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Meaningful Opportunities

Outdoor classroom

Self-discovery: at Swarthmore, it's communal. As paradoxical as that may sound, it's true in more ways than one. Swatties sharpen their personal vision in collaboration with friends, professors, coaches, and mentors. Here are some of the ways Swarthmore provides meaningful opportunities for you to discover yourself more fully: 

  • Swarthmore's vibrant and authentic campus culture connects you to other people with shared interests—or makes you curious about something you know nothing about. A single week on your calendar might include Ultimate Frisbee practice, a master class in screenwriting, a vinyasa yoga session, a mock job interview workshop, a climate change panel discussion, an exhibition of comic book art, and a night of jazz music and food trucks. 
  • The Tri-College Consortium, which includes Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford Colleges, allows you to expand your social capital and academic opportunities across three stellar institutions. Cross-register for courses. Have weekend brunch in their dining halls. Use their libraries for research. Our Tri-Co partnerships provide a unique symbiosis. (You can also take courses at the University of Pennsylvania through the Quaker Consortium.)
  • We help you figure out what's next after college. Week-long externships during winter break give you a taste of what it's like to work at your dream job. You might learn that you don't have the stomach to be a surgeon, or that software development is even cooler than you thought. Swatties apply those experiences to internships, which range from on-campus research to work at places like the Smithsonian, National Institutes of Health, Amnesty International, and the Federal Reserve. After graduation, most Swatties pursue careers in their fields or enter graduate school directly. We rank #3 in the country for students who go on to earn Ph.D.s. Our law school applicants are accepted at a rate of 90 percent (compared to the national average of 78 percent), and 88 percent of our applicants are admitted to medical school (compared to the national average of 41 percent). 

Swarthmore offers you a wealth of opportunities to find your place in the world and become the person you want to be.