Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:30     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
Anonymous wrote:How is the Swarthmore culture recently? How have your kids liked their experience there? My child is excited about the SLAC experience but I think is worried that the atmosphere might be too intense and the grading too difficult (FWIW this kid has high stats, top in high school, most rigorous courses, top extracurriculars)....any recent feedback?Child would be on a sports team too.

First sem is pass/fail to smooth the transition. Swat is more pre-professional than it once was, not only because of CS and engineering but 1/4 class first gen students who disproportionately (even by today’s standards) major only in something “practical”.

The rigor is also not what it once was. Your DC will be fine.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:18     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
The one Swarthmore grad I know loved it and recommends it to almost nobody. She’s severely autistic and hyper focused on education, got a PhD and nearly went back to school for a JD. Extremely intellectual person, but even she admits that the Swat environment isn’t for most.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:16     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We only know a kid who left. She is DD’s best friend and now goes to Uchicago, but also got into Penn for transfer. The issue was department size was absolutely tiny for sociology and the support for cognitive science was “nonexistent” since there weren’t many dedicated cognitive science professors/courses. Your kids an athlete, so I’m assuming an Econ major where this will be less of an issue. She really disliked the CS lottery and just felt that opportunities were limited for those who weren’t gung-ho about their whole life culminating into a PhD. There’s basically no student life, because the environment is pretty intense and students self select to be extremely academic. She loved the campus and the courses were really strong (breezing through Chicago as a senior now), but she hated her experience for the most part.


Can you say more about this assumption? Is it true at every school or just Swarthmore?

It tends to be at liberal arts colleges that the athletes cluster in the majors with jobs, so Econ, Applied Math, and CS
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:14     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
Anonymous wrote:We only know a kid who left. She is DD’s best friend and now goes to Uchicago, but also got into Penn for transfer. The issue was department size was absolutely tiny for sociology and the support for cognitive science was “nonexistent” since there weren’t many dedicated cognitive science professors/courses. Your kids an athlete, so I’m assuming an Econ major where this will be less of an issue. She really disliked the CS lottery and just felt that opportunities were limited for those who weren’t gung-ho about their whole life culminating into a PhD. There’s basically no student life, because the environment is pretty intense and students self select to be extremely academic. She loved the campus and the courses were really strong (breezing through Chicago as a senior now), but she hated her experience for the most part.


Can you say more about this assumption? Is it true at every school or just Swarthmore?
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:10     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We only know a kid who left. She is DD’s best friend and now goes to Uchicago, but also got into Penn for transfer. The issue was department size was absolutely tiny for sociology and the support for cognitive science was “nonexistent” since there weren’t many dedicated cognitive science professors/courses. Your kids an athlete, so I’m assuming an Econ major where this will be less of an issue. She really disliked the CS lottery and just felt that opportunities were limited for those who weren’t gung-ho about their whole life culminating into a PhD. There’s basically no student life, because the environment is pretty intense and students self select to be extremely academic. She loved the campus and the courses were really strong (breezing through Chicago as a senior now), but she hated her experience for the most part.


NP - do Swarthmore students have opportunities to take classes or do research at Penn if Swarthmore is too small?

You can try to take courses at Penn, but you have to factor an hour taken out to commute there and back, and you can’t take courses regularly offered at Swarthmore (regularly is very loosely defined btw). It’s frankly pretty rare and you’re still gonna have to fulfill most of your coursework at Swat.

Research could be done if you find a really nice professor.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:09     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
And their test optional policy will continue for 5 more years:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1302428.page
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:08     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
Two different Swarthmore experiences:
1) For non-athlete students experience is very intense, competitive. Introverted nerds who like studying will be fine.
2) For student-athletes, it's a bit more social.

The campus is beautiful, but small.

Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:05     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
My DD is there now. Yes to intense and grade deflation. Athletes generally have a better social experience.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:03     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
Anonymous wrote:We only know a kid who left. She is DD’s best friend and now goes to Uchicago, but also got into Penn for transfer. The issue was department size was absolutely tiny for sociology and the support for cognitive science was “nonexistent” since there weren’t many dedicated cognitive science professors/courses. Your kids an athlete, so I’m assuming an Econ major where this will be less of an issue. She really disliked the CS lottery and just felt that opportunities were limited for those who weren’t gung-ho about their whole life culminating into a PhD. There’s basically no student life, because the environment is pretty intense and students self select to be extremely academic. She loved the campus and the courses were really strong (breezing through Chicago as a senior now), but she hated her experience for the most part.


NP - do Swarthmore students have opportunities to take classes or do research at Penn if Swarthmore is too small?
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 13:00     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
We only know a kid who left. She is DD’s best friend and now goes to Uchicago, but also got into Penn for transfer. The issue was department size was absolutely tiny for sociology and the support for cognitive science was “nonexistent” since there weren’t many dedicated cognitive science professors/courses. Your kids an athlete, so I’m assuming an Econ major where this will be less of an issue. She really disliked the CS lottery and just felt that opportunities were limited for those who weren’t gung-ho about their whole life culminating into a PhD. There’s basically no student life, because the environment is pretty intense and students self select to be extremely academic. She loved the campus and the courses were really strong (breezing through Chicago as a senior now), but she hated her experience for the most part.
Anonymous
Post 01/15/2026 12:34     Subject: Swarthmore -- can anyone share recent experiences
How is the Swarthmore culture recently? How have your kids liked their experience there? My child is excited about the SLAC experience but I think is worried that the atmosphere might be too intense and the grading too difficult (FWIW this kid has high stats, top in high school, most rigorous courses, top extracurriculars)....any recent feedback?Child would be on a sports team too.