Beautiful Campus outside Philadelphia
Solid Engineering Program
Oxford-like Honors Program
Peerless Student Writing Support
While Swarthmore might be small in numbers, with fewer than 1,550 undergraduates, its breadth and depth seem unrivalled. Swarthmore is international in scope: Swarthmore students (Swatties) come from every state, and 49 foreign countries. Its student faculty ratio of 8 to 1 enables students to develop an intimate relationship with professors. The alumni base of 19,000 is active, accessible, and devoted. Swarthmore also has a track record of producing Nobel Prize and MacArthur Grant winners, along with numerous PhDs per capita, exceeding all but a handful of schools. Couple all this with an endowment of over $1.2 billion, and there is a lot to like about Swarthmore.
Swarthmore’s 425-acre campus is a mix of suburban and arboreal splendor with easy access to central Philadelphia: a mere 20 minutes away by train. Inscribed throughout the campus are phrases such as “Use well thy freedom.” Even the trees, shrubs and flowers bear Latin labels. Scott Arboretum, contained within Swarthmore, is comprised of extensive lawns, a creek, tree clad hills, and numerous hiking trails. The edifices of many of the campus buildings are composed of stones from local quarries. There is solidity, beauty, and an aura of intellectuality woven into the tapestry of the campus, and for good reason.
Despite the small number of students, the curriculum includes 32 major offerings, 7 foreign languages (including German, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese), and a full BS in Engineering with concentrations in electrical, mechanical, computer, and civil and environmental. Many engineering majors also take a full set of liberal arts courses and gain a BA as well. Swarthmore’s extensive course offerings allow that over three quarters of the classes have fewer than 19 students. This means becoming immersed in class discussions and gaining access to professors is a given.
The Honors Program, also known as the ‘External Examination Program,’ begins junior year. It’s comparable to the independent research program at Reed, or a tutorial at Oxford. The Honors seminar is composed of fewer than eight students who meet in either a special seminar room, or the professor’s living room, for weekly 5-hour meetings. The intensity and rigor is on a graduate school level. At the end of the two years, each student is subjected to a week-long series of written and oral tests administered by outside examiners. This is comparable to defending a thesis and taking comprehensive exams compressed into a week. It’s grueling, but those who master their subjects are undoubtedly ready for the rigors of a PhD program, which probably explains why a huge portion of Swarthmore graduates go on to become PhDs (in fact, Swarthmore is fifth on the list of schools producing the most science and engineering PhDs (from 1997-2006)—right behind Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, MIT, and Reed).
The writing assistance program at Swarthmore, called the Student Writing Associate Program, is also exceptional (and I’ve reviewed the writing assistance available at Carnegie Mellon, most of the Ivy League, Stanford, Occidental College, and the University of California). The program is designed to help all student writers at all stages of the writing process across all disciplines, in questions of structure, organization, and style to grammar and tone. A student writer can drop into the center, attend a workshop, or even set up a weekly tutoring session with a Writing Associate Mentor. To view Swarthmore student writing, go to Alchemy, (http://www.swarthmore.edu/x33287.xml), which is an annual sampling published by the Program.
Of course, not all aspects of Swarthmore are perfect. There is a thread of political correctness that is reportedly heavy in the English and gender studies departments. Additionally, for some students, the intimacy of just 1550 undergraduates can become claustrophobic. Obviously, like any school, it’s critical to visit before making a commitment; however, if you’re after serious academic rigor, learning how to write well, getting to know your professors well, being surrounded by both brilliant peers who are more collaborative than competitive, and a beautiful campus, then Swarthmore warrants a glance-- possibly even a searching stare.