Swarthmore is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, which is practically a suburb of Philadelphia. While the school was originally Quaker, it is no longer religious. Swarthmore is part of the Tri-College Consortium and the Quaker Consortium. These connections allow Swarthmore students to take classes at Bryn Mawr College, Haverford, and the University of Pennsylvania. This is a huge opportunity for those who want a liberal arts education but access to more classes across local universities. Swarthmore’s acceptance rate is usually around 9%. Their supplement is only one question and they give you three prompts to choose from.
Please choose ONE of the topics below and write a response (maximum 250 words) *
Swarthmore students’ worldviews are often forged by their prior experiences and exposure to ideas and values. Our students are often mentored, supported, and developed by their immediate context—in their neighborhoods, communities of faith, families, and classrooms. Reflect on what elements of your home, school, or community have shaped you or positively impacted you. How have you grown or changed because of the influence of your community?
This is a great question and one that should be pretty easy to write. While the prompt is long, it is just asking for you to show us something about your world. Even if you don’t feel like it, our circumstances shape our perspective. For instance, someone who great up in Oakland’s Chinatown and someone who grew up in rural Michigan have very different lived experiences. You can talk about your neighborhood. Is it bustling? Is it tight-knit? Are you 6 miles from your next neighbor?
Bring us into your unique experience with a story. The story could be anything, but it should show the people around you and how you interact with them. It doesn’t have to be a huge story. Maybe you always work the elementary school’s spring carnival. Maybe you and your sister pick apples at the farm down the road. Maybe you live with a grandma who always knows everyone’s business. Let us know about it.
We are inspired by students who are flexible in their approach to learning, who are comfortable with experimentation, and who are willing to take intellectual risks that move them out of their comfort zone. Reflect on a time that you were intellectually challenged, inspired, or took an intellectual risk—inside or outside of the classroom. How has that experience shaped you, and what questions still linger?
This question is pretty tricky. If you immediately think of something, this is probably a good question for you. However, we think a lot of students might end up racking their brains here. High school classes often don’t include risk… so this question will most likely relate to something outside of the classroom.
Students usually think about “risk” in terms of being brave. But that isn’t quite the right tone here. A story about you doing a big speech doesn’t feel like an intellectual risk. The better approach is a story about a time when you had to reevaluate something. A time you had to change your mind or saw something in a different way that challenged your worldview. This is why this prompt is tricky. The stories that work best are pretty quiet and contemplative. That can be a lot to ask from a 17-year-old. Honesty, it’s a lot to ask for from an adult.
If you do this prompt, make sure to show intellectual growth and not just traditional “risk-taking behavior.”
Why are you interested in applying to and attending Swarthmore?
This is probably the question we see the most. If you’re doing multiple supplements you have already probably seen it too. We see it so often, that we have a bit of a formula. The first thing you have to do is choose a major. If you aren’t sure what you want to study, use your best guess. This will anchor your essay. Colleges want you to talk about academics in these essays and you need an intended major to really get into talking about academics.
Once you have your major, introduce what sparked your passion for that subject with a personal story. If you plan to study Film and Media Studies, maybe it was going to the independent cinema with your grandfather. Maybe it was volunteering at a local film festival. Whatever it was, show the spark and how that spark lead you down a path of wanting to study it in college. Make sure you state your major. This should happen by the end of your first paragraph.
Now it's time to back up why you want to study your passion specifically at Swarthmore. You need to do some research on this. You should mention 2 higher-level classes and talk about why you are excited to take them. Higher-level classes are more unique than intro classes and thus much more specific to Swarthmore. You should also name a professor that you want to do research with and why you are interested in their work. Once you have done that, you can talk about any other academic opportunities that have led you to apply. This could be honors, research opportunities, any interesting opportunities offered by the department, or even the consortium itself. One note, if you talk about Swarthmore being in the consortium, make sure it’s obvious why Swarthmore is the best option out of the schools for you even if you also plan to take classes elsewhere.
Once you have covered academics, you can talk about an on-campus club/extracurricular. The best extracurriculars to mention are connected to something you already do. This allows you to talk about yourself and also the opportunities at Swarthmore.
If you have any room left, which you might not, you can speak to any traditions that you love on campus or even what you would take advantage of outside the city of Philadelphia. Use your best judgment. Whatever you do, don’t write about “how beautiful campus is.” Trust us, they know.
You don’t need much of a conclusion, but you should leave the reader with the message that Swarthmore is the only place for you and that you would be an asset to Swarthmore.
These prompts all have a fairly short word count. This might make them seem easy, however, it usually makes them harder. You are going to want to get a lot of information into a small space. This can be tricky, no matter the prompt you choose. Give yourself some time and don’t be afraid to cut down a long first draft.
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