<p>not all swat freshman seminars are ‘writing courses’, they’re just small discussion based classes meant to get freshmen out of their shells and interacting with faculty. I took a really excellent one in physics (that’s unfortunately been taken out because it was ‘too intense’). writing courses at swat aren’t necessarily the ones with the most writing either, they’re just the ones where you are forced to use the writing associates. while I agree with interesteddad that the swat writing program is a great thing, I honestly never used it unless I had to. </p>
<p>re intensity at swarthmore: yes… I think I spent more time studying there than any friend oh mine that went to any other school. there is a ton of self-imposed stress there and misery poker, but students are really collaborative and non-competitive, and the school does a good job of down-playing the importance of grades. this environment is not for everyone, I had some friends that needed to take semesters off to recuperate/regain sanity, and I think more swatties take years off between undergrad and grad school for that same purpose than people that go to other schools. but on the other hand, I think swarthmore’s intensity prepared me for graduate school much better than any other place could have.</p>