Reply to What is the deal with Swathmore?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And I'm not arguing, I just want to hear.  As I said, the fact that you know happy students is helpful.  I'm not out to "prove" a point, just to investigate a common theme I've heard.[/quote]

First of all, I think you should know that there are at least 2 of us who have posted in response to your question about the happiness factor.  I'm the earlier PP, and I have never heard Swarthmore described as competitive or cold.  The current students and alums I know are not that way at all.  (These include close friends and high school teammates of my children and close friends of mine, including one who has been a friend for 40 years.)  All of these folks would probably describe Swarthmore as a demanding school with an intensely academic vibe.  Would your child find that too competitive?  If so, then maybe Swarthmore isn't the right school for him/her.  That's not a judgment of your child, so please don't interpret it that way.         [/quote]

I'm not OP and this is helpful.  DC is highly academic but doesn't like a competitive atmosphere.  Its interesting how there are some schools that can thread that needle and provide a heavily academic environment without a sense of competition.  And then there are schools that have a rep for being intensely competitive (Johns Hopkins, at least by rep).  So, thank you.[/quote]

I'm glad this was helpful to you.  As you look at other schools, I would suggest that you and your son try to be more specific about what he's looking for in a school.  Framing the question as "happy" v. "unhappy" won't be as helpful because it's so subjective; more helpful would be to describe a school culture that is collaborative, rather than comptetitive.  What might be most helpful, however,  is describing your son and asking whether this kind of student would fare well at X school, or, conversely, asking what kind of student thrives at X.  For example, the PP who described a friend's son who loved Swarthmore as sociable and interested in others, but not a party animal, offered a very helpful insight along these lines.        [/quote]

This is all true but "happy versus unhappy" is also important.  of course its subjective, but choosing a school is subjective.  And if you consistently hear that students at a particular school are unhappy, that means something.  Especially because there are schools where you consistently hear that students are happy.  Not everything about the search is quantifiable.  Some schools just get the atmosphere thing wrong, for whatever reason.  But it is absolutely a fact that you won't find the same levels of contentment at every school.  There are a lot of excellent schools out there, many that jibe with DC's interests.  So I prefer to increase the likelihood that he will be happy by sending him to a school where the students skew happy.[/quote]

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