Swarthmore College

Date: Mar 16 2005
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
I came to Swarthmore thinking it would be very different…actually, I can't really say anything bad about the academics here…well, actually I can (but this probably applies almost anywhere…or maybe not)…you will be surprised how many of the profs are actually not that great…I'd say that only about half of my profs have been engaging, although all of them were probably competent in their field. Still, many are simply elitist jerks who are on tenure and get paid WAY too much for coming to class two or three times a week to "teach." Swarthmore attracts a very specific type of student…if you fit the mold, you'll love it here. Most people here love to work, are future "scholars," were not very popular in high school (nothing wrong with that but it still applies to almost everyone here), and are either really friendly or really arrogant. The fact that the school is less than 1500 students is one of the big problems I have with this place…I know you're thinking "why go to a liberal arts school then?"…yeah, I wish i had known what I really wanted out of college before I decided to come here…you have to get used to seeing the same people all the time…that's great if you love the people here…if not, you'll prob get sick of it really soon. The social life is rather boring…people hang out in dorm rooms and smoke pot or get drunk at one of the parties that's held every weekend…every party is either at one of two places on campus and they usually play pretty awful music (occasionally they play GOOD hip-hop but more often than not it's a mixture of really terrible 80s crap and hip-hop that has an undanceable beat). The town of Swarthmore SUCKS big time…nothing at all to do here except get pizza and chinese food. The books will tell you that Philly's only 30 minutes away and it is…but hardly anyone ever goes in (no one ever goes in on a regular basis unless you take a class at Penn but that never happens either). The train fare is kind of expensive and once you're there, you have to know where you're going or you just waste a crapload of time, since the train only drops you off at a few points in the city. If suburbia isn't for you DO NOT come here. The academics here are pretty good although not outstanding…you have to get used to the idea of always being stressed out and worried about grades…if people say they don't worry about grades here they're lying (no joke)…everyone is always scared of not doing well and people make it known…the fact is, it's really hard to do well here unless you're a humanities major…the courseload for humanities majors is such a joke compared to that of natural sciences majors but it's still pretty heavy…if you're not completely committed to working diligently everyday (especially if you're a natural sciences person) and you love to be be stressed or stress doesn't bother you, you'll do fine here. People have fun here, but it's ALWAYS with the cloud of tons of work hanging over them…seriously, this goes for everybody. If you're into sports and school spirit, this is definitely the wrong place to come unless you're not the greatest athlete and you still want to play a varsity sport…in that case, you can prob get on a team here bc…well, sports are not exactly valued here…only a few people ever show up to games (maybe 10 Swarthmore students is normal for a basketball game…it's funny bc there are way more parents that show up). Actually, what it all comes down to is what you want from college…this place just isn't for me, but I know a lot of people who are perfectly content here. If you want a tiny, isolated school atmosphere with really hard academics and a pretty mellow social scene then this is the place for you. If not, definitely think about going somewhere else.