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Swarthmore College

Swarthmore is a small, intensely academic liberal-arts college eleven miles southwest of Philadelphia, founded by Quakers and set on a 425-acre campus that doubles as the Scott Arboretum — the whole place is a labeled, living garden, with the wooded Crum Woods dropping down to Crum Creek at its edge. About 1,600 students live almost entirely on campus; first-years mostly land in Willets, up the oak-lined Magill Walk from the college's own SEPTA train station, which puts Center City Philadelphia about 25 minutes away. Most halls, Willets included, have no air conditioning, and the mid-Atlantic winter is damp and moderately cold rather than brutal.

Move-inLate August

BedsTwin XL

A/CVaries by hall

Jump to the checklist ↓

The one thing generic lists get wrong

What to wear in Swarthmore, month by month

This corner of the country breaks every generic packing list. It is not about surviving cold — it is about staying dry through a long gray winter and a famously short, beautiful summer.

Move-in (late Aug)	65–86°F	Warm, often humid late-summer days near Philadelphia. Willets and most first-year rooms have no A/C, so a good window or box fan is the single most useful thing to pack.
Sept–Oct	48–75°F	Crisp, comfortable fall with the arboretum turning color across campus. A light jacket and a few sweaters.
Nov–Dec	34–52°F	Gray and chilly toward finals, with cold rain and an occasional early snow. A warm coat and an umbrella before Thanksgiving.
Jan–Feb	26–43°F	A damp, moderately cold Delaware Valley winter — more slush and raw days than deep snow. A real coat, waterproof shoes, and gloves.
Mar–May	40–70°F	A green, blooming valley spring — the cherry border by Parrish Hall is the campus signature. Layers and a rain jacket.

The flip: the one thing to sort before you buy is A/C. Most first-years live in Willets, which has none, so a strong window or box fan is essential for the warm, humid late-August move-in — but if your student draws air-conditioned Danawell or Parrish, they can skip it, so wait for the assignment. The other Swarthmore rule: no standalone microwaves. Plan on a rented MicroFridge (roommates usually split it), and a compact Energy Star fridge is fine on its own.

Straight from the housing office

What Swarthmore College lets you bring

✓ Bring it

A window or box fan — Willets, the main first-year hall, has no A/C, so this is essential for the warm late-August move-in
A compact Energy Star fridge up to 24x18x18 inches
A UL-listed power strip with a built-in circuit breaker
A rain jacket and a warm coat and boots for a damp, moderately cold Delaware Valley winter
Twin XL bedding (confirm your specific hall)
UL/ETL power strip with a built-in circuit breaker — not a bare extension cord
Damage-free wall hangings like Command strips — no nails or screws
Low-draw LED desk and task lamps
A fan, a reusable water bottle, and UL-listed electronics

✕ Leave it home

Open-coil / open-flame cooking: toasters, toaster ovens, air fryers, hot plates, electric grills, sandwich makers
Candles, incense, wax warmers, and anything with an open flame
Halogen lamps
Extension cords without a breaker; outlet splitters and multi-plug adapters
Space heaters and personal A/C units (unless your school provides/approves them)
Hoverboards, e-scooters, e-bikes, and other e-mobility devices
Weapons of any kind — including decorative — and fireworks
Standalone microwaves — only a rented MicroFridge combo unit is allowed in the halls
Window and portable air-conditioner units
Personal wireless routers
Candles, incense, halogen lamps, and space heaters

These come from Swarthmore College's official housing pages and cover the essentials plus the genuinely local rules. Double-check the current official guidance before you buy — policies and renovations change every year.

Before you can move in

Getting your room at Swarthmore College

01
After you deposit
Complete the housing questionnaire
First-years are guaranteed on-campus housing. Fill out the housing and roommate questionnaire so Residential Life can place you in a first-year hall and match a roommate.
02
Summer
Get your hall and roommate
Your residence hall, room, and roommate are assigned over the summer and posted through the housing portal — this is when you learn whether you have A/C (Danawell, Parrish) or not (Willets).
03
Before arrival
Sort a fridge, a fan, and a MicroFridge
Decide on a compact fridge (max 24x18x18), pack a fan if you're in Willets, and reserve a MicroFridge through MyMicroFridge if you want an in-room microwave — standalone microwaves aren't allowed. Label your boxes; there are no assigned mailboxes to pre-address.
04
Aug 25
Move in for orientation
New students move in on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 — residence halls open at 8am and move-in runs 8am–noon, with New Student Orientation following through late August before classes begin.

