What is the best building on campus?
Where is the best place to eat at Swarthmore or in the Ville?
Who is your favorite professor?
Is it shorts weather yet?
Will Huang ’27: No. I think shorts weather is only when it’s physically uncomfortable to wear pants.
Alyssa Wheeler ’26: No, it’s too cold right now.
Evelyn Weixel ’28: Honestly, I’m kind of a shorts hater, because I can never find a pair that I like, so I just can’t empathize with shorts enjoyers because I’ve never felt that feeling. But, ok wait, it is skirt weather … so, yeah. For someone who would wear shorts, I guess it’s shorts weather.
Jennie Williams ’27: If it’s above 70, it’s shorts weather. If the sun is out, it’s shorts weather. Cloudy and seventy, no.
Percy Pu ’27: No, it’s so cold.
Joanna Hong ’27: Not yet. At least 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit). There hasn’t been any shorts weather yet this year, but there’s definitely been t-shirt weather.
Eva August ’28: Honestly, the vibe is yes. The problem is, over the past few days, it’s too cold, it’s miserable. But previously, it was definitely shorts weather. It was just like summer.
Lemuel L’Oiseau ’26: No. Although caveat to that – it was for a few days but now it’s not. The criteria I feel like is that for at least a good two weeks it should be warm enough to walk outside in the morning or at night without feeling too cold.
Have you ever used Rate My Professor before? If so, what are your thoughts?
Will Huang ’27: I have used it, but I find it highly inaccurate. I think it’s ethical in the same way that Yelp is ethical, I just don’t think it’s very accurate.
Alyssa Wheeler ’26: I’ve used it whenever people have pointed out: “Oh my god, somebody just dropped a review for our professor for this class,” but I’ve never submitted reviews for professors. Rate My Professors is not representative of professors at Swarthmore, because Swarthmore is so small. Even if more people used it, I think people have a poor assessment of what makes a good professor. Just because a class is hard or you did badly in the class or some other reason doesn’t mean the professor is bad. It’s just a hard class or the professor has a certain personality that maybe you don’t mesh well with, but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of teaching well.
Evelyn Weixel ’28: I go on there and stalk professors, but I’ve never left a review. But it’s also my first time having professors, so maybe I’ve just gotta get in there. Because there are not a lot of professors on there, and some of them have no reviews at all. I look on there for wisdom and there’s nothing, it’s just empty.
Jennie Williams ’27: I’ve used it to look up a professor, and the professor had really bad reviews. I’m like, “Oh, it can’t be that bad.” All of the reviews were true. It was really terrible. The professor isn’t here anymore.
Percy Pu ’27: I’ve used it, and I would say it’s not very accurate. I was scared by the rating before going to the class, and then I ended up finding the professor very nice. It’s very subjective.
Joanna Hong ’27: I also think it’s subjective, but I still look at it before every class. I think people’s criteria are very different, and you can’t really tell until you meet them in person. I think I should make more comments, since they aren’t updated very often, and then there’s a skewed perspective.
Lemuel L’Oiseau ’26: Way back when I was a freshman I used it, but not since then. But honestly I feel like it’s a bit wack. I guess it’s helpful to figure out if a professor’s cool or not, but I listen more to word of mouth and my friends and how they feel.
What is the most underrated spot on campus?
Will Huang ’27: The place where Essie’s used to be – Clothier. And it has this really nice auditorium upstairs.
Alyssa Wheeler ’26: The Crum, everyone says the Crum. I go there sometimes, but I mostly just walk through it to get to class faster. Everyone says the Crum, but do they mean it? I’m a fake outdoorsy person, and I know there must be other fake outdoorsy people out there. Are people seeing the true value? Are they getting the full appreciation?
Percy Pu ’27: I would say I really like the IC Dome. They have all kinds of tea, and no one’s in there studying. After this is published, I hope no one occupies my secret space, but yeah, it’s my secret space.
Joanna Hong ’27: Cherry blossom border, I love it.
Eva August ’28: I really like that little balcony in Sci on the second floor.
Evelyn Weixel ’28: I love the costume shop in LPAC basement. We have so many costumes — there are insane boxes and petticoats just hanging on the walls. I love it so much there. It’s like my magic, mysterious little place.
Lemuel L’Oiseau ’26: I would say the trail by ML that are connected to the Crum trails. I like that path because you can get to the old ruins of that mansion with the garden. Basically, I would say the trails, but definitely the more obscure ones.
