Sweat More, See More, Swarthmore

Today, I was stupefied because we visited a unique school on the East Coast - Swarthmore University. It was only roughly twenty minutes away from UPenn so I wasn't expecting a major change in settings - I was wrong to assume so. I am so surprised to see the extent in which East Coast colleges differ from that of California. The University of California system is exceptional, but all of the schools are very similar in terms of education, environment, and students. Some may disagree and say that all of the UCs share major differences, but after experiencing three East Coast colleges: University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Swarthmore University, East Coast colleges are much more unique. I've only seen three of the schools, soon to be four, but they have exposed me to the potential of East Coast colleges.

Swarthmore University, by far, is one of the most distinctive colleges that I've seen, not to say the other schools are not. I'll give you an idea of how different it is - freshmen do not receive grades for their classes; they receive either a P(pass) or F(fail) on their transcript. At first, I highly disliked this system because it does not give the student an idea of how much he or she mastered the material in the class. But after listening to the informational presentation and thinking about it on my own, this system's benefits outweigh its disadvantages. The Pass or Fail system's purpose is not to immediately engage students into their major, but rather introduce them to the various classes and studies there are out there. From talking to the alumni from my school, I learned that their minds greatly change after graduating and they're not sure what to major in or study in college. In fact, many of them didn't even know what they wanted to major in when they started as freshmen. 

With the Pass or Fail system, it introduces the students to a specific set of classes and at the end of their respective courses, they do not receive a letter grade. Many students are stressed over grades and as a result, they diverge from their anticipated majors because they did not do well in their prerequisite classes. Swarthmore University avoids the issue of failure and stress on the students by first introducing them to a diverse set of classes - ranging from English, Physical Education(yes, they have to take PE), natural science, foreign language(it is a requirement), mathematics, and humanities - their freshmen year, but they do not punish them for doing poorly in their classes. Through this, the students can really find their passion without having to experiment with punishments; it allows room for students to try new subjects. And the college makes sure that its students dive into humanities, it's a requirement to have a major, nonetheless graduate. 

The major motto that the campus guide promoted was: "Learning for the sake of learning". This directly corresponds to the philosophy that I've promoted to my schoolmates. Many of my classmates, and including myself sometimes, often worry too much over the grade and neglect the knowledge in class. I've tried to avoid this mentality but it's hard when we're conscious that colleges will be judging most of their applicants on academics, although it is not the entire application. It's disappointing that the education system has to resort to such a method, but it's necessary to create an efficient system.

Surprisingly, Swarthmore does not place freshmen in their own dorms; seniors, juniors, and sophomores can dorm with freshmen. This is great because not only do the freshmen have access to upperclassmen as a resource, but the upperclassmen get to gauge the potential of the future and guide them along a successful path. Even more surprising is that Swarthmore offers guaranteed four years of housing and 95% of the students decides to live in dormitories. Also, if students need to borrow suits, Swarthmore has a center where students can borrow suits - brand new! 

From what the campus guide told me, Swarthmore has unique social events and policies. For a winter formal, they offer a Yule Ball, which is based on the ball in the Goblet of Fire. Fun fact, they have a regional Quidditch team. On the topic of clubs, any club can be formed as long as there are two people in it. But the person forming the club has to send an invitation to everyone from Swarthmore. As for parties, the school funds them only if the person hosting invites everyone. From this information, Swarthmore University seems to be a very social-orientated college and it wants everyone to engage in its activities. This is perfect for me because I love to socialize. 

Also, the area that college is located in feels very homely. Because it's in the suburbs, I feel very comfortable.  In fact, the food court outside of it looks very similar to downtown Pinole. Even the school itself feels very homey. Not homey in reference to the Bay Area, but in reference to: "It looks like I could live here outside the college". In fact, I think the lobby where they held the informational looks nicer than the Sheraton that we’re staying at. Swarthmore is very, very beautiful and it has a plethora of trees and grass; the campus looks incredible and with all the social events, it's impossible not to love the area. 

Although the school is exceptionally beautiful and I can relate to its education and philosophy, it's not exactly the right kind of school for me. Not to say that I wouldn't enjoy learning at Swarthmore, but the school does not tend to my needs as a scientist. I am fully intent in becoming a scientist or engineer and personally, Swarthmore is not the perfect school for that criterion. It offers many of the classes that other universities offer, but it doesn't offer many opportunities to work as an engineer. I was reassured when the guide told us that their engineering classes are not meant to teach us how to become engineers, but how to think like an engineer. This type of style is more suited for either lawyers, policy-makers, and etc that have to deal with problems with an engineering perspective. Swarthmore University is not the ideal college for me as a scientist, HOWEVER...

If I were to major in Liberal Arts, then Swarthmore would be the perfect school. Both Mr. Hillyer and I were stupefied by the variety of history and Classics classes they offered. They specifically had a class for analyzing the political, cultural, and social effect that water had on history. If that's not interesting enough, they also had a class titled: "Angels of Death: Russia Under Lenin and Stalin". The class confronts the impact that Stalin and Lenin had on the Soviet Union. For Classics, they offer a class for analyzing Plato's works and specifically Plato's Republic. I'm into philosophy and if I wanted to major in it, I would most definitely want to attend Swarthmore. 

From the trip, I learned of applicable advice to future college apps. I should stray away from writing generic essays and try to delve into specifics of why I want to major in a certain subject at a specific school. And also, the most common question is "Why (insert University name)?" and the best way to approach that question is to explain the relationship between myself and the school. These seem like common advice, but hearing it fresh out of an admissions officer adds so much more.