DARTMOUTH/Duke/Swarthmore/Midd

FountainSiren
Sat, 02 Apr 2005 18:52:37 +0000

Silver_O,

Perhaps I was too brief in my previous post to be edifying. Like you, my heritage is middle-eastern, my mother’s Iranian and my father’s American. I was concerned about the type of student-body I would fit into considering my broad cultural upbringing. All 4 of these schools will probably be welcoming and accepting to just about anyone; however, Swarthmore in particular does seem to attract a particular type of student. Many of the previous posts have already dealt with this. Swarthmore is, it seems, rather uniform in its cultural and political outlook, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you fit into there particular outlook you will probably be fine, if not you may find Swarthmore to be surreal.
I would prefer not to use terms like “nerd” I would rather say that Swarthmore students appeared to me to be somewhat bookish and insular—this can be a very good thing if it suits you. Dartmouth, like Swarthmore, has a reputation for being intimate, but not for being insular.

To me, Dartmouth represents the alchemical blending of a university and a liberal arts college; if you like either one you will like Dartmouth, if you like a little of both you will love Dartmouth.
You mentioned “prestige” in your post, and although I would rather that were not a criteria for anyone in picking a college, if it is for you, Dartmouth will be the obvious choice.

Good luck.