Swarthmore, Haverford experiences?

[bibiche]

Do any of you have kids at either of these two schools? If so, any good, bad, or ugly to report? 

[catz]

I can't comment too much but a friend's kid recently graduated from Haverford and had a very positive experience.  And launched to a job on the east coast this year.  

[Frances]

My niece loved Haverford and went on to get a PhD from Princeton. Her parents have both worked in academia for a long time and it was her number one choice. She had the stats and ECs to apply to the Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc, but chose only to apply to LACs.

[madteaparty]

Well since your DS will get into his ED school, you really don’t need to worry about it 😉

FWIW, DS was accepted at Swarthmore and some of the kindest, just above and beyond nice people (profs included) were ones he met there. I’ve blocked most of the application process off but Swarthmore is a warm memory.

ETA that their acceptance package last year included little seeds 🤣✅

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by madteaparty

[bibiche]

5 hours ago, madteaparty said:

Well since your DS will get into his ED school, you really don’t need to worry about it 😉

FWIW, DS was accepted at Swarthmore and some of the kindest, just above and beyond nice people (profs included) were ones he met there. I’ve blocked most of the application process off but Swarthmore is a warm memory.

ETA that their acceptance package last year included little seeds 🤣✅

 

Ha! First, not evident that that would happen. Second, that would be way too easy, so he has decided it is no longer top choice. Argh. 

Did yours decide not to go because it was too small or too intense or anything like that, or just because he found a better fit? That’s adorable that their acceptance came with seeds. One of the things that wowed Junior was the plants, particularly the native plants and the rose garden. I mean, why consider academics when you can decide your future on landscaping, architecture, or dining options? 🙄

[madteaparty]

58 minutes ago, bibiche said:

Ha! First, not evident that that would happen. Second, that would be way too easy, so he has decided it is no longer top choice. Argh. 

Did yours decide not to go because it was too small or too intense or anything like that, or just because he found a better fit? That’s adorable that their acceptance came with seeds. One of the things that wowed Junior was the plants, particularly the native plants and the rose garden. I mean, why consider academics when you can decide your future on landscaping, architecture, or dining options? 🙄

Well, *I* thought it was too intense, and *I* wanted to nix that and UChicago based on those two reasons alone.no one listens to me here. 

no, the reason DS doesn’t go there has nothing to do with anything negative about Swarthmore at all. 

[easypeasy]

nm

Edited September 28, 2022 by easypeasy

[bibiche]

6 hours ago, easypeasy said:

nm

Oh noooo! An inside scoop! Deleted before I could read it!!

[bibiche]

@catz @Frances Yes, I’ve only met two alumni who weren’t enthusiastic about the school. I think the complaints were about the administration and the small student body. The latter is one of my concerns. 

[Frances]

41 minutes ago, bibiche said:

@catz @Frances Yes, I’ve only met two alumni who weren’t enthusiastic about the school. I think the complaints were about the administration and the small student body. The latter is one of my concerns. 

Overall, I think my niece really liked the small student body, but she came from a relatively small high school and she also studied abroad for a year and for the two ECs where she really excelled, she did them off campus, as she was beyond the level on campus for one and the other was not offered (a sport that likely would have gotten her into most of the Ivies, Stanford, etc) had she chosen that route. But she ultimately found a new club sport EC on campus which is still a big part of her life.

My son initially applied only to elite LACs like his cousin, but after taking classes at our local LAC for the last two years of high school, he added some universities late in the game, as he realized he wanted a larger campus experience and more on-campus research opportunities, and he ultimately chosen the small liberal arts focused honors college at a research university.

[threedogfarm]

I went to Swarthmore (almost 30 years ago), so I am not sure how much weight my comments should have.  Yes, it is a small school, but one thing about a small school is that you get to know the whole student body. Even as a senior, I happily mixed with the freshmen and sophomores.  So that makes the school feel larger. 

But it was intense academically, very intense.  At least it was when I was there.  And I don't think that has changed.  All classes were graded as Pass or Fail first semester freshman year to ease the intensity and academic focus of the students. You could see your grade as the class progressed, but only an F would be considered a "Fail" on your transcript; everything else was a "Pass."  You could then take a certain number of classes after that Pass/Fail. 

