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Swarthmore College Profile

Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Swarthmore College Profile

Founded in 1864, Swarthmore College is a small private liberal arts and engineering institution located in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania suburb of Delaware County. The school itself is actually situated geographically within the residential community of Swarthmore Borough. The footprint of the site is split into 2 large facilities, one being the north/western edge of the campus adjacent to Crum Woods, the second being the south, eastern edge of the campus by Elm Avenue. Parrish Hall links both sides of the campus together with a large grassy area called Parrish Beach. Swarthmore is unique because it has a large suburban school feel to it, while still being small in regard to student population. The campus is very big, but it feels smaller than the observed geographical footprint.

The college has a large footprint of approximately 399 acres of park like property within the northwestern suburb of Philadelphia. The physical layout observes numerous historic buildings shared by students, and local residents. The campus itself has approximately 68 buildings including lecture, residential, research, and dining facilities. The overall campus map is typical for a college setting with wide sidewalks, grass field meeting places, and park like benches. The pedestrian flow of traffic within the facility was centered between Parrish Hall, Lang Performing Arts, and the new Science Center due to the time of day. My student tour guide also told me that classes are taught outside the science center during comfortable weather days with the help of several large outdoor blackboards. Sharples dining hall also gets busy at all hours of the day when school is in session according to my student guide.

The campus buildings and open spaces were very clean and well maintained during my observations. These open spaces allow students the ability to interact with each other in a non-educational manner due to the high number of observed meeting places on campus. Swarthmore students, faculty, and employees enjoy a community, within a community lifestyle in regard to on, and off campus activities and resources. The college also provides several critical student resources including student housing on campus for all 4 years, which helps students connect with each other throughout the year.

The published demographic information for the college describes a culturally diverse student population with students from all across the world. Swarthmore College has developed a large campus community to offer students a Liberal Arts and Science, and Engineering educational format to enhance it’s commitment to different types of career endeavors.

The College is home to relatively small campus population of approximately 714 male, and 776 female full time students. The average age of a freshman is 18 years old. 16% of students are from Pennsylvania. Others are from 48 states, and 38 foreign countries. Students on campus provide a diverse multi-cultural makeup including 44% of students are white, 17% Asian Americans, 9% are Black, 11% are Hispanic, and 11% are the race is unknown.

Published Academic Standards for Admission Programs

Swarthmore College has a large educational system for a small private school, which offers Liberal Arts, and Sciences, and Engineering programs. Below is a specific list of under graduate admission requirements.

Freshman Class: 5,242 applied, 930 accepted, 365 enrolled. SAT Verbal 740, SAT Math 710. ACT 31 Application Deadline Fall Early Decision: November 15, Winter Early Decision: January 2, Regular Decision: January 2.

Student Housing

The purpose of student housing is to provide safe and reasonable accommodations for students living away from home. The issue of housing and dormitory life is a critical element of overall campus life because students spend a large amount of time in their rooms. Student housing units historically come in 3 different styles including traditional corridor, suite, and apartment style units.

Swarthmore College guarantees on campus housing for all four years through a lottery system. Students who have filed their intent to reside on campus by the stated deadline and who have continuously registered as full time students receive housing. The school has started upgrading housing resources for all students through it’s capital improvement initiatives. Swarthmore also has a unique way of providing housing for students. The college doesn’t have freshman dorms, it has upper classmen living on the floors so new students can learn, what they need to learn about the school in a more relaxed fashion. Information about housing can be found on the quick links page of this document.

Off Campus Housing

Swarthmore has been described as a small private college within a small residential community. The reason I have mentioned the overall community is to re-assert the point that Swarthmore’s network of facilities has encapsulated it’s real estate holdings within the area. The campus footprint allows every student to have housing within walking distance to college facilities. The issue of off campus housing has a different feel to it compared to other university housing demands. The college itself has 98% of it’s student population living on campus which reduces the need, or demand for off campus housing. Students who want off campus housing can find information about available resources on the quick links page.

