<p>Hey guys, I know that if i come to swarthmore, i will most likely never see an A again for the rest of my life. but i have graduate school plans. How can going or Swarthmore affect graduate school admission?</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of graduate school you want to go to. I can only attest to math graduate school.</p>
<p>Lots of Swat students still see A’s. In some majors, there are more A’s than others. There are definitely more A’s as you progress through the four years. That leads most Swatties to have road-worthy gpa’s by the end. Swat is well known among the top grad schools and grad schools know that gpas from Swat tend to be slightly lower than from other schools. The key to getting into grad school is never the gpa. Given that most students applying nationally have a 3.5-4.0 gpa, grad schools don’t know what the gpa actually means because what it takes to get a high gpa varies so much from school to school; hence, grad committees largely discount the gpa. The key to getting into grad school may be a GRE score (which puts a gpa in a larger perspective). But most important are letters of recommendation and samples of student work. Here, Swat students cannot be beat. That is why Swatties get into top grad schools with full rides. Letters from professors that indicate what the applicants have done show that most Swatties are already doing graduate level work. Swat professors also know students extremely well and write letters that attest to abilities, character, etc. in ways that make Swatties stand out and rise to the top. Per the professional schools, the LSAT and the MCAT tests also put a Swat gpa in perspective. The portfolio sent to the med schools by the med school adviser includes a statement on the Swat gpa. In sum, the first year is a little scary. My daughter still remembers coming home for Christmas her first year and all her high school friends were bragging about their 4.0s at various universities. My daughter’s “shadow grades” had not one A among them. But A’s gradually return and the late Junior and Senior years are major gpa boosting years. Daughter and daughter’s friends are very happy about where they are landing post-Swat in terms of graduate or professional school, internships, etc.</p>
<p>murmillo, i’d be interested in hearing what you know about going on to math grad school from swat. how tough is math grading at swat? what kind of performance is generally expected from grad schools?</p>
<p>libartsmom, I could not agree more! A year ago my D '12 was spending her winter break beginning the long slog of putting pen to paper for her Senior Honors thesis in History and spring term was murder, with classes, honors exams and her thesis. Throughout Spring semester, she saw no light at the end of the tunnel, only work and more reading, reading, reading. This year, she is working and is applying to grad schools. The positive responses she is getting from professors at the various schools she is considering has competely overwhelmed her (and us!). They know Swat’s rigor and they know and respect the faculty. She has had more than one interview where the faculty have been enormously impressed at how well-read she is - she has also heard this from various Swat friends who’ve just started at prestigious grad schools (HPY). The grad school application, at least in History, requests a writing sample, and that sets Swat alumni apart, as much of the thesis and other class work is grad school calibur and is published or publishable. If you really want to go to grad school, at least in some disciplines, Swat offers a tremendous boost and great preparation.</p>
<p>I agree about the grades with the parents above. My son is a 2008 Swat grad and went to grad school for a Masters. His Swat background helped him a lot with grad school application. My son’s grades got better as he progressed through the 4 years at Swarthmore. Swat is hard and you have to work for it. More than 5-6 hours a day doing work for the next day. But it is definitely worth it. </p>
<p>Swat has even opened doors for my son at work. Just last night, he was talking about 2 new job offers - and in both cases, his Swat undergrad background helped him (his Masters helped too but he says his future boss is from Penn and she was impressed with Swarthmore). So…an embarrassment of riches and I am happy for him but mostly grateful to Swarthmore.</p>