| Swarthmore has higher student quality, in the academic sense, I will certainly give you that. That would explain why their alumni attain more PhDs. Does that mean that their department(s) prepare the students better? Does it mean that their teachers are better, etc? Not necessarily. If I was a student looking to get a PhD, I might take a look at the school's PhD production, but I would take a much closer look at the actual department, the teachers, the labs.
Also I doubt that Swarthmore having more capable students would make it a big plus for someone studying there. It might be nice to be around other motivated students, but it doesn't play a major role in your education, perhaps a minor one. |