<p>I’ll leave UChicago to others. I can tell you a little bit I’ve seen from three years of a daughter at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>a) I don’t believe there is a college on earth where there is more respect and camaraderie between the students and the faculty. Students are comfortable not only interacting with professors, but joking with them – simultaneously recognizing the “serious” academics and the shared realization not to take the academic jargon too seriously. I wish I could share specific examples, but the place is too small and my daughter would kill me. You see it in the way the professors talk about their students and their teaching at Swarthmore. You see it in the way students question candidates for teaching positions and deans. The way professors share honest, no BS advice – on research, on writing grants, on working the system. On how even a sophmore can line up three recommendation for a summer program from professors who actually know them.</p>
<p>b) I am struck by the sophistication of the ideas in the classroom at Swarthmore. It is definitely not a memorize and regurgitate facts kind of place. My daughter has occasionally shared essay or exam prompts with me. As a 50 year old adult, I find the questions fascinatingly open-ended and thought provoking. There is no way to graduate from Swarthmore without getting being challenged to think.</p>
<p>c) I am struck by the amount of one-on-one learning. The number of papers that involve a professor conference on the initial outline, followed by a professor conference on the rough draft, before turning in a final paper. It is hideously expensive to teach this way, but there is no better way in the world to learn to write.</p>
<p>d) I am amazed by the degree of peer learning. The number of physics study groups. The number of students who get their papers peer reviewed by the Writing Associates. The number of student presentations in the classroom. The way students recommend courses to each other, take courses together, and actually talk about their courses. I had my daughter and her roommate doing a comedy routine about one of their classes in the back seat of the car coming home from airport.</p>
<p>e) I have been struck by how effectively older Swat students share advice with freshmen, just hanging around the dorm – and how, in turn those students share with “their freshmen” when they are sophmores and juniors.</p>
<p>f) I am stunned by the emphasis throughout the entire college on global issues, diversity, understanding different cultures, etc. I can’t think of a better preparation for life in the 21st century.</p>
<p>g) I cannot believe how beautiful the place is.</p>