Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2012 - (Page 44)

students review The Students Review series is intended to aid prospective college students in their search by offering insiders’ views of selected colleges and universities, as expressed by current undergraduates or recent graduates who have high academic ability. Note that the number of reviewers is small. Consider their personal perspectives as only one factor as you gather information and impressions from many sources. Our reviewers include 23 students and alumni, who major(ed) in: biology (3), computer science (1), economics (3), education (1), engineering (2), English (3), history (3), linguistics (2), math (5), philosophy (1), physics (2), political science (1), psychology (2), public policy (1), and Russian (1). (The number of majors exceeds 23 because eight reviewers had double majors.) Reviewers’ comments appear within quotation marks. swarthmore College tutoring. the opportunities for undergraduates willing to seize them are astounding. grading is tough, though, and not everyone feels that it’s worth the struggle.” social life Reviewers enjoyed the social life, stressing its low-key quality. quality of Academic instruction for undergraduates Reviewers praised the faculty and the education Swarthmore delivers. materials and leading discussion. taking that kind of responsibility for one’s education is a terrific learning experience, and the intellectual caliber of swarthmore students makes these classes work extraordinarily well.” “With some 1,500 undergraduates, swarthmore can be either intimate or claustrophobic, depending on your personality. meeting people is not hard. the campus is small, and faces quite easily become familiar. almost all students live on campus, creating a strong community. dorms facilitate lots of socializing, but not much hard-core partying. there are tons of clubs and activities, from sports teams to musical groups to amnesty international to the wacky, like the annual Pterodactyl hunt.” “the social scene is very laid back and tends to emphasize good friends hanging out together rather than partying. students often order pizza or Chinese food and just talk. friendships tend to be very deep, and swarthmore has been called ‘the Quaker matchbox’ because so many alumni marry other alums.” “to state the obvious, it’s what you make of it. there are on-campus movies, plays, concerts, and performances by swarthmore’s teeming multitude of a cappella and improv comedy groups. greek life plays a very limited role in the campus social life (there are two frats and no sororities). the town of swarthmore offers little more than pizza and coffee, but with a commuter rail station on campus, the bright lights of Philadelphia are easily accessible.” “most students put their first priority on their work (i certainly do!). as a result, social life tends to be low key. however, swarthmore offers many social advantages for the studious. everyone who chooses to come here is pretty similar—thoughtful, passionate, brilliant—so it’s easy to find kindred spirits. friendships, like everything else about the school, tend to be very intense and very intimate.” nov/dec 2012 “excellent. most of my professors were exceptional—knowledgeable, enthusiastic, accessible. almost every swarthmore student develops a close friendship with at least one of his or her professors. the distribution requirements (three classes each in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences) ensure at least some semblance of a well-rounded liberal arts education. the largest classes (introductory science courses) number about 100 students. most classes are considerably smaller, with 15-25 standard. the average class size in upper-level courses is probably under 10.” “i have found the instruction to be extremely personal and consistently excellent. the professors here are well respected in their fields and, on the whole, brilliant and very demanding. in return for demanding a lot of us, they give a great deal; comments on my papers have always been copious as well as extremely insightful.” “the professors are amazing, and the small classes are intense but gratifying. it is an environment in which students feel they are working together to learn rather than competing against each other.” “a defining feature of the students is their passion for what they are doing with their lives and their studies. People are not going through the motions here. one indication of this is that 20% of our alumni go on to complete a Ph.d.—the third highest rate in the nation. another is that nearly a third of students pursue departmental honors, a demanding process that includes written and oral examinations by outside scholars.” “since there is no graduate school, students carry a major responsibility for the research and publications as well as “i feel that at swarthmore i am getting the highest quality liberal arts education possible. the professors display a love of their subject and an eagerness to share it with undergraduates. most classes have a significant discussion component, which is what i enjoy most about my swarthmore classes. rather than being lectured to, we are encouraged to grapple with the material, to learn with and from each other. many upper-level courses are taught as seminars, in which the students have the primary responsibility for presenting 44 imagine WikiMeDia: kUngMing2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2012

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/december 2012
Contents
Big Picture
In My Own Words
Well of Dreams
Making History Personal
A World Full of Stories
The Month of Writing Dangerously
Japan Adventures
Storytelling 2.0
On the Frontline of Digital Journalism
Once Upon a Summer
Awakening the Storyteller
Selected Opportunities & Resources
On the Doorstep of Discovery
When You’re Ready to Do Research
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2012