Swarthmore College

Fantastic

Swarthmore is awesome. You just can't be scared of trying new things, and maybe sometimes putting yourself in awkward situations. The people are all really friendly and really intelligent. We're not at all like the scary nerds you may have heard about. We really do work hard and play hard. The classes are all incredibly engaging, and there are tons of great opportunities to better your experience in whichever field you're interested in. We have a wide variety of people living here—be prepared to have your views challenged. And to have a lot of fun while you're here!

Play Hockey/Be an RA

MotherPuckers is awesome. Being an RA is awesome. Here are some of my personal pros and cons of Swarthmore:

Pros: A lot of activities that are free, they treat students like adults, an open-minded campus, lots of financial aid, beautiful campus, (mostly) smart kids, French toast at breakfast, seeing the same people over and over again.

Cons: Self-righteous people (people love complaining), hook-up culture, dining services is a rip off and sucks, a few terrible dorms, facilities are lackluster (no cable?), no bar life, seeing the same people over and over again.

Overall Experience

Swarthmore makes me feel accepted, entirely. Even though I'm not a member of the tennis, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, or swim teams, I can hang out with them and not feel awkward in the least! This may not seem like a big deal, but as an international student, to feel at home and accepted by everyone is important to me and Swarthmore does exactly that (and more). Also, students have SO MUCH freedom to do whatever they want. RAs are never on your neck for noise or alcohol or whatever it is that the RAs do at other schools (as I've heard about Columbia, Penn, Princeton). This gives students the freedom to do whatever they want alongside giving them some added sense of responsibility. Administration is there to protect you as well instead of bark down your neck for one reason or the other. Same with public safety. Also, Swarthmore's classes are all taught by professors and not TAs, so we get direct knowledge from the best of the best and get supplemented by TAs when we want (by going for the numerous TA sessions available for each class).

Also, the parties here are awesome, so there is a good balance between academics and fun. There's no need to talk about the rigor of a Swat education; everyone knows.