<p>I am trying to get some objective sense of what makes the workload so rigorous at Swarthmore. A similar question was posted on the U Chicago forum, and some answers were very helpful. We want a campus where students are passionate about learning and engaged in the issues of the day, but would love to get an idea of what makes the academic experience more rigorous than other LACs, if that's possible....</p>
<p>Swatties definitely care about learning… i guess maybe students here are just harder workers than at most other liberal arts colleges and can stand the gaff.</p>
<p>Not sure about Swarthmore but if you are looking for intense workload consider Davidson and Hopkins-- full of intellectuals.</p>
<p>No, I’m not actually looking for intense workload per se, but to understand how rigorous it is at Swarthmore. My D has had some organizational issues that have affected his transcript, which make the top schools a reach, but he is a passionate learner and belongs in a place where the level of discourse is top notch. Because of his test scores, certain academic pursuits and anticipated recommendations, we are thinking about giving Swarthmore a try. I know he can handle the intellectual intensity but the workload itself might be another matter, if this makes sense. He loves to read and study, so it’s not motivation, but organization, pacing and prioritizing that have been issues, but he’s been learning methods to become less of an absent-minded professor and more achievement-oriented…</p>
<p>When I read the description of student organizations at Swarthmore, it just makes the place seem like such a great fit.</p>
<p>SDonCC,
My S is a Swarthmore grad '07. I have asked him this question previously for other posters, and he explained that compared with students he knows who attended other top-notch universities and colleges, there is just more prep time needed outside of the classroom per classroom hour. For example, at university “X” you might need to spend 2 hours on “homework” for every hour you spend in the classroom, but at Swarthmore, you might need to spend four hours for every classroom hour. Tons and tons of reading and paper writing. But, students seem to figure out that they can’t possibly get to all of the reading, so they learn to figure out what is most important, and what they can skim. My S was looking for the most intellectually challenging environment he could find, and Swarthmore provided him with that “fit.”</p>
<p>The workload at Swat is very high and starts very shortly after the semester begins. The kids frequently complain about the amount of work. Some kids think that “getting in” is what it is all about, they fail to understand that “getting in” is only just the start. The kind of pressure that most kids experienced in high school and the admit process is really only the beginning. It builds and continues at SWat.</p>
<p>One anecdote - as an entering freshman my son received an e-mail from one of his professors with an assignment due the first day of class.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is organized around taking four courses a semester instead of five.</p>
<p>One suggestion would be to read about the writing requirements in the course catalog. A student is required to take certain courses with a writing component, even for technical majors.</p>
<p>My impression is that the amount of writing at Swarthmore is not notably higher than other comparable schools. </p>
<p>The Writing Courses are a primary component of the Writing across the Curriculum effort at Swarthmore. The primary distinction is that writing assignments in a Writing Course are supposed to be submitted for a review/comment/revise cycle before turning in a final version.</p>
<p>Some 25 courses a year have Writing Associates assigned to them with manadatory WA review of papers. This is a national model program both in terms of how many courses are supported by the WA program, but the level of training student WAs receive and the way the WA program ties writing instruction together – for example in the published research the faculty director of the Writing Program and a Bio professor did regarding the use of WAs in the Intro Bio course for writing lab reports. This is a very strong and distinctive program at Swarthmore. There are students, including some of the best students, who get the majority of their papers over four years WAd before turning them in and become much better writers as a result.</p>
<p>I am another parent of a Swat alum (class of '08). Again, this is just my son’s viewpoint (and not my own, since I was never a Swattie): there were times when he was stressed out about the work. He did have to work a lot more (as momof3sons noted) for each hour of coursework and lots of writing assignments. Plus seminar courses that required a lot of upfront preparation before the class. But he always had 4 courses per semester and he managed. He also had many extracurricular activities as well - whatever interested him at the time. He wrote for Phoenix one year, had a radio show for 3 years, was part of some groups with lots of activities, also worked 2 years. The academic workload is not unmanageable, but it is heavier than at other places. And you have to be prepared for that. As someone noted here, getting in is not the end, it is just the beginning at Swat. If you aren’t prepared for that, you should not apply to Swat. He was also quite discouraged in sophomore year with some of his grades. He recovered his overall gpa next year. I remember those sophomore blues.</p>
<p>My son is now a part-time grad student and planning to go back full time for a Phd next fall. He finds that Swat prepared him for grad school pretty well. Time management is not something he finds challenging now even with working more than 40 hours and many hours of schoolwork.</p>
<p>i just calculated this tonight, so i thought i’d throw this crude data into the ring: as a junior Philosophy major and Art History/Anthropology (it’s complicated, don’t ask) minor, i’m writing 55-65 pages this semester, plus have six tests (two midterms, three “regular” tests, one final), a presentation, and weekly problem sets. i don’t know how this compares to other highly selective colleges, but it FEELS incredibly intense and exhausting (though so worthwhile), and is a world of difference compared to the school i transferred from last year (penn state, where i went full-time while i worked as a waitress {incredibly physically and emotionally taxing job!} 35 hours/week). i have very little “free time” (i work about 7 hrs/week at swat on campus) and spent most of this past week, fall “break”, doing homework.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. We will definitely arrange a visit and an interview and he will likely apply. Would not bet any money on his chances for getting in… but this does just look like too interesting a place not to at least give it a shot. He definitely does not view the acceptance process as the end point, but only the beginning. This is not a kid who is applying anywhere because of prestige. FWIW, the last school he visited, he went to four classes all in one day – not only to get a feel for the school, but because he loves sitting in on college classes!</p>
<p>swattransfer! My freshman daughter spent Fall “break” reading, writing, and sleeping! LOL
In fact, I took a picture of her crashed in the bed with a tv remote, a bag of Halloween Oreos and a book next to her and sent it to family with the caption, “What Swatties do on their break”. However, she LOVES it! Manages to fit in soccer, swing/ballroom dance club, rehearsals for THREE plays (yes, three!), a campus job and wrote (with a friend) a charter for a new club which just got approved.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is intense in every way. She loves the academics, the opportunities, the experiences, and most of all, the other students and staff!</p>
<p>remember swat is pass/fail first semester…unless I stand corrected…it is a caring community where they want to help students gear up for expectations when they all arrive with vastly different HS experiences re work required. everyone arrives talented…all are invited to the full access to professors to further their techniques and skills in writing and in labs, class size can alleviate the burdens because your teacher is someone who you will know well as you up the quality of your work to what they are asking for…</p>
<p>As another parent of a freshman Swattie, I will tell you the work load is nothing like they have even imagined. I went almost three weeks without hearing from my son and finally got a text telling me how incredibly busy he was. He says he spends maybe five minutes free time in his room. Having said that, I will tell you he loves it there. He plays a varsity sport, has already met a wonderful girl and just loves his classes. He tells me he is exhausted, incredibly busy, always has something due, but that he says he made the right decision by going there. Swarthmore is not for everyone, but for the right one, it is perfect!</p>
<p>i’ve been saying it all along, this place is a *****. i’ld be the valedictorian if i attended haverford.</p>