Visit Report by bclintonk (Member since May 13 2008 with 753 posts) Visit Date - July 2008
Visit to Swarthmore College in July 2008 by bclintonk (Parent of Student, HS Class of 2010)
Visit Activities:
Information Session:
Yes - Terrific info session. D said the admissions officer who did it was "the coolest guy ever," deeply cerebral like the school but not at all arrogant about it. Campus Tour:
Yes - Swat has a reputation for attracting nerds. Our tour guide fit the stereotype. D just didn't identify with her, which influenced her view of the school. Oh, well.
Swarthmore College Campus:
Friendliness/Courtesy of Students: 4 - Very Good -
Very friendly, but the students we met weren't particularly warm people & didn't convey the same sense of community we felt at Haverford & Bryn Mawr.
Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff: 5 - Excellent Appearance of Campus: 5 - Excellent -
A handsome campus set on rolling green hills, lots of acreage. Quite beautiful but D prefers a more compact campus with a clear focal point. Swat's more "sprawl in a garden."
Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness: 5 - Excellent -
Clearly the college invests a lot in facilities. All appeared first-rate.
Dormitories: 4 - Very Good -
Very good but nothing special.
Security/Safety: 5 - Excellent -
Like Haverford and Bryn Mawr, this is a secure campus set in an affluent suburb. No security worries here.
Overall Campus Impression: 5 - Excellent -
D liked Bryn Mawr & Haverford better, but it's a matter of personal taste. All three are excellent schools, beatiful campuses, excellent facilities.
Off-Campus:
Area Immediately Around Campus: 3 - Good -
Quiet, safe, suburban boring.
City/Town/Community: 4 - Very Good -
It gets a "very good" for proximity/ease of access to urban amenities in Philly, 20 minutes by train.
Campus Visit Notes for Swarthmore College:
Visit Description:
D fell in love with Haverford and Bryn Mawr, not so much with Swarthmore. I loved it. All three are strong on academics but Swat seems clearly the most intellectual of the three; I wish I'd applied. Extraordinary intellectual resources, and a place where a true intellectual can thrive. But it felt to D more like a collection of extraordinary individuals, less of a community than the others. That may be partly the luck of the draw on the tour guide. Ours was good, knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful, but not especially a warm person, singularly focused on academics, not so much on the sense of community that so appealed to D at the other two tri-co colleges. Swat is also not nearly as connected to Haverford and Bryn Mawr as those two are to each other; our sense was that while Bryn Mawr & Haverford students routinely cross-register on each other's campuses and students from both take the occasional class at Swarthmore, Swatties are much less likely to venture out to Haverford or Bryn Mawr---though they do occasionally take classes at Penn. But most of what they'll ever need is right on campus. A plus in our book: all social groups and events are open to all students on an equal basis, a reflection of Swarthmore's Quaker egalitarian heritage. Socially exclusionary groups and cliques are just not part of the culture.
Food is reportedly better at Bryn Mawr than at Swarthmore or Haverford.
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:
We stayed in King of Prussia, about 30 minutes away and quite convenient to Bryn Mawr and Haverford, less so to Swarthmore.
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):
If you're looking at Swarthmore be sure to check out Penn, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr as well.
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Very friendly, but the students we met weren't particularly warm people & didn't convey the same sense of community we felt at Haverford & Bryn Mawr.
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Quiet, safe, suburban boring.