Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Swarthmore still has a consortium with Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Penn.

It does, but the geography and logistics mean that it's little used. There is a shuttle (and train into Philly) and the occasional student from Swat takes the occasional course at the other schools. But Bryn Mawr and Haveford have a much closer relationship than the other members of the consortium.

We toured Haverford this fall and the tour guide talked a lot about the consortium. Even mentioned that they go to Bryn Mawr just to eat dinner sometimes. Seems like those two schools have a close relationship.

I have a student at Haverford and she enjoys taking classes at Bryn Mawr. She now has friends at both schools. The food is better at Bryn Mawr so she likes getting lunch there.

Haverford is a school that doesn't seem to get the attention of its peers and it seems like a good fit for the OP. Could you say a bit about whether your daughter likes it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC graduated Swarthmore with triple major Summa. DC is not a genius. It’s not that hard. It is very small however.

But don't you see, just the need to "triple major" says it all.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our Swarthmore guide spent most of the tour talking about how Swarthmore was super intense, to get really familiar with the library because that was where people spent the most time, and talked at the end about how Williams was his first choice but didn't get in so that is why he was at swarthmore. probably should have not been a tour guide!

I call BS. This didn't happen.

DC had an interview with Swarthmore, an alum. The interviewer apparently spent most of the interview telling DC how hard and intense Swat is and saying you really have to be sure you can handle the schoolwork. Like she went on and on for over half the interview. DC kept saying thanks and wondered if the interviewer thought DC couldn’t handle the workload. Two weeks later, DC accepted ED into top 5 school and going there (which I mention because DC’s stats don’t suggest DC can’t handle the work). I actually thought I might tell Swat what a turnoff that interviewer was. But then I didn’t because I thought maybe this is what Swat is. A bunch of people who talk nonstop about how hard the school is.

Anonymous wrote:DC graduated Swarthmore with triple major Summa. DC is not a genius. It’s not that hard. It is very small however.

Anonymous wrote:My DC was accepted at 6 of these small LACS. Since the rankings are close enough together that it makes that less of an issue , consider very carefully the culture of the school. If it fits you, fantastic. If not think carefully: the smallness of the schools means there are a lot of similar thinkers and transferring is very difficult.
For us we found Amherst to be too white and “snobby” and some other of these LACS the same. Just listen to your gut before you commit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually thought I might tell Swat what a turnoff that interviewer was. But then I didn’t because I thought maybe this is what Swat is. A bunch of people who talk nonstop about how hard the school is.

Swat alum PP here. I think you *should* tell the admissions office. I'm dismayed to hear that the school's reputation has become, "everyone is miserable and you can't hack it here."

Anonymous wrote:I actually thought I might tell Swat what a turnoff that interviewer was. But then I didn’t because I thought maybe this is what Swat is. A bunch of people who talk nonstop about how hard the school is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our Swarthmore guide spent most of the tour talking about how Swarthmore was super intense, to get really familiar with the library because that was where people spent the most time, and talked at the end about how Williams was his first choice but didn't get in so that is why he was at swarthmore. probably should have not been a tour guide!

I call BS. This didn't happen.

DC had an interview with Swarthmore, an alum. The interviewer apparently spent most of the interview telling DC how hard and intense Swat is and saying you really have to be sure you can handle the schoolwork. Like she went on and on for over half the interview. DC kept saying thanks and wondered if the interviewer thought DC couldn’t handle the workload. Two weeks later, DC accepted ED into top 5 school and going there (which I mention because DC’s stats don’t suggest DC can’t handle the work). I actually thought I might tell Swat what a turnoff that interviewer was. But then I didn’t because I thought maybe this is what Swat is. A bunch of people who talk nonstop about how hard the school is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s Pomona’s culture like? Most like Wes, Williams, Swarthmore, or…?

Not really like any of them. Maybe Swarthmore if you had to pick one, but still quite different. Students there are noticeably more laid-back and unassuming, yet deeply motivated and inquisitive behind the surface. There's kind of a pretense there where students appear to be in a summer camp resort setting, but the academics are rigorous and there is a prominent intellectual undercurrent. It's a school where the students gradually learn of how impressive their peers really are, whereas you notice that more outright at East Coast SLACs and Ivies.

One unique feature of Pomona is that the consortium it is in are schools one next to the other. They interact quite heavily and also influence the overall atmosphere at Pomona. Those have widely different student bodies and academic emphases, so it's a diverse setting that opens all the students up to a variety of perspectives.

Funny story about Pomona and swat —

When my sister was there (and later others in our extended family), swat had a semester exchange program with Pomona, middlebury (maybe Williams but I forget…it was a few slacs tho), the way it worked was it had to be a 1 for 1 exchange.

But the # of kids who wanted to do a semester in Pomona wildly outstripped the number of kids who wanted to come from Pomona to do a semester at swat.

My sister tried a couple of times but it didn’t work out but even swat kids were super into trying to go to Pomona while no Pomona kids wanted to ever come to swat



That said, swat is still cool. Pomona is awesome tho. I’m sure their yield is like double swat’s

Your story isn't funny or even surprising. As for the yield comparison, yes, Pomona's is higher -- but Pomona isn't within driving distance of a dozen other top 20 liberal arts colleges or every Ivy League school either. Lots more competition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our Swarthmore guide spent most of the tour talking about how Swarthmore was super intense, to get really familiar with the library because that was where people spent the most time, and talked at the end about how Williams was his first choice but didn't get in so that is why he was at swarthmore. probably should have not been a tour guide!

I call BS. This didn't happen.