<p>So at the last minute, it appears I am going to have a chance to visit Swarthmore, which I have applied RD to, an very excited about, but have never actually seen. I will have a whole Thursday afternoon there, and then if I want to go back friday morning, I can as well. So what should I do? I don't particularly want to do the tour and info session (if there are even info sessions available now, I should probably check that), although i might, just to get the lay of the land. Are there specific classes/ specific professors I should check in on? Especially anywhere in the humanities... Also, I've heard about pub night, although I will be there with my father, and it doesn't sound like the kind of place it would be fun to bring my dad... is it worth leaving him behind and going alone? Should I bring homework (ah the joys of being a second semester senior) and do it in the library, to see what thats like? Any other recommendation? Thanks Swatties/ people who know swatties.</p>
<p>You have to check in with the professors before your view to schedule a class. What are your areas of interest? If you are interested in Art History, check Michael Cothren's class.</p>
<p>Leaving Dad behind and going yourself would give you an idea of student life that you wouldn't get with your dad hanging around.</p>
<p>You can check here:
<a href="http://www.trico.haverford.edu/cgi-bin/courseguide/cgi-bin/search.cgi%5B/url%5D">http://www.trico.haverford.edu/cgi-bin/courseguide/cgi-bin/search.cgi</a>
for class schedule, then e-mail a professor and ask if it will be OK to sit on the class.</p>
<p>ARTH 002 01Reilly,P MWF 09:30am-10:20am
PHIL 007 01 Baker,A MWF 10:30am-11:20am Paradox & Rationality
PSYC 001 01 Ward,A TTH 02:40pm-03:55pm Introduction to Psychology
PSYC 005 01 Kemler Nelson,D TTH 01:15pm-02:30pm FYS:Nature and Nurture</p>
<p>I think all of the above could be good (though Psych1 is a large lecture class), but it really depends on what your interests are.</p>
<p>Here are a few more:</p>
<p>Friday 9:30</p>
<p>HIST 008A 01 Burke,T MWF 09:30am-10:20am W.Africa-Slave Trade 1500-1850 </p>
<p>One of Swat's most loved young professors. Entertaining classes. This would be definite winner.</p>
<p>ENGL 009K 01 Johnson,K MWF 09:30am-10:20am FYS:The Philadelphia Story</p>
<p>I don't know the professor, but this is a first-year seminar (12 students) on Philadelphia area literature.</p>
<p>Thursday:</p>
<p>LITR 021R 01 Pesenson,M TTH 02:40pm-03:55pm Dostoevsky (in Translation)</p>
<p>MUSI 009B 01 Friedman,J TTH 02:40pm-03:55pm The Beatles </p>
<p>Looks like a fun course to sit in on.</p>
<p>SOAN 049B 01 Ghannam,F TTH 02:40pm-03:55pm Comparative Perspectives-Body </p>
<p>Wonderful teacher from Lebanon. Course covers piercings, tatooing, and other stuff in cultures around the world. Unless they are reading Foucault, it would probably be possible to follow along.</p>
<hr>
<p>I would do the tour and the info session is there is one. It will give you a good overview of the campus (which is not easy to figure out at first sight), walking around with a current Swattie. It will give you a good feel for what makes Swat tick.</p>
<p>For Thursday night, I'm not sure I'd recommend Pub Night or not. You definitely don't want to take your Dad. School policy frowns on prospects going to events where alcohol is being served, so if you go, mind your Ps and Qs and don't get stupid. The smart play as a "spec" would probably be to not drink if you go. It would be a good place to hang out and have some fun, if you are outgoing. My daughter (a non-drinker) went to similar event on one of her overnights and had a blast seeing a different side of Swarthmore, but I'm sure others have a differing reactions.</p>
<p>Probably a better all around idea might be to look on the Daily Gazette website Thurs. morning for a list of the day's scheduled activities. You and your dad might even find two different things of interest.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/%5B/url%5D">http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/daily/</a></p>
<p>Otherwise, you can eat lunch (or dinner or breakfast) at Sharples dining hall. This would probably be worth it for lunch just to see the madhouse of the entire student body scurrying around in one place. Or get coffee and a snack in the snack bar, (it's in Tarble) or the Kohlberg coffee bar or the Science Center coffee bar. Any of those, along with the new lounge on the first floor of the building where admissions is located are general gathering spots and would be a good places to strike up casual conversation. Likewise for the main floor of the library.</p>
<p>The other option would be to go to one of the larger dorm lounges with big screen TVs (Mertz, Willets, etc.) and see if anything is going on. A lot of Swarthmore is centered around dorm life.</p>
<p>Visiting a class (or multiple classes) is a great way to check out Swat. The class I sat in when I visited more than anything influenced my desicion to apply ED. I have friends who are in Baker's Paradox and Rationality and Ward's Intro Psych class, and I've heard nothing but good things about both of them. Psych does have over 80 people in it, so if you're looking for a more typical Swat class, you might want to try something else. If you're a humanities major who's scared about the math/science distribution requirements, the math class they have for people who aren't math-inclined is from 9:30-10:20, and it's a pretty good class. Also from 9:30-10:20 is Phil Weinstein's Proust, Joyce and Faulkner class, which is supposed to be fantastic. </p>
<p>Good luck, and hope you have a good visit!</p>
<p>I am interested in English, and comp lit/ modern languages and lit, and possible middle eastern studies (Islamic studies?)... so some of those classes sound really good. I guess with pub, I'll just have to see what vibes I get - do any current or recent students know how weird it would be if a random high school senior who didn't know anyone went to pubnight? I'm pretty outgoing... although possibly not in a dancing on tables kind of way. And are there any other places on campus people really love? I know about the amphitheater, but I mean more places that people really enjoy hanging out? Where I can kind of see swatties in (non academic) action? thanks</p>
<p>OK, here are a few more:</p>
<p>HIST 001T 01 Bensch,S TH 01:15pm-04:00pm FYS: Cross & Crescent-Muslim/Christian Relations</p>
<p>Another first-year seminar in the history department.</p>
