Choosing The Right College School Spotlight: Swarthmore College Written by Elyse Krantzon September 26th, 2016 I became interested in the college admissions process after serving as a student tour guide in the admissions office of my alma mater. After graduating, I accepted an admissions counseling position at Bennington College in Vermont where I evaluated applications and reviewed art portfolios from students across the country. Three years later, after pursuing my master's degree in New York City, I joined the admissions staff at Barnard College where I served as a senior admissions officer. At Barnard, I directed Long Island and Boston recruitment in addition to managing the College's alumnae interview program, coordinating admissions statistics, and editing various college publications. Having also served as an alumni interviewer for Dartmouth College and visited over 75 colleges, I feel especially well-equipped to help students prepare for admission interviews and campus tours. Learn More About Elyse choosing the right college, college lists, There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school! School Spotlight: Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA Imagine a fantastic liberal arts college transformed into an ice cream sundae. Add a cherry on top (and a 425-acre arboretum campus), and now you can call it Swarthmore College. Offering its 1,600 students what few other colleges can, Swarthmore elevates higher education to a new level of excellence. Although all students reap the benefits of rigorous academics and access to undergraduate research opportunities, Swarthmore’s honors program ensures that students interested in an even more demanding course of study can immerse themselves in additional scholarly work featuring a tutorial system (modeled after Oxford’s) and final oral examinations conducted by outside scholars. The College’s three most popular majors are economics, biology, and computer science, and—unlike many of its liberal arts peers—Swarthmore also supports a strong engineering program leading to a BS degree. Although no longer affiliated with the Society of Friends, Swarthmore retains many of its Quaker traditions, and the diverse student body is often characterized by its passion for ethical and social concerns. Fun fact: thanks to their suburban Philadelphia location, Swatties can enjoy cross-registration with Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and the University of Pennsylvania. Image credit: Top, Swarthmore College/Eleftherios Kostans Related Resources Read | Posted on April 11th, 2025 The Basics of First-Year Study Abroad Programs Read | Posted on December 10th, 2024 Navigating Medical School Applications: The Three Types of Letters Applicants Send Read | Posted on November 12th, 2024 Unlocking College Admissions: The Power of the Common Data Set
