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outwest
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Posted: Mon Apr 14th, 2008 02:23 am |
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I plan to post a review when we get back in a few days, but I did upload a few pictures. It literally looks like a castle complete with a cloister, even! It reminds me of things we saw in Poland and France. Swarthmore and Haverford look similar, by the way. The three schools plus U Penn are in a consortium.
Castle complete with turrets and flags!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/outwest5/pennsylvania869.jpg
central walkway:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/outwest5/pennsylvania873.jpg
More hogwarts from the back:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/outwest5/pennsylvania892.jpg
an athletic field
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/outwest5/pennsylvania888.jpg
a steeple building
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/outwest5/pennsylvania879.jpg
There are several very modern buildings, too, but I didn't upload them yet. Bryn Mawr is imposing and very impressive to this SoCal girl.  There are no low, long spanish buildings with red tile roofs, that's for sure.
Last edited on Mon Apr 14th, 2008 02:36 am by outwest
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defyingravity1
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Posted: Mon Apr 14th, 2008 03:22 am |
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Wow those cherry blossom trees are amazing!!! It is very Hogwarts. Now all they need is a Quidditch team! 
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outwest
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Posted: Mon Apr 14th, 2008 04:25 am |
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| Is that what they are then? There are all manner of flowering trees that I have never seen before. There are several varieties of magnolias all in bloom, too. The trees have all different shades of pink and are pretty impressive. Last edited on Mon Apr 14th, 2008 04:26 am by outwest
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outwest
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:53 pm |
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I wrote such a long review because this is the school I am 99% sure my D is going to. She is sitting on the decision for one week since it is on the other side of the country from us (about 6 hour flight). It would entail a lot more organization to get her there and back.
We have arrived safely home from our visit and I wanted to write a review before I forgot things.
website: http://www.brynmawr.edu/
Bryn Mawr College is one of the 'seven sisters' women's colleges. It is located in a very safe, wealthy suburban area of Phildelphia. There are maybe 6 or 7 colleges all in a small area. It is about 20 minutes from the center of the city. Philadelphia is full of our nations history and wonderful art museums and many things to do. Parts of Philadelphia are dangerous just as they are in any large urban space. Being from California, we found driving in the city particularly stressful as there are trams running up and down the main streets which is also the area you need to drive your car in order to turn. Many streets have three lanes- a right, a left and a middle where cars and trams in both directions rip around with no dividing line. The lights are not well placed and the drivers seemed aggressive. The streets are mostly all one way, also. Bring a gps, it saved us! The good thing for college students is they won't need a car to get aound in the city because of all the trams.
Weather: Pennsylvania has definite seasons, but is not bitterly cold like the midwest or NE for months on end. We visited in mid April and Spring was in full swing with green grass and sunny weather. It snows some in the winter.
Back to the college:
Campus: When we first drove up we rounded the corner and our jaws dropped. Looming in front of us was Hogwarts complete with turrets and flags and spires! I am not sure what we expected, but none of the dvd's, web site or photos we had seen prepared us for the immense, imposing stone buildings with gargoyles on the corners. My daughter made the comment, "Where will I keep my white steed and jousting stick?" If your daughter thinks it would be fun to go to school in a castle with a haunted dorm, then Bryn Mawr is the place. Maybe because we are from California and used to Spanish architecture and long, low buildings, it was particularly surprising to us. There is even a cloister which is listed as a Historic Building by the government.
Once we got over the shock of the physical campus it was beautiful with dozens of weeping, flowering cherry trees and magnolias of all types, all in bloom for Spring. It also has a number of large modern buildings scattered around, so it is not completely gothic. The campus is also much larger then it at first appears. It spreads out down a gentle hill to the athletic facilities and it takes about ten minutes to walk from one end to the other. Since Pennsylvania is pretty flat, we were pleased to see some hills there.
The town of Bryn Mawr had a nice downtown area walking distance to the college with lots of little shops, etc. A nice collegey downtown.
Students: My D was there for the admitted students program starting on Sunday and ending Monday afternoon. She was nervous at first because she has never been to the East Coast and we had just gone to admitted students day at another Pennsylvania college where everyone seemed very 'east coast'. She didn't feel she fit in. She wasn't sure she would fit in here, either. They split the students away from the parents and we only caught a glimpse of her for the remainder of the day and picked her up the following afternoon. The college had a full program for the parents, too.
The students were all given name tags and one thing that struck us was that this school truly had a countrywide draw and we saw international students, too. It appeared maybe 65% caucasian, if I was to guess. Diversity was very important to my D and one reason Bryn Mawr had been on her list. We saw very little alternative dress and very few edgy students. The gay population, usually quite evident/large in women's colleges, seemed not more then at any other liberal leaning college. There were also a number of men walking around going to class as it has cross registration with Haverford, University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore. Politically, Bryn Mawr is mostly liberal, but there is an active republican club and seemed more balanced then some.
