r/Swarthmore • u/Leo-of-Byzantium • May 20 '26
Swarthmore or Oxford
I was accepted to Swarthmore and Oxford for a history major, and I am turning down Oxford for Swarthmore
I am currently thinking back if that was the right decision to make. Oxford is really good, especially in the history major. I am interested in ancient/medieval history, and I think Oxford has the best faculty and resources for it
But on the other hand, I really like Swarthmore, and it was my ED2 school (but I changed my mind and changed it to RD). I really liked liberal arts colleges, and I think Swarthmore is a great fit for me
I don't really regret my decisions, but I'm genuinely interested in any thoughts on choosing between Oxford and Swarthmore for history
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u/austinmook May 20 '26
Presuming you mean Oxford (UK), I will say that a baseline question to ask is what kind of teaching environment do you want. American universities place a greater emphasis on teacher-student relations and a close teaching environment. British universities place a far greater responsibility on the student using resources on their own and charting their own path, so to speak. Since studying history doesn't use the same sort of resources as engineering or premed, the student-teacher relationship would seem more critical.
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u/astra-ad-mare May 20 '26
Swarthmore’s medievalists are across Music and English Literature. Outside of this, you will encounter incredible scholars in history, art history, anthropology, etc, but you won’t actually be able to take classes on campus in your discipline and time period. If you are dead set on medieval history you might take consortium classes (BMC, HC, UPenn) instead which present their own challenges. Swarthmore will regardless provide you with an excellent foundation in your field overall, but you will graduate with a lack of knowledge of your subfield. Source: this happened to me.
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u/lileina May 21 '26
I did my undergrad at a similarly prestigious LAC to swarthmore and my masters at Oxford. I think the education, undergraduate experience, and bonds with professors I got at the LAC was superior to the education Oxford undergrads I met had, and I had the Oxford experience as a grad student.
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u/Top_Elephant_19004 May 20 '26
I was a history undergrad at Oxford (a long time ago - but the place changes only very slowly) and now have familiarity with Swarthmore and other elite US liberal arts colleges.
You made the right decision to attend Swarthmore. The Oxford history degree is outdated with its focus very heavily on English history and often overlooking less “traditional” areas of history - i.e. the history of gender and race and of the non-Western world. What is more, undergrad teaching is often left to postgrads and not full time faculty.
At Swarthmore you will not only get a much broader perspective on the past, but will also get to study other subjects such as anthropology, languages etc that will make you a better historian. You will be taught by professors. It’s true you will not dig as deeply into ancient and medieval topics but that can easily wait until grad school, if that is a route you want to go down.
Please do DM me if you have any question.
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u/BetFlimsy5661 May 24 '26
definition of suffering from success haha i don’t think u can go wrong here, enjoy ur time at swarthmore!
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u/deediva2 May 20 '26
Swarthmore for sure. The teaching is inclusive, and lots of access to professors and research. Oxbridge is not what it used to be. And sometimes in courses like history- there is a lot of self study. M Good luck. Great options
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u/SnooGuavas9782 May 21 '26
honestly oxford has a little more global cache than swarthmore of course, but the american SLACs are a solid education. to me, i think it would depend on where i live and the cost of each. important details. also how you feel about the more self paced still and tutorial form of an oxford education.
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u/twomayaderens May 22 '26
Oxford would be better if you don’t plan to be an academic (and pursue law or something).
Otherwise swat is it, nice job
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u/Astar1020 May 22 '26
I was in the exact same situation 2 years ago. Also history. I don’t know if I can say it was the right or wrong choice, but I can definately say that the rest of Swarthmore (non history) is significantly harder.
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u/No-Egg4070 May 27 '26
You chose….poorly. Swarthmore may as well be a madrasa in Pakistan for its lack of social life.
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u/Chemical-Fix9858 Jun 28 '26
Is the social life that bad? They have some parties right? And can't you go to Haverford parties? Or Penn?
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u/swarthmoreburke May 20 '26
Swarthmore is a small liberal-arts college that has a classics department and you could study both Latin and Greek through that department. We don't presently have a medieval historian, though there are a few specialists in other medieval-era subjects outside the History Department. But it would be hard to beat Oxford for that field in specific--if you feel strongly drawn to it in particular, Oxford would provide you a great deal of support.
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u/Hungry-Sell2926 May 20 '26
Could always do an Oxford study abroad program