Campus Life

Swarthmore College is a multi-cultural campus environment that provides students with an outstanding social, and educational atmosphere. The admissions demographics paint a picture of a very diverse community with students from all over the world. The local community of Delaware Valley only adds to the universities international status because the community has multi-cultural roots as well. Swarthmore also addresses the issue of ecology in a positive way. The physical campus environment is registered as a national arboretum with trees and bushes that are individually named by type, and species. The college has also build a state of the art (Green) science building that incorporates several green technologies including clean ground water technology. And finally, the campus is clean and well maintained and the economic conditions are favorable to students and local residents due to the available services in walking distance to the school.

The emotional climate of the entire community is positive because students are involved with local community, and campus groups. An observation of this very positive emotional climate can be found by looking at the endless student flyers posted throughout the campus on walls, doors, windows, and light poles. These flyers describe upcoming activities and they invite all students to enjoy the clubs, performing arts, and public discussions on world events. Swarthmore’s students went as far as hanging banners outside residence halls to invite students to attend social events on campus, which was very nice to see.

Social networking beyond the campus walls is also a very important issue to be observed at Swarthmore. Students at the college are encouraged to participate in externships with alumni to gain real world experience. These programs, along with internships and global learning centers offer important information about studying abroad. These types of programs help to round out educational activities on campus.

This issue of school culture and emotional attachment is also a very important part of campus life because everyone wants to have a connection and emotional fit to their new school and community. Swarthmore has done a great job developing positive social systems with it’s students by providing a series of coordinated programs including workshops and seminars for freshman students. This type of process provides a foundation for learning and personal growth providing over 100 academic clubs, student organizations, and over 9 intramural sports activities. Swarthmore also has 10 NCAA teams for men, and 12 for women.

Campus life at Swarthmore can be considered very active due to several notable student venues including the Parrish Hall, which is the main student recreational center on campus. The college also has a student run performing arts venue within the Lang Performing Arts Center. These on campus facilities allows students to enjoy more than academic excellence, it gives them the opportunity to develop social relationships by experiencing school sports, performing arts, history, cultural events, restaurants, and local museums together.

Swarthmore has also developed a “Tri-College Consortium” with Bryn Mawr, and Haverford Colleges that allows students from each of these institutions to share educational, and social resources throughout the year. These schools are located off Lancaster Avenue within the suburban Philadelphia community of Main Line. Students receive daily shuttle services to all three schools to maintain these newly acquired relationships. Swarthmore also provides it’s students with cross-registration educational resources with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but the school doesn’t provide a shuttle, students have to take public transportation.

Students at Swarthmore also have the ability to enjoy suburban sports activities within the Delaware Valley including it’s consortium schools and big institutions like Villanova and Saint Joseph’s. These schools participate on the big stage in regard to Division I NCAA sports including the Big East Conference. Students can enjoy these big campus sports events within several local colleges throughout the year. Swarthmore students can also enjoy cultural, and social events on these campuses, or take the train from Swarthmore (40 Minutes) or Bryn Mawr (20 Minutes) to Philadelphia to enjoy big city life.

Public Transportation

Campus transportation resources for Swarthmore’s students are available through the college’s shuttle system, which provides van service for daily classes, student activities, and links to local shopping and restaurants. This service is crucial to students who don’t have cars because it provides transportation services to the entire university community. Swarthmore students also have a (SEPTA) station along the R-3 Media/Elwyn Line to take them into the city.

The school’s van service provides reliable transportation to students who don’t, or can’t have vehicles on campus. The university also has a very large number of out of state students who don’t know the streets and highways very well. Knowing the area is key because students who come from local states may know the area better and may be able to walk or drive to local destinations. Foreign, and out of state students might opt to take a bus or train to their destination because they don’t want to risk getting lost on local roads.

Local weather

Weather is also an issue to consider for students preparing for a college experience. Swarthmore enjoys all four seasons of weather including rain and snow. Northeast weather patterns sometimes allow for temperatures to drop below 32 degrees for a considerable amount of time during the winter. Pennsylvania also gets it’s share of rain during the spring and summer months as well. A strong indicator of pedestrian traffic around the university can be identified by the northeast weather patterns. Student parking within close proximity to university buildings and student shuttle services help reduce the exposure literally and figuratively.