My daughter, once we finally met up with her, was excited by the student body and said the students were very smart and interesting. This is the same thing we observed. We had wondered if there would be a lot of 'fancy' girls, but we saw no pearls. On the students panels we attended, the girls were so impressive, but we kept in mind that it is the top students who speak on those things. My D attended three classes and noted a lot of interaction and a lot of intelligence. All the classes were available for the visiting students, not just a select few as was evident at other colleges.
There is some drinking, particularly at the three college parties, and practically nil drug use. There is no greek life. There are about 1300 undergraduates, so it is small. Because it is small, there is a quietness and calmness about it. My D loved that, but some students would want a lot more action and Bryn Mawr would seem way too boring. There are numerous clubs, just like at all colleges. Their outdoor program (my D is interested) is a coclub with Haverford as are several of the groups.
Haverford and Swarthmore: You can't really write a review of Bryn Mawr without including these two schools. There is a bi-co bus that runs between Haverford (walking distance) and Bryn Mawr every 20 minutes or so as well as a tri-co bus that goes to all three. On the weekends the busses run until 2 and 3 am respectively. Swarthmore is about 20 minutes on the shuttle and Haverford 5 minutes. All the students we asked had taken classes at one of these other two colleges, but Haverford being so easily accessible was really a symbiotic relationship and the course catalog is a joint catalog! You can eat in any of them with your meal plan, too. At dinner Sunday night, my daughter said there were a number of Haveford students eating because Bryn Mawr has such great food. Haverford and Swarthmore are also beautiful campus's with stone buildings. University of Pennsylvania is 20 minutes by train and it didn't seem that the girls took as much advantage of the cross registration with them, but it is available and one of the panel students was taking a class there.
Dorms: It is one of the 'dorms like palaces' in the Princeton Review. I would say that is correct because the rooms are spacious with personality. Singles are available to Freshman and even many of the doubles are rooms with separate doors attached with a common center living space! Triples and quads are also available and those were spacious, too. The hallways are wide and the girls shoes were all over the place. The hallway walls were plastered with magazine pictures of young men and women. In one of the dorms we visited there were lead glass windows on the doors. There are also fireplaces in a bunch of them, although they are o longer actually used, they do add ambiance.
The only thing lacking in the dorms is a kitchen for students use. There is a microwave room, but nowhere for someone to bake cookies. There is a kitchen for students who want to cook to use, but it is in a separate area and must be reserved ahead of time. Laundry is completely free and part of your room and board fee, no quarters to deal with. The dorm buildings range from gothic to modern and there are about 12 or 14 of them? I can't remember. The other difference is that the dorms are all multiage (no Freshman only dorms). There is even a coed dorm as Haverford students can choose to live on Bryn Mawr campus and visa versa! Something like 90-95% of students live in the dorms all four years (the city of Bryn Mawr is very expensive to live in).
Academics: This is no slacker school. There are extensive distribution requirements, a language requirement, a PE requirement and a swimming test! You declare your major at the end of your Sophomore year and you can major at Haverford, too. When we toured the dorms, we saw many students studying and one parent joked that they were plants. There is a large senior thesis requirement and each senior is given a desk and bookshelf in one of the four libraries. They do not have grade inflation and a B or C is the average grade, they said. It is in the top ten PhD producing schools and in the top couple in several areas (#1 in anthropology) beating out University of Chicago and Yale. It's preprofessional students do well in med school and law school admissions, too (75% and 80% admission rates). I told my daughter she needed to decide if she wanted to work that hard, but her eyes sparkled. They do have study abroad with about 35% of the students taking advantage of that, which is less then other colleges we looked at. They are quite strict about what programs are acceptable for study abroad and you have to apply to go to them. This school seems like it would give my daughter an incredible, intense education. The libraries were full of students studying on Sunday afternoon.
Athletics: When we were having lunch the Crew Coach came to sit at our table because another girl wanted to join the crew team. The coach was a gold medal winner from the 1984 Olympics in crew. How impressive was that? The athletics are div. 3 and many participate. They even have an equestrian team and you can keep your horse there (if you have one).
Financial aid: They offer no merit aid, but are a 100% need school. My daughter's financial aid package was the most generous of all the need only schools she applied to. She could go to a merit aid school for less money, but I don't think I'll be able to talk her into that. We visited from the West coast because the aid package was actually right what we could truly afford, not what some schools said we could afford. They have a healthy endowment.
