Swarthmore vs. Duke

mum2boys
Tue, 11 Apr 2006 16:47:46 +0000

accenthighlighter - so much depends on your interests and where you see yourself for the next four years. DS1 was top 1% of his class in a large public school, played varsity soccer for four years, but never felt connected to his HS. He wanted a school where he was surrounded by other bright students, a school where there was a real school spirit, and something larger than where he attended HS. Although he visited both schools, he fell in love with Duke, applied ED and is currently a jr. there. He liked Swat, but he found the atmosphere more intense than he liked, the school too small. On the other hand, DS2, #2 in his private school, a writer and theater kid, visited Swat and loved everything about it. Good size, loved the vibrancy of the intellectual atmosphere, etc. He wouldn’t even look at Duke. My sons are completely different in their interests and their choices in schools are completely different as well. While I don’t doubt that you could love both schools, you really need to look at yourself and the schools and ask which fits you the best - will you feel overwhelmed by the size of Duke or stifled by the size of Swat? Do you like the idea of a school that rallies around it’s basketball team and becomes “Cameron Crazies” or does that sound over-the-top to you? Both schools will certainly provide you with excellent educations and there is no doubt that you will be surrounded by brilliant students at both. But the atmosphere at the two schools is on opposite ends of the spectrum.