Swarthmore English Major

I guess we can split it up to three categories:
The Good: We're very close-knit and we're known for having excellent professor-student relationships. We're quirky and kind of off-beat.
The Bad: We're socially awkward, study all the time and there's nothing to do on campus.
The Ugly: We're ugly.

There's a grain of truth in probably all the stereotypes. But for the most part, Swat isn't as good or bad (or ugly, seriously, come on) as some of the stereotypes say.

Swarthmore is a small liberal arts college that is absolutely gorgeous and very fond of its quirky Quaker reputation, so you get a lot of enthusiasm for events like the Pterodactyl Hunt and the Crum Regatta. It's very academically rigorous and a very elite school, but no one has ever heard of it. They'll think it's either a community college or one of the lost Seven Sisters colleges. Swarthmore is the place to go if you always want to see a friendly face. While this makes dating and hooking up fraught with the awkward at times, it's a wonderful feeling to always know someone you can sit down and chat with. It can be a little claustrophobic at times, but honestly, Philly and even NYC aren't too far off. I can always pop into Philly to eat someplace other than Sharples or into NYC for a Broadway play. That's another thing--Sharples. I'm sorry, but for almost 50k a year, Sharples has got to be destroyed. The worst is when the dining hall tries to go ethnic. Indian Bar set back U.S.-India relations for AT LEAST 30 years.

Professors and students are so incredibly close here at Swarthmore. I've gone to a few professors' houses to cook and have class over dinner (Just like they said in the brochure!) They all know my name and it's not unusual for students to call professors by their first name. Some classes have even just 8 people. Good for discussion, bad for trying to pretend you did your reading. Discussion is a big part of Swarthmore classes, and it's great here because the classes are small enough so that you'll feel comfortable participating regularly. I've had some classes that were so amazing I would basically walk out the door and have my head explode with all the insight and information I gleaned from that one class. Professors here truly love the material they're teaching, even if it's Faulkner for the 80 billionth time, they literally get excited. One professor actually clapped his hands in glee once during discussion when a particularly salient point was made. The thing is, it's true, Swarthmore academics are really rigorous. I've definitely been in some dark places when finals or midterms collided together. Realize that you need to budget your time wisely or suffer the consequences. And at times, you're going to have to sacrifice your free time and extracurricular activities. And sometimes, bathing.

So...we're liberal. We're smart and we know it. A lot of Swatties are involved with a lot of progressive groups and organizations, and generally there are some pretty amazing people all around you. That girl next to you in seminar? Wrote a book. That guy in front of you at Sharples dinner line? Professional mountain unicyclist. Most of us are pretty idealistic and want to change the world, so we're all resigned to living in boxes. There aren't really any cliques or anything, although there's the general SWIL group and athletes. Since it's such a small group, we have a fair amount of mixing. We really are very diverse here, racially, socio-economically and so on. Whereas in high school, all my friends were Asian, here my closest group of friends are Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Black, South Asian, Asian, Hispanic...and that's really pretty much the norm. People here are also really, really nice. Like, everbody. I've never had so many people who don't personally know me open doors for me or hold an umbrella over me when it's raining. We are generally very considerate and we have good relationships with each other, the professors, the EVS, the Sharples staff.

I'm part of The Phoenix, the only campus publication. Make sure whatever extracurricular activity you choose, you really really are passionate about it and it's not just to pad your resume. If you're not passionate about it, you're not going to make it because there's no way you can balance Swat academics with extracurricular activities without going a little insane. I really love my work at The Phoenix and I think, as it is with most other groups, you get to be really close with the groups you work in because they tend to be fairly small and personal. The Phoenix is run by like 15 people, it's not some huge conglomerate like the newspapers at Ivy Leagues. As for Social Life, the main venue to go for some dancing is Paces. It's this kind of tiny room with dim lights, sticky floors and nasty alcohol. Chances of having fun here are about 50-50 depending on the DJ, the amount of people who show up and not seeing anyone you know eating each other's faces. For such a small college, we do have some seriously cool events like TC Boyle coming to read, Margaret Cho's comedy routine or The Roots (!!!) but I do wish they came more frequently. We have music performances at Olde Club pretty often, mostly indie bands I've never heard of because I'm a big music poser and only listen to Top 40. The unfortunate thing is, a lot of events can be really poorly attended because people are busy studying or running off to their activities, which can put a damper on things. But there are always big events that everyone shows up for en masse.

I still don't understand why my parents keep getting called for donations to the school when I'm already basically contributing almost 50k a year. Just sayin'.