Admissions: They have about a 40-45% admit rate (going down in the last couple years as the # of applicants go up, just like everywhere else). 1200-1420 is the middle 50% CR/M SAT scores. They require 2 sat2's.
I don't have much more to say, except my daughter very, very excited about this school and bought two sweatshirts. She was smiling and yapping away to various people every time we caught a glimpse of her. I knew by her face when we finally picked her up that she was happy. I said, "Well?" She said, "Sweatshirt!!!" As we left, my husband said, "This is one incredible college. I would be so proud if she went here."
My concerns about this all women's college? It is an all women's college. I am not completely sold on that idea. Other then that fact, I think it's a terrific college.
By the way......the president of Harvard University (a woman) is a Bryn Mawr graduate.
Last edited on Sat May 24th, 2008 04:38 am by outwest
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defyingravity1
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 05:30 pm |
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Outwest- Congrats!!  That is kinda my thing about Earlham also ( if I get in  ) . It is only a 2 hr flight from Laguardia but still, it is a flight.
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outwest
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 09:16 pm |
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By the way, Bryn Mawr's mascot is Athena's Owl. She thinks that is just too cool. They also have all these silly traditions and superstitions that some girls take seriously (teas and lantern lighting and not walking on the senior steps or you won't graduate) and some blow off. My D, as a former girl scout, says it's like girl scouts on steroids. She keeps laughing about the various things. There is even a haunted dorm and before finals the girls leave offerings for the ghost at feet of a statue of Athena.  Last edited on Sat May 24th, 2008 04:42 am by outwest
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jocelynDAD
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 04:32 am |
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Outwest:
Bryn Mawr is a Woman's College, however it has Haverford men on campus 24/7!
They are in most if not all classes and BM girls go on Haverford's campus as frequently.
S'more and Penn students much less frequently, usually for a specific upper level class.
Socially, It is as active or passive as an individual wishes.
Really very similar to Pomona/Scripps et al.
It really is a great institution.
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outwest
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 05:59 am |
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Yes, it was the consortium and seeming similarity with the Claremont colleges that drew her initially, but it certainly is not like Scripps in appearance! In the classes she visited there were a few men in each and the shuttle is a large blue bus that has Bryn Mawr/Haverford painted on the side. The students did say that the partnership between the two schools was strong. My D is not a partier and likes things quieter, so it was just to her taste. She does like social things, though, and the school seemed very social in the clubs and groups.
Thanks for the reassurance about the school. It is nice to know that a somewhat local person like yourself thinks it is a good school. Few people here know about it and my D is looking forward to wearing her shirt and pronouncing it to everyone tomorrow. We were very impressed (after getting over the shock of the massive, gothic facilities - we really were shocked). The plants and trees soften the stone buildings and the modern ones thrown around added some variety.
Last edited on Thu Apr 17th, 2008 06:02 am by outwest
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mackinaw
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 02:11 pm |
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OW, Bryn Mawr is truly a terrific school and truly a "national" one. I may have mentioned that a niece of mine graduated from BMC a few years ago. She hailed from Santa Fe, New Mexico. I attended her graduation and saw that beautiful campus as well. You've mentioned the transportation between from BMC to Haverford and Swarthmore. It's also easy to get into Philadelphia by train.
Last edited on Thu Apr 17th, 2008 02:16 pm by mackinaw
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jocelynDAD
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 02:58 pm |
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Mac:
You are right about the trains, it is just one block from the campus to the train station. Direct into downtown Philly or to the U of Penn for a class. S'more also has a train station just two blocks from their campus and Haverford likewise. Villanova is just two stations from Brym Mawr as well. Villanova have a good number of commuters and renters in the local aree so those trains really have students going and coming all day.
Outwest:
Re: National Reputation that is definitely the case for BMC, even in Lotusland they know of BMC because of Katherine Hepburn who was very proud and noisy about her school.
Our D2 applied to both BMC and Scripps (waitlisted at both). She liked them both for academic reasons and their settings. She said that Scripps buildings were so California, (Her material grandmother grew up on a farm (now shopping center) in West Covina), but that BMC was just what she expected for Philadelphia (my mother's birthplace and home).
D2's friends going to BMC absolutely love it.
BTW, many students bike to and fro Haverford and BMC as the two schools have bikeways that do not cross any significant streets etc. Really convenient (in good weather of course) When it is too cold or rainy the bus does just fine.
Last edited on Thu Apr 17th, 2008 03:02 pm by jocelynDAD
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outwest
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 03:45 pm |
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Well, my D went off this am with her Bryn Mawr sweatshirt and a Bryn Mawr pin on her backpack. It is supