Introduction
Once a well-hidden gem tucked away in leafy, suburban Philadelphia, Haverford College is breaking out of obscurity and into the forefront of the country
Haverford College
Information Summary
| Overall Score (about) | 98.6 |
| Total Cost On-Campus Attendance | $73,902 |
| Admission Success rate | N/A |
| ACT / SAT 75%ile scores | 34 / 1530 |
| Student Ratio Students-to-Faculty | 8 : 1 |
| Retention (full-time / part-time) | 97% / N/A |
| Enrollment Total (all students) | 1,310 |
Academics
The freshman orientation week used to include a session with a long-time chemistry professor on balancing work. The bow-tied chemist would break down, to the hour, the daily schedule of the average student in an effort to impress upon the freshmen the amount of planning they needed to keep up with their studies. Eight hours a day were allotted for sleeping, three for meals, four for class, and three for any extracurricular activities, which, according to his calculations, left a reasonable six hours of the day for homework. Needless to say, this left many already apprehensive freshmen wondering what they had gotten themselves into. While few if any students follow these recommendations for time budgeting, they take their studies very seriously. There are no stereotypical students; the captain of the basketball team might also be a philosophy major who reads Kant when not at practice. The work load is heavy, and often the faculty members seem to forget that you aren
Most Popular Fields of Study
Gallery
Admissions
Gaining admission is not an easy task, but it
Financial Aid
Haverford is not cheap. With a price tag that is over $40,000 a year, many students need help to cover their expenses. The Financial Aid Office is as generous as it can be, providing aid of some form for just over a third of the student body. Admission is need-blind, and financial aid is addressed only after a student has been accepted.
Financial aid decisions are made solely according to a need-based allocation formula developed by the college. In other words, the school does not offer any financial aid on the basis of academic, musical, athletic, or any other merits.
Financial aid comes primarily in the form of grants and scholarships. The college has around 120 scholarship funds that students are awarded as part of their aid packages, and can be general or directed at students with particular interests. Campus jobs are plentiful, and range from monitoring the field house during evenings to writing press releases for the Public Relations Office. Students often use work-study as r
Student Financial Aid Details
Students
The Haverford experience begins with Customs Week, basically five days of intensified summer camp. Freshmen are divided into groups of ten to fifteen according to their dorm and hall, which becomes their Customs group. Upperclass students, usually sophomores, guide first-year students through a gauntlet of games, get-to-know-you activities, and general orientation to the college. The week includes a dorm Olympics, where each of the three freshman dorms compete against each other in games ranging from the human knot to egg tossing. Customs groups tend to be tight-knit during the first semester, usually traveling en masse to and from the dining center. This mentality can slow down the process of meeting new people, but it also is easier to make some close friends within the group.
Housing
For those who enjoy their personal space, housing is ideal. Many of the dorms have single rooms, usually grouped together in suites with a common room. Except for freshman year, there is a good chance that a student can go through most of college without having to share a room. If you are looking for a college roommate with whom you can share stories at your twenty-fifth reunion, the several houses on campus and the Haverford College Apartments (HCA) are the way to go. HCA is a complex located on the edge of campus. It houses a third of the freshmen and a large part of the sophomore class. Apartments are shared by three or four students, each with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The only drawback is that you have to clean the bathroom yourself. HCA develops its own social scene throughout the year, since the third of the student body that lives there creates its own special camaraderie.
Parties and Bars
HC has no Greek system, but party-goers still tend to gravitate toward the several houses on campus for their Friday and Saturday night activities or to Lloyd dorm for traditional Thursday night parties. The same scene can get old midway through the first semester, so the more adventurous and legal fun-seekers head out to some of the area bars. Actually, most don
Student Enrollment Demographics
Student Graduation Demographics
Athletics
Athletics are a big draw ranging from the varsity athlete to the intramural badminton player. Forty percent of the students play intercollegiate sports and another fifteen percent play on club teams. There are over twenty varsity teams that compete in the NCAA Division III and in the Centennial Conference, which includes schools such as Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Johns Hopkins. While some teams are up and down each year, both the men
Traditions
The college also has some long-standing traditions, the most notable being Class Night, a variety show in which classes compete with each other to put on the most ridiculous and often offensive skit. Alums will get teary-eyed remembering their Class Night shenanigans, but in the past few years, participation has flagged, and some classes don
Alumni
The real test of the value of a Haverford education and experience comes after students walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. For some it is directly on to graduate or professional school, while others want to take some time to breathe before continuing their education. Roughly fifteen percent of all graduating seniors head straight for school right after college, with four percent attending law school and five percent going on to medical school. Another thirty-five percent spend some time in the work world before going back to school within five years of graduation. Those who do start the nine-to-five life do so in a wide variety of fields. Recent graduates tend to find jobs in business, education, scientific research, and journalism
Faculty
Small classes mean that students come into close contact with professors, and HC has some of the best around. Not only are many at the top of their fields, but they are also interested in teaching as well as research. The biology faculty welcomes juniors into their labs over the summer to assist them in their research, and many biology majors use that experience as part of their thesis or to get published. Most professors encourage classroom discussion, which both enlivens courses and means that if you haven
This website and its associated pages are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by this school.
StateUniversity.com has no official or unofficial affiliation with Haverford College.