Swarthmore College - Academics

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After a semester or two at Swarthmore, it becomes quite evident even to the most phenomenal prodigies that Swarthmore is among the most academically-elite colleges in the country. It is not at all uncommon to see a student slumped over a textbook in the library at 1 in the morning, or a student slurring their words in a seminar due to a lack of sleep. It is amazing to some that many Swarthmore students are published in prestigious academic journals before their junior year! It is certainly no understatement that the experience of jumping into an academic pool like Swarthmore’s can be overwhelming. The school is swarming with passionate, freakishly-intelligent students who love to show off their brains.

That being said, the academic competition here is hardly “cutthroat.” It might be because of the pass/fail first semester or the general apathy toward the overall grading system, but as the admissions brochures say, “it’s not about competing to learn what has already been learned, it’s about creating new knowledge.” Creating new knowledge can be especially painful in Swarthmore’s classroom experience. At a larger state school, it might be possible to successfully hide behind your notebook in a 300-person lecture room. Here, it’s about looking your professor directly in the face as he or she sits at the other end of your table with five other students and explain what you learned from last night’s readings. Be prepared to learn in a different way in each class, see the world through new eyes, and, yes . . . feel free to create new knowledge. Rarely does grade inflation occur, and often you’ll see students bearing T-shirts that read: “Anywhere else, it would’ve been an A.”

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Students Speak Out

bking2 says: Swarthmore College 2017 Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Swarthmore is difficult... Swarthmore is difficult academically, but as long as you have faith that you'll find something you really like to study, you'll realize that the work isn't so tough. Swarthmore really makes people work together, so as a biology major, I had a great time studying, making presentations, and doing research with friends. It's all a balance—many Swarthmore students don't understand that. As long as you're mature about time management, it's not hard. 12345 Academics: May 24, 2009 Report

WEEMARK says:

Overwhelmingly, my experience here... Overwhelmingly, my experience here with the student body at Swarthmore has shown me that too many students find the need to champion their beliefs to the extent that they berate those who do not share their view, sometimes even those who do share their view but not their passion or fire. While this kind of drive may push such a person to achieve extraordinary feats that will benefit many, there are ways to do so without forcing one's views on others. These students believe so strongly in their self-righteousness as they continue to push their views, that they criticize those that might not be aware of their cause as ignorant. Many students also carry an extremely elitist attitude, trouncing all who may have a slightly deviant opinion, while hypocritically attempting to present their “socially-aware” attitudes as the new norm. It is difficult for me to speak many times, out of fear of being verbally abused and having my intellect insulted for a trivial oversight in a statement. For example, if I make a simple generalization during a short conversation that is overwhelmingly true for 95 percent of the population, there will be someone who will call me out on it and tell me, essentially, that I am a bad person for having excluded the 5 percent from my statement. 12345 Academics: February 23, 2009 Report

Anonymous says:

Most of my professors have been... Most of my professors have been incredible. They expect a lot out of you, but are accessible and willing to answer any questions. Also, though they’re all very intelligent, they won’t talk down to their students. 12345 Academics Report

Anonymous says:

As is the case in all prestigious... As is the case in all prestigious institutions, the faculty is representative of a mixture of professors you love, those you feel indifferently towards, and those you dislike (at times intensely). Thankfully, at Swarthmore, there are very few of the latter. Over the course of five semesters, I have had maybe six or seven professors with whom I really connected with, and about two or three with whom I really didn’t see eye-to-eye. There have been only two professors whom I did not like. 12345 Academics Report

Anonymous says:

Professors at Swarthmore are... Professors at Swarthmore are laid-back (at least the ones that don’t insist on you calling them Dr.), but they know their stuff and expect you to do the readings so that one day you will know your stuff, too. 12345 Academics Report

Facts

Did You Know?

Swarthmore students can cross-register for classes and use the library facilities at Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and the University of Pennsylvania.

At Swarthmore, no classes are taught by teaching assistants (TAs). Also, 74 percent of Swarthmore classes have enrollments of fewer than 20 students.

Thirty-five percent of Swarthmore students participate in a unique honors program. Based on Oxford University’s honor system, the program requires students to participate in very small seminar-style classes sometimes consisting of no more than two or three students per course. At the end of their senior year, students in the honors program participate in External Examinations. Culminating the student’s studies at Swarthmore, the External Examinations committee brings in experts in the student’s field of study who orally examine the student on their subject.

To ease the jump into a pit of academic fury, students take classes on a pass/fail basis during the first semester at Swarthmore. Students receive their first official letter grades in the second semester of their freshman year. Also, after the first semester, students are permitted to take up to four classes on a pass/fail basis during the rest of their time at Swarthmore.

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