Swarthmore College

Date: Aug 14 2005
Major: Philosophy (This Major's Salary over time)
Similar to most people's experience at college, my experience at Swarthmore has been very rosy at times and quite bleak at others… but overall I've been very happy. Aside from the lush trees and excessively well-kept shrubbery, I think Swarthmore's main selling point is its intellectualism. Everybody cares about their classes, and they care a lot. Swat isn't just a necessary stepping stone toward a future career, with a great deal of sucking up and acting interested (as I've observed at several other classy universities). It is the fucking stone. People care. Of course, not every dinner conversation revolves around Foucault or the structure of sub-atomic particles… but nobody'll blink when they come up. The school also hosts lots of great lectures and movies and such, which further expand the whole intellectual schtick.

Also (although I'm reluctant to say this one 'cause I think it's part of their marketing pitch), Swat does really provide an "ethical" education. You might not notice it, at first, but it seeps in eventually—from profs, other students, and the continual dialogues in your interactions with both. Surrounded by activists of one sort or another, perpetually pushed to decide on and investigate the most important problems, and always within ear-shot of debates trying to solve things once and for all, you can't help but become more ethically engaged—whether you ultimately buy into the dominant leftist attitudes or not.

Competition is also basically non-existent… unless of course you count competition of how much work you have to do. There is, unfortunately, a bit of a culture of complaint—which probably stems from the notion that Swarthmore is far more difficult than most colleges. But I don't really think that's true; at least in my experience, Swat gives about the same amount of work as other prestigious colleges (grades, on the other hand, do seem to be a little less inflated… but that's okay, since it's part of the reputation). Still, not everyone complains about their work, and, as long as you resist this mindset, you should be good.