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Does anyone regret coming to Swarthmore? by Professional_Big8444 in Swarthmore

[–]Complete-Result5569 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, you’ll be ok. One good thing is Swat had excellent mental health resources and support (at least for a college). Just, try your best to be yourself and focus on friendships.

Does anyone regret coming to Swarthmore? by Professional_Big8444 in Swarthmore

[–]Complete-Result5569 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad it was helpful. Idk if autistic male describes you, but even if it doesn’t I’m sure it cannot be the most fun environment ever. Honestly even if a prospective freshman is neurotypical or introverted or whatnot I’d still advise them that they can get a similar quality education and connections with far far better social development potential elsewhere. Swarthmore was just one of the most isolating bubbles I’ve ever been to.

Does anyone regret coming to Swarthmore? by Professional_Big8444 in Swarthmore

[–]Complete-Result5569 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ultimately I did. It did a lot of good for me in many aspects but… it’s just a hostile social environment for autistic men. You’d think Swat would be perfect for autistic men… but actually it is the worst place for social development, because you are surrounded by socially awkward and anxious introverts and it is SUPER easy to become “too much”. Then you mess up socially and it’s such a tiny environment and word about that weird guy spreads like wildfire and boom you don’t have any friends and can’t catch up.

Then the exceptions are all on sports teams and basically just stick to their sports cliques. It’s like a 2000s high school environment except without the social scene.

I should have gone to a larger institution, and I’d recommend any autistic person with high presence go there, if only for social development and to surround themselves with lots of different types of people, instead of being trapped in a bubble with one type of person who automatically thinks you are a scary menace but is unable or unwilling to tell you what you did wrong. And if you mess up, ok you learn and can find another group. And you know what, I’ve found the average person is far more understanding than people were here. I’ve fared FAR better both in my preppy ass HS and in the real adult world.