<p>LING 011 01 Romaine,B MWF 10:30am-11:20am,MW 11:30am-12:20pm Arabic for Text Study-1st Year </p>
<p>On pub night: You might join the Swarthmore Live Journal group and post a question there. You might well find someone who will show you around.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I think that you will find someone at the door (it costs $ 4 or something). Just introduce yourself and they'll probably hook you up with a group. Swatties tend to be pretty friendly to "specs".</p>
<p>It is a great idea to go to sharples for lunch... try to sit with swatties and talk to them, maybe mention that you are thinking of going to Pub Night but are concerned about not knowing anyone, and if they are going they will probably invite you. During the day, good people watching/ listening places are Kohlberg coffee bar and McCabe ground floor. Later on, the lounges in some of the dorms with more freshman might be a good place to see people watching movies/ hanging out, and gathering for later escapades... try willets and mertz lounges. It also might not be a bad idea to read the daily gazette and see if there are any group or club meetings that look intesting... environmental groups, salsa dancing, christian fellowship, deshi, whatever floats your boat - it might be boring, but then there might be free food, and like minded people. Some favorite places of mine include: The central stair case in Trotter, the lobby in Lang (and the piano practice rooms! there are a million of them and they're fantastic!), the language lab in kohlberg (nerdy, but a nice way of figuring out what the resources are for students studying modern languages)... have fun!</p>
<p>Hey Xanadu--</p>
<p>I'm actually interested in the same things you are (English & comp. lit, except maybe with a continental philosopy focus) and am also going to be visiting Swat in a little while, so I thought I'd join in on the discussion, haha.</p>
<p>I'm going to do a tour/info session/interview (hopefully), and I'd <em>like</em> to check out a class. What's the protocol for sitting in? Do I need to arrange it through the admissions office?</p>
<p>Also about the talking to random Swatties thing...how exactly does that work? I'm from a major city where it's downright odd to strike up conversation with people you don't know, and I'm on the shy side to boot...how would one go about asking students questions about life at Swarthmore? Any advice that you could give about this would be v. v. v. welcome :)</p>
<p>Other people have mentioned that you need permission from a Professor to sit in on a class, and recommended emailing the Professor and asking - when I went and visited another small college I just waited outside the classroom and asked the professor as she was walking in the door - I guess he may have been less comfortable saying no to my face, but thats a good thing. Re talking to strangers - I am pretty outgoing, so it doesn't seem like it will be much of a problem. I think people might be more likely to talk to you if you are in a dorm, than if you are just wandering around, or in a dining hall - I don't know why I think that though. Maybe see if there is someone from your highschool who has gone to swat in the past few years, and get their email address and get in touch with them - even if they have no idea who you are they'd probably be happy to talk to you, show you around. And just in general, go to some place where people are shooting the **** and don't seem to busy, walk up to someone, and say 'hi, my name is hey la, I'm a spec, how is the english department here/ where is the bathroom/ i'm board what should I do???'</p>
<p>"I just waited outside the classroom and asked the professor as she was walking in the door"</p>
<p>That's fine too. The only reason they might say "no" is if they have a test that day. The problem is that if that happens, you've missed your chance to sit on a different class during that hour...</p>
<p>Some professors might say no if you don't schedule it. The reason is, they want to have class discussions and having a large class does not facilitate discusssion. If too many visitors wanted to visit a class, it would cause problems with the normal flow of the class. For example, a Richard Eldridge does not like unscheduled visits....and even when they are scheduled, he is a bit...shall we say intimidating?</p>
<p>Plenty of people do arrange class visits through admissions, but I think it's more efficient to simply e-mail the professor directly. You can certainly just drop by unannounced. But, it's more courteous to give the prof a heads up, asking if it's OK to drop by the class.</p>
<p>It's a short e-mail. Just a sentence by way of introduction: "I'm excited about visiting Swarthmore. I studied intro Serbo-Croatian in high school and would love to sit in on your Serbo-Croatian lit class on Wed. at 2:30. Would this be an appropriate class?"</p>
<p>My daughter got two kinds of answers. One was, "Sure, that would be a great class for you to observe. Here's the novel we're reading for that class so you can get up to speed and enjoy the class more...." </p>
<p>The other was, "No, that class wouldn't be a good one for you. It's a senior honors seminar with four students, we're in the middle of deciphering a recent journal article by an obscure Ukrainian scientist, and you would be hopelessly lost. Instead, can you fit this class I'm teaching earlier in the day into your schedule? It would be much better for you. If not, let's arrange a time for to drop by my office and I'll introduce you to one of our majors who can show you the labs."</p>
<p>If you have introduced yourself to your regional admissions officer, it's easy enough to copy him or her on your e-mail's to the professors. I think it's courteous to keep them advised since "specs" are their full time responsibility. They'll probably appreciate that you had the initiative to set up your own class visits rather than making them babysit you. However, as a practical matter, junior "specs" should probably pester adcoms as little as possible while they are in the middle of reading this year's applications. Right now is a very stressful time for admission people.</p>
<p>I visited Swarthmore last winter and the one thing that I recommend you do is save some time to just walk around campus. If you know someone there, have them take you around - like a tour, but more personal I guess. Talk to the people - it's a great atmosphere. I loved it!</p>