The Greek scene is, to be blunt, pretty tired. There are two fraternities, dominated by the baseball and lacrosse players and no sororities. While the frats are known to throw creatively-themed parties quite often, I find them to be a re-hashing of the same event, just on a different day. That said, the Greek scene probably isn't for you if you're more interested in getting-down every weekend than quality bro-mances that last all four years and beyond.

Swarthmore can be a very intense place academically and in your personal life, but I really believe that most students graduate feeling really empowered and ready to take on careers, graduate school, and life in general.

it's not for everyone. you have to really want to learn and be involved in order to do well at Swarthmore. If you're not an engaged student or citizen, you probably would not like Swarthmore.

Dining hall food is nothing to write home about (but at least you won't be packing on the dreaded Freshman 15!), the "town" of Swarthmore (which is technically a borough) is a pitiful excuse for a college town, and you will find that you spend much of your weekends working (or rather, feeling guilty for not working).

I love it here. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else

spend some serious time here prior to coming, also get involved early to find niche in pecking order. very hierarchical.

Swatties definitely are involved in a lot of activities. I am constantly amazed to find out that someone has started a new project. People here are driven to do something, but it is not a ferocious cut throat drive. Certainly people want to do well, but it is a desire to do well for personal reasons, not a desire to do well to compete against others. One thought that often occurs is that I'm amazed by what people are capable of doing because of the people that go to Swat.

The food isn't great, but it's edible. The freshman meal plan is annoying and freshmen aren't allowed to change it until second semester.

I love Swarthmore.

Academics at Swarthmore are incredible---for the person who wants to be an academic. My main interest is social theory, so I am all set, but I know people who want to know how to make films, or how to organize laborers, or how to run a business and they do not get these skills from Swarthmore. Is the education at Swarthmore geared toward getting a job? Nothing could be less true. You learn the most useless things possible at this school. Of course you can major in Computer Science, Engineering, or Education, or you can attend grant-writing workshops, or you can learn a language, or complete the pre-med or pre-vet requirements, but otherwise you will have to rely on your privilege, connections, and wits to get a non-menial job after graduation. Swarthmore students do have intellectual conversations outside of class, but like most of the "intellectual" conversations held between educated people, they are pretty paltry and basically amount to a lot of grandstanding and pretension. Don't come here thinking you'll have a bunch of really enlightening conversations. You will read a bunch of really enlightening books and meet a bunch of really incredible people, but those two worlds don't really intersect.

Largely, but of course not entirely.

Honestly, this school tore me down, ripped me apart, and left me for dead. Usually when you tear something down you build it up again. But not here. I came in with great hopes and dreams of the future and now all I want to be is a dreg working at an Indian Casino living at home. I am not kidding so please don't say, "This guy is just having fun with us." Not the case at all. I truly hate academics now and the scholarly profession.

Because the school is so small, the administration treats students like adults. The attitude toward drinking and parties is, in my experience, very mature - that is, if you're 18, you can make your own decisions, as long as you're responsible and not bothering anyone. However, if it weren't for this openness, the social life on campus could be considered absolutely dismal. After about one semester, there is almost nothing new to do on weekends in the village of Swarthmore. That's why the train into Philly is so important: I'd say, take advantage of it as often as possible.

People are too PC. You have to watch over your shoulder anytime something you say is vaguely referring to any race, gender, socio-economic class or whatnot. People need to let loose about their hang ups on the above mentioned groups.

i've met teh most inspiring people at Swarthmore and I have never wished that I went to another school

My professors all know my name, which is great! They really care about the success of each of their students in the classroom. Students study A LOT (you have to if you want to do well in your classes). Depending on the class, participation varies, but overall, there is a good amount of participation. Yes, people have intellectual conversations outside of class (often they carry over from class). Students are not really that competitive, which is a nice change from high school. The most unique class I have taken was a first year seminar entitled "Battling Against Voldemort."

I think I'm not too far from the truth in saying that the vast majority of Swatties didn't party in high school. They didn't drink until they puked, or run from the cops, or smoke weed, or vandalize property, or partake in all of the other joys of high school life that lay the groundwork for a little more balanced and mature adult life. But when all the introverts experience their first Pub Nite, or fraternity party, or Sager Genderfuck (look it up), the results can be disastrous. Inhibitions go to shit, sexual harassment/misconduct becomes a major issue, and nobody quite knows what to do. The result is a bunch of useless workshops and conversations that can do nothing to address the core issue, which, of course, has a lot more to do with basic human curiosity than social norms or any of that. That's just the way Swat is, and the way it'll remain. But social life can be chill, too. Once again, the easiest way to find satisfaction at Swat is to find your niche. For me, that's people with similar experiential backgrounds--the people who ran from the cops at their senior keggers and who still maintain a healthy affinity for breaking shit.

I work on a campus literary magazine called Small Craft Warnings. It's one of many on campus: there's a magazine for Spanish-language poetry, one devoted to writing by Asian students, one for writing by black students, one for women-writers only, one centered on the idea of diversity, one for academic writing, one for science fiction, one for humor writing, and there's probably more that I don't know about. Small Craft Warnings is the only magazine that is all-inclusive: we accept submissions of all kinds (artwork, short stories, poetry, personal essays, plays, etc.) from all members of the Swarthmore community (that is, faculty and staff as well as students.) We usually get about 100 submissions from 60 different people (many people submit more than one piece, but we will only print 3 pieces by one person in any given issue.) We usually accept about half of the submissions we get, so it's selective but not that selective. The editorial board is composed of 12 students who read submissions anonymously and vote in the ones the majority of us like. An issue of SCW is published each semester and 500 free copies of the book are distributed around campus. The quality of the submissions pool as a whole determines the quality of the magazine as a whole. Frankly, SCW not always full of amazing writing, but there's usually a few pieces that are exceptionally good. It's certainly a better (and more sophisticated and visually pleasing) than any high-school literary magazine I've ever seen.

Not accurate, because it does not apply to everyone, just as all stereotypes.