Community Profile

Swarthmore Borough has been described as a quiet suburban town that was built around it’s local college with students, and local residents enjoying the Delaware County Pennsylvania landscape. The township has also been described as a family centered residential community within striking distance to Philadelphia. Swarthmore also has an intellectual side due to its historical neighborhood architecture and close physical relationship to Swarthmore College. The borough is favorable to students and local residents because it offers a local pedestrian walkway (Magill Walk) onto Chester Road (Rt. 320), which links students, and local residents to a several restaurants and local shops within the southern edge of town. Local residents and students call this area “The Ville”. Chester Road is the main thoroughfare that travels north & south connecting the local town of Springfield on Baltimore Pike to the college.

The community has a small city feel to it when you are walking to neighborhood eateries on the southern edge of town. Residents and students also enjoy several social destinations when walking, or driving to Baltimore Pike from Chester Road including the Springfield Mall, and several strip malls featuring several national food, and consumer chains. The walk from Swarthmore’s eastern edge to the above-mentioned meeting places is approximately 20 minutes from the campus. Students who walk off the campus and make a left turn to the southern edge of Chester Road will find the R-3 Train Station for (SEPTA), which provides public transportation to the City of Philadelphia.

The borough itself is located within the northeastern area of the state, which makes it convenient to several suburban communities and highway networks. SEPTA provides local rail service in the area with the R-3 Media/Elwyn Line. This rail corridor links to the 30th Street Station which is a main link to several different commuter trains and the northeast corridor. The 30th Street Station also links to Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Philadelphia International Airport via the R-1 line. Swarthmore also has several main roadways that connect the community to major state highways including Route 476 that links to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Interstate 95. Shopping, restaurants, and hotel chains can be found within these major transportation networks after a short drive from the campus. Appendix #1 on the back page of this profile lists several of observed resources in close proximity to the school.

The following demographics for Swarthmore Borough describe a multi-cultural community within a total population of 6,170 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Swarthmore College has strong relationships with the township because they share community services including public safety, and cultural resources. An example of this commitment can be observed through the university’s community services handbook that describes educational programs, health care programs and services, legal programs and services to local residents who may require community help.

A Census Bureau community survey highlights several characteristics to describe the population including: 2,917 residents are male, 3,253 are female. 85.9% of residents are white, 4.7% are African American, 3.4% is Hispanic or Latino, and 5.5% are Asian. The median age of population is 28 years old. 79.5% of residents are 18 years old or over, 64.8 % are over 21, and 13.8% of borough residents is over the age of 65. The issue of housing in Swarthmore is also interesting. 96.6% of all housing units within the township are occupied. 27.9% of housing units are renter-occupied, while 72.1% of units are owner-occupied. Only 3.6% of total available housing was vacant.

Swarthmore College Quick Links Page

Swarthmore Area Hotel and Bed & Breakfast Quick Links Page

McIntosh Motor Inn Route 1 & Route 352 Media P.A. 19063
Concordville Best Western Route 322 & Route 1 Concordville P.A. 19331
Holiday Inn Express Route 1 & Route 202 Concordville P.A. 19342
Brandywine River Hotel Route 1 & Route 100 Chadds Ford, P.A. 19317
** The Philadelphia Airport is located in Essington P.A.which is approximately 15 minutes from the college. Below is a list of hotels around the airport**.
Comfort Inn
Essington, P.A. 19029
Holiday Inn, Airport
Essington, P.A. 19029
Ramada Inn
Essington, P.A. 19029
Motel 6
Essington, P.A. 19029
Bed & Breakfast Accommodations:
Wyndham Alumnae House
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, P.A. 19010
The Crier in the Country
Glenn Mills P.A. 19342
The Pennsbury Inn
Chadds Ford, P.A. 19317
Hedgerow B&B Suites
Chadds Ford, P.A. 19317
Old Country Bed & Breakfast
Glenn Mills, P.A. 19342
Sweetwater Farm
Glen Mills, P.A. 19342

Below is a sample list of local restaurants in Swarthmore & Springfield P.A. National restaurant chains & shopping resources can be found on the Baltimore Pike including the Springfield Mall. A complete list of local restaurants in Swarthmore & Springfield Pennsylvania can be found at: www.foodio54.com . Complete information about hotels, restaurants, shopping, museums, and general tourism activities can be found in the document “ Everything Philadelphia” on the Your College Profile web site.

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