<p>It just depends. Intellectual vibe or not, neither of my kids would have liked Swat. Much too small and just not a good fit. I used to use the Swat library while I was in high school. The two schools just really aren't comparable in any way.</p>
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<p>All I can say is that aside from those types of classes, my experience sharply differed..
No, the classes got a lot smaller in her major as she went along pretty fast. I mean don't get me wrong: she enjoyed Penn a lot. She was in a good sorority, partied 4 nights a week and got a cushy job in New York even though she didn't study anything related to business in college.</p>
<p>But intellectual engagement? Exciting classroom discussions? Students who have a serious academic bent? Not so much. If you value these things, Swat is the way to go. If you just want to have a good time in college and get a good job after you graduate, which is what 99% of college kids want, Penn without a doubt.</p>
<p>^ Your characterization of Penn is highly misleading. For example, for 2007 graduates of Penn's College of Arts and Sciences, only 31% of those who responded to the Career Plans Survey took jobs in the entire financial services industry:</p>
<p>Furthermore, 28% of the respondendts went directly to graduate school, and 24% of those went into humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences/math/computing graduate programs. Given that Penn's College has a graduating class of about 1600 students, that would mean that about 450 grads of Penn's College (a larger number than Swarthmore's entire graduating class of about 370) went directly to graduate school, with about 110 of those Penn College grads (equivalent to about 30% of Swarthmore's graduating class) going into academic--as opposed to professional--graduate programs. And if one skims through that Career Plans Survey linked above, it becomes readily apparent that the academic graduate programs the students have entered are generally quite impressive.</p>
<p>So, the bottom line is that in terms of academically oriented students bound for advanced academic degrees and careers, Penn's College contains an entire Swarthmore and then some. The only difference is that in addition to that Swarthmore-like component, Penn also offers additional research and professional components not present at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>It's really a matter of personal preference and fit. But if a student seeks an intellectually stimulating academic environment, he or she can easily find it at either Penn or Swarthmore; and in fact, in absolute numbers, more students find it at Penn.</p>
<p>I had a great time, got a great job (that's not about to disappear, either...epic win for ilovebagels), and had plenty of intellectual stimulation with students and faculty alike. It's there--at least for people in my major(s)</p>