Also, as an aside, Swarthmore's dorms are really spread out for a small LAC.  One dorm was so far from campus that it required a van ride except during the day and had its own breakfast room (15- to 20-minute walk from campus).  A lot of small LACs that my kids have looked at have dorms clustered together. I like that setup a lot better.  

If you want more details or have specific questions, feel free to PM me.

[bibiche]

@threedogfarm Thank you, particularly for the info about the dorms. I have a friend who taught there and faculty housing was either on or practically on campus, so I just assumed student housing was too. Good to know!

[easypeasy]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:17 AM, bibiche said:

@threedogfarm Thank you, particularly for the info about the dorms. I have a friend who taught there and faculty housing was either on or practically on campus, so I just assumed student housing was too. Good to know!

They have *very* recently built a couple newer dorms on campus. When we visited, none of the students mentioned being off campus, so definitely something to ask about specifically as it might have changed over the years.

I deleted my original response because I accidentally added TMI personal information and didn't have time to just remove that section. 😄

I visited with my DS2 and the campus is absolutely stunning. Agreeing about the academic intensity - we very much also got that vibe from the students and faculty there. The alumni list from Swarthmore is impressssssive.

The faculty were THE most engaged, excited faculty we came into contact with. With the entire campus being undergraduates, there were tons of opportunities presented for undergrads without having to compete with grad students for time or attention from the faculty, which was a plus.

The vibe was academically competitive, I would say. We visited two Ivies and got much more of a collaborative energy from those than we did at Swarthmore. Not a bad thing, per se, just something we picked up on. Many students thrive with that kind of energy!! 🙂

So: lovely campus; sharp, interesting students; engaged, excited faculty. The little town directly connected to campus is like something out of a Hallmark movie. If you visit, stay at the Swarthmore Inn - it's perfect!! There is a train station directly connected to campus that gets kids to Philly, NYC, etc very quickly. Super convenient.

In the end, my DS2 chose elsewhere, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Swarthmore.

Last year, iirc, their overall acceptance was 5.8% with a 3% acceptance rate in the regular decision portion. The admissions department REALLY reads those essays. They're divided up into regions and they get to know "their kids" pretty darn well. There was a lot of personal interaction between DS2 and the admissions team. So much so that, when he turned them down, this was the sole school where he "felt kinda bad" about it. They flew him out for a visit and were very engaging every step of the way and had THE BEST acceptance package of the lot!!

[madteaparty]

46 minutes ago, easypeasy said:

 

So much so that, when he turned them down, this was the sole school where he "felt kinda bad" about it. 

Oh my gosh, same thing for my DS. I think it’s the only school he wrote a personal “sorry…” email. And he didn’t have as much interaction with admissions as your DS seems to have had. 

[easypeasy]

2 hours ago, madteaparty said:

Oh my gosh, same thing for my DS. I think it’s the only school he wrote a personal “sorry…” email. And he didn’t have as much interaction with admissions as your DS seems to have had. 

Yes! lol DS2 sent it in as soon as he was feasibly sure he wouldn't be going there because he was hoping to free up a spot for someone on the waitlist - but it took him a solid day to be able to do it because he felt attached to the admissions person - especially after meeting in person, haha! Was a nice time to talk about how "easily replaceable" he was in this context, though, and that the admissions person wouldn't take it personally. (and, thank goodness, he's really very, very happy where he is, so no regrets!)

[madteaparty]

32 minutes ago, easypeasy said:

Yes! lol DS2 sent it in as soon as he was feasibly sure he wouldn't be going there because he was hoping to free up a spot for someone on the waitlist - but it took him a solid day to be able to do it because he felt attached to the admissions person - especially after meeting in person, haha! Was a nice time to talk about how "easily replaceable" he was in this context, though, and that the admissions person wouldn't take it personally. (and, thank goodness, he's really very, very happy where he is, so no regrets!)

Same same here (fingers crossed it continues for both of our boys) 🧿