<p>BlacknBlue,
My son is a junior at Swarthmore and I must tell you that after reading the post from the “UPENN student perspective” my first thought was, “Did he get off at the wrong SEPTA (train) stop? Was he really at Swat?” His characterization of Swat as highly competitive with much discussion of grades, bears absolutely no resemblance to the Swarthmore my son has attended for over two years. It is just the opposite as UPENN described with a shared collegiality between students. Grade inflation? He meant grade deflation. That part was accurate. Swat is notorious for that. Are the courses demanding? Absolutely. But it really sounds like you got a better feel for the place doing your walk-through than “UPENN” did taking whatever course he took there.</p>