What makes Swarthmore so popular?

interesteddad
Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:44:40 +0000

I have a lot of respect for Reed, but Reed and Swarthmore really aren’t in the same category. Swarthmore’s per student endowment is more than three times larger than Reed’s. I don’t even think they attract the same kind of student.

daydreamer:

I think you may be missing a large part of Swarthmore’s student body: very smart kids who found high school pretty easy, who like to do things like read Jane Austen for fun, and who are looking for college to be challenging. I don’t think you have to be unusually “intellectual” or “geeky” to go to Swarthmore. In fact, many of the Swatties I know are just regular kids.

To answer your question:

a) Swarthmore has a huge per student endowment and offers an obviously high-end undergrad experience. It doesn’t take long on the gorgeous campus to see that.

b) Swarthmore is one of the very few highly-ranked liberal arts colleges located in a major urban area. The location and the train service directly to campus are real pluses. For example, even from Boston, the location was great with very easy/cheap air connections, plus a manageable seven hour drive. From New York City, it’s a piece of cake.

c) It’s located within two hours of a very large population base: Washington to New York City.

d) The academics, the diversity, and the social responsibility give Swarthmore a distinctiveness and an identity.