Hey everyone! So I was lucky enough to be admitted to Yale and Swarthmore, which I was over the moon about (it was also completely unexpected, just goes to show you the randomness of college decisions sometimes). I’m leaning very heavily Yale right now, but was wondering if there’s still anything I should consider before committing?
One benefit may be exchange programs with other colleges & universities. For example, Swarthmore has a student exchange agreement with Pomona College.
What’s your intended major/primary area of focus? There are plenty of people on here who’ve either gone to Yale or have had kids there who can give you some specific advice.
That said, it’s hard for me to imagine choosing Swarthmore over Yale on academic or quality of life grounds. And the pizza is still good in New Haven last I checked 
@SatchelSF Thanks for your response! I’m planning on going into polisci! I agree with you that, while Swarthmore’s a great school, I just can’t really imagine choosing it over Yale. Appreciate your insight
@luxetveritas22 - Sincere congrats on your success and choices. Yale is the most “human scale” of HYP at the undergrad level in my opinion, and will be hard to beat for polisci. Not sure if it is still a thing, but if you start fighting over the important questions like “Sally’s or Pepe’s” right away you should fit right in
If broad prestige is the issue, Yale. If you are looking for an intense intellectual environment with deep professorial relationships, and very small classes (honors program), look into Swarthmore more deeply (particularly if you have ambitions to become an academic).
Swarthmore is known as being very academically intense – like UChicago and Reed. You’ll have smaller classes there, especially in survey-level courses. Swat students also have access to classes at UPenn, Haverford and Bryn Mawr. (apparently it can be a bit of a chore to get to these classes, but it is done nonetheless)
Yale is great, of course, but Swat is elite in its own right and if you wanted an intense academic environment, you would be justified in choosing it. You are in the enviable position of choosing between top-three colleges of the U and LAC varieties.
OP, if you “just can’t really imagine choosing” Swat over Yale, why did you post this thread?
I personally prefer LACs over Ivies for undergraduate education. More access to profs. More personalized attention. Tighter community. I also prefer Philly to New Haven. But it depends on what atmosphere you think will really suit you.
@Corinthian I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t overlooking something, I know Swat is also a great school so I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t getting too prestige-minded. It was probably phrased poorly, but I would more say that I was posting this to see if there could be good reasons to choose Swat over Yale.
Well, your dentist has probably heard of Yale but maybe not Swarthmore. If it is prestige you are after, I would go with Yale but if you want a more intimate and focused college experience than I would select Swarthmore. When it comes to general quality of education, you obviously won’t go wrong either way.
Have you been to Yale and New Haven? If not, you should do so before you decide. Same for Swat. You are going to live there for 4 years. Your are obviously gifted, so you will succeed at either school, so your happiness and well-being to allow yourself to excel is an important component.
My first kid went to Yale, my second kid went to Swarthmore. While both have done very well career wise afterward, I think first kid would have had a better academic experience at Swarthmore (and she did have that option, as well as quite a few other great ones). Just an anecdote. But the connection with professors at Yale simply was not there. She’s not sorry she went to Yale in any way, but our observation of their experiences is what it is.
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Have you visited New Haven? If you don’t mind to spend four years there (not for everyone, in my opinion)…go to Yale. Every Yale student I know is happy there, but my daughter could not even imagine living in that place. Don’t decide to go before visiting.
My neighbor’s daughter just returned from New Haven and had the same reaction, striking Yale off her list (which sounds insane, by the way.)
@luxetveritas22 - As an academic who has taught at both excellent LACs and universities, I see Yale as one of a handful of colleges that have the extraordinary resources of a major university coupled with a well-established and widely acknowledged commitment to excellent undergraduate education. I think so highly of Swarthmore that I persuaded my son, a current Yale first year, to apply there. As an accomplished musician he was discouraged from attending by the orchestra conductor. The school’s faculty and student body was too small to provide the kind of academic, social and extracurricular opportunities he wanted, which is why he ultimately chose Yale, and is extremely happy there. Best of luck to you and congratulations on your college choices.
people tend to focus a lot on intangible things (at least to me) like campus etc. while it is important to feel comfortable college is there to provide you with a next step for your career. yale is great school and can make a difference in your career especially in politics - politics, finance, business are very competitive fields to get in and college is important
@worriestoomuch do you mind saying why you think so highly of Swarthmore? I was accepted there and would like help in narrowing down my options. Thank you
@ColdinMinny It is not insane at all. In my daughter’s HS class three more kids turned down Yale. Two are attending Stanford and the other USC. All for the same reason: location and accessibility.
Yale