Swarthmore vs Wellesley vs Barnard (Best Fit)

juillet
Sun, 06 Apr 2014 17:43:36 +0000

People’s perceptions about Swarthmore are so interesting to me. I think you can learn about systemic oppression, and even have an active activist lifestyle in college, and realize when to turn it off for job interviews. I went to a very activist, social-justice leaning college as well and I turn it on when appropriate.

All three of these schools have the potential to be PhD powerhouses. You’re not any more likely to get into a good PhD program from Swarthmore than you are from Wellesley or Barnard.

One of the things that women’s colleges will teach you is that women are very diverse. You don’t have to be a “very feminine woman” (whatever that means) to go to, and enjoy, a women’s college. There are all kinds of women at women’s colleges - from androgynously or even masculine-presenting women to women who wear Lilly Pulitzer and wouldn’t look out of place in a Southern sorority house; from lesbians to bisexuals to straight women (and all other kinds of sexual orientations and identities); from those interested in nuclear physics to those interested in classical Latin (and lots interested in both!). Clothing is unimportant. I went to a women’s college and spent some days dressed up in cute skirts and other days skulking around in a college sweatshirt and sweat pants. I currently work at Barnard and lots of girls tool around here in yoga pants and boots on days they’re just not feeling it. What’s really important is what’s between your ears, at both Wellesley and Barnard. I think if you think you’ll fit in at Swarthmore then you will probably also fit in at Wellesley.

If Barnard is going to be a strain on your family, then I would suggest selecting Wellesley or Swarthmore. They’re both excellent schools. (I wouldn’t say there’s an “average Barnard woman”. They’re all different. Your daily life is going to change depending on what your major is and what you choose to do. Averages are kind of unimportant; what’s important is how you feel, which is why visiting is a good idea. Barnard does have the advantage of the affiliation with Columbia.)