<p>the Swarthmore math department is very good (I’m a math major!). </p>
<p>biology was the most popular major like 3 years ago. you shouldn’t be put off by the idea that LACs are inherently weak in the natural sciences - whatever those departments lack in size, they make up in the quality of teaching, in my opinion (I’m also a potential chemistry double major and a pre-med student, just for context).</p>
<p>what does it mean for any department of any school to be strong? the teachers here are certainly very accessible - if you walk around the science center at 11 PM on a weeknight, it’s not uncommon to see a couple of professors still in their offices. the natural science departments get a lot of funding - in particular, the physics/chemistry/biology departments offer a lot of summer research opportunities. and, of course, the professors are (mostly!) very good teachers. try visiting the campus and sitting in on one or two classes - I sat in on a differential equations class and while 95% of the material was way over my head, it was still cool to see the class.</p>