<p>I have some familiarity with Swarthmore. We considered Swarthmore as an option for our first kid, because of it’s small size and proximity. It is close to where we live - let’s say the same way Russia is to Sarah Palin :D</p>
<p>The things that are attractive about Swarthmore for a pre-med:</p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>] Nice grade inflation (median graduating GPA of a cool 3.58!)
[</em>] They claim that a 3.4 from Swarthmore is good enough to get you in somewhere. Couple that with the grade inflation (as mentioned above), you are good to go 
[<em>] Excellent teaching
[</em>] Lots of research opportunities through generous school grants and collaboration with other area schools
[<em>] Proximity to Philly, with a lot of volunteering opportunities
[</em>] Beautiful campus (Sorry, had to throw it in there even though it has nothing to do with pre-med )
[/ul]</p>
<p>Other things (not necessarily negatives) to keep in mind:</p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>] They only seem to send ~20 kids to med school each year. I would have thought, considering the things mentioned above, there would be more matriculating from there.
[</em>] The class size is small: ~500. It’s the same as that of my kid’s high school
[/ul]</p>