I’m a rising junior double majoring in economics and psychology, studying on the pre-law track. Guess how many attempts it took to figure this out. Way more than you can imagine! From exploring, to narrowing down my interests, the process of figuring out what I wanted to study was not an easy journey, but it was a doable one, thanks to Swarthmore’s Pass/Fail semester.
As an incoming freshman, I was more than ever undecided. One day, I would wake up and want to work as a curator at an art museum. The next day, I would want to be a clinical therapist. Then, the following week, I would dream to be a product manager at Google. My dreams fluctuated more often than the temperature swings. For someone as indecisive as myself, the Pass/Fail semester at Swarthmore came in clutch.
Your freshman fall semester at Swarthmore is a Pass/Fail semester, meaning that no class you take during that semester will count towards your GPA, nor will a letter grade show on your final transcript. This allows students to explore different fields, challenge themselves with considerably difficult materials, and have the time to acclimate into the college environment, while not being bogged down by the fear of doing poorly in a class.
During my Pass/Fail semester, I tried out every single class on the course catalog that caught my attention: Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Intro to Drawing, a Russian Literature seminar, and tennis. I did enjoy all these courses, but fast forward two years, I ended up majoring in none of them. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily! I was able to figure out what I really wanted to do because I was able to eliminate the rest of what I was possibly interested in pursuing. I give full credit to the Pass/Fail semester for being able to find my way towards Economics and Psychology. Had it not been the Pass/Fail semester, who knows, I might have ended up majoring in some other field, not knowing studying Economics and Psychology would bring me a greater joy of learning.
Pass/Fail semester is a gift from Swarthmore, and I wouldn’t have my freshman year any other way!