Trying to decipher the Common Data Set for Swarthmore

Okay, folks, bear with me. I tried to look up the Common Data Set for Swarthmore, but it's like reading Greek. Can someone help explain what I'm looking at here? Thanks for the help.

Looking at the Common Data Set can be a bit challenging at first. It provides a wide range of data on the college, from average test scores and GPA of accepted students, to information about financial aid and institutional costs. It's produced by a collaboration of various organizations that work in higher education to provide comprehensive and accurate data about colleges and universities.

Let's break it down a bit.

The Common Data Set is usually divided into several sections, and each section corresponds to a different category of data.

Section A is General Information, containing basic info like the official name and website of the institution.

Section B focuses on Enrollment and Persistence. Here's where you'll find information about the number and percent of students who return to the college for their sophomore year (also known as freshman retention rate), as well as the graduation rates.

Section C details the First-time, First-Year (Freshman) Admission. It includes numbers for applications received, accepted, and enrolled, along with some statistics on their high school class rank and standardized test scores.

Section D covers Transfer Admission. If you're a prospective transfer student, you'll find the information you need here.

Section E dips into Academic Offerings and Policies. It can tell you about the most popular majors, how to earn honors, and the types of degrees offered.

Section F provides information on Student Life, where you can learn about housing, athletics, and clubs or organizations available to students.

Section G dives into Annual Expenses. You can find out about tuition, room and board, and other costs. It might also show an estimate of total costs for a year.

Section H, Financial Aid, lists the types of financial aid available and can be particularly useful for understanding what kind of financial help you might be able to receive.

Sections I and J provide information about the college's Instructional Faculty and Class Sizes, respectively.

Section K talks about the degrees conferred by the institution, essentially showing what proportion of students graduate with which kinds of degrees.

And finally, Section L gives you info about the school's Library.

Hopefully, that gives you an idea of where to start when navigating the data! Each school's Common Data Set might vary slightly, but the basics should be similar.