The actual buildings

Where you'll live at Swarthmore College

First-year halls

Swarthmore houses about 95% of students on campus across 18 residence halls, and most first-years live together in a few of them. You get your hall and roommate over the summer through a housing questionnaire. The big variable is air conditioning — Willets, the main first-year hall, has none, while Danawell and Parrish do — so hold off on a fan until you know where you've landed.

WilletsMain first-year hall · no A/C

Where most first-years live — a lively hall of around 220 with weekend dinners, game nights, and movie nights that make it easy to find friends fast. Not air-conditioned, so pack a fan.

DanawellFirst-year · A/C

A first-year hall of about 70 (the connected Dana and Hallowell houses) further out on campus — one of the few first-year buildings with room air conditioning, with a foosball-and-TV lounge.

Parrish HallHistoric · mixed classes · A/C

The grand, central 1869 building above Parrish Beach — air-conditioned, with a whole floor of lounge space. Houses a mix of class years, including some first-years, right at the heart of campus.

The housing questionnaireHow you're placed

There's no room draw for new students: you fill out a questionnaire after depositing and Residential Life places you, sending your hall, room, and roommate over the summer.

The stuff nobody puts in one place

Swarthmore logistics, sorted

How to send a package to a Swarthmore student

[Student Full Name] ['##]
Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081

Swarthmore does not assign individual mailboxes. Address mail with your student's full name (adding their class year, like '30, helps) and the main college address; students get an email notification when a letter or package arrives and pick it up at the campus post office with their ID. FedEx and UPS parcels are handled the same way.

The whole campus is an arboretum

Swarthmore's 425-acre campus is the Scott Arboretum — over 4,000 kinds of plants, all labeled, woven right through the academic core, with the Crum Woods and Crum Creek along the western edge for trail walks. First-years arrive up Magill Walk, the oak-lined path from the train station to Parrish Hall, and Parrish Beach (the big lawn in front) is the center of campus life.

A train station on campus

The Swarthmore SEPTA station sits right at the foot of Magill Walk, on the Media/Wawa Regional Rail line — Center City Philadelphia is about 25 minutes by train, no car needed. Philadelphia International Airport is roughly 20 minutes by car, which makes Swarthmore unusually easy to reach for a small suburban campus.

Beyond the campus gates

Swarthmore & around

On campus

The Scott Arboretum & Crum Woods

The entire campus is a labeled arboretum, with wooded trails dropping to Crum Creek — free and open, and a genuinely lovely walk for visiting parents.

The Ville

Downtown Swarthmore

The compact village at the campus edge: Hobbs coffee and bagels, the Swarthmore Co-op grocery, and a handful of shops and eateries, all a few minutes' walk.

~25 min by train

Center City Philadelphia

The SEPTA station at the foot of campus runs straight into downtown Philadelphia — museums, restaurants, and sports without needing a car.

Nearby

Media & the Brandywine Valley

The county seat of Media ("everybody's hometown") is minutes away for dinner and a movie, with the gardens and museums of the Brandywine Valley a short drive southwest.

For move-in, family weekend & graduation

Where to stay near Swarthmore College

Closest · college-owned

The Inn at Swarthmore

On campus

The college's own 40-room hotel at the foot of campus, with the Broad Table Tavern — the natural first choice, with special rates for college guests based on availability.

~10 minutes

Hampton Inn & Suites Media

~10 min

A reliable, well-reviewed hotel in nearby Media, about ten minutes from campus.

~10 minutes

Courtyard by Marriott Philadelphia Springfield

~10 min

A dependable full-service option just north in Springfield, near shops and restaurants.

Book the Inn at Swarthmore early — it's tiny (40 rooms) and the only on-campus option. It fills fast for move-in, Garnet/Family Weekend, and commencement, so reserve as soon as your dates are set. Media and Springfield add hotels within ten minutes, and Philadelphia's full range of hotels is about 25 minutes away by car or train.

Gear up