my first year seminar, though. So overall, highly positive on the academics.</p>
<p>tl;dr. Swarthmore is awesome and nerdy, teachers are cool, come here and be my friend!</p>
<p>Thanks, that’s all super helpful! 
So what are class sizes like in general? Because I’ve been able to find course descriptions but not a lot of information on the enrollment limits for specific classes… as a Freshman are most of your classes large? What’s considered a “large” and “small” class at Swat?</p>
<p>I graduated from Swarthmore this past summer. I think it’s true that many friend groups are formed during freshman year. If you do transfer here, I think you should join some sort of student group (e.g. sports) so that you have a group of potential friends. As for class sizes, 25 and above would generally be considered large. Most courses aren’t capped. They might be officially limited to 25, but if you really want to take a certain course, the professor will generally be willing to change the enrollment limit. Some courses, though, are so popular that professors need to establish some system, perhaps a lottery system, to maintain a limit. When I was a freshman the only large course I took was Bio 1, which along with a previous poster, I also didn’t love.</p>
<p>I have a sophomore transfer on my hall and we love them to death and they’ve had absolutely no problem finding friends, fitting in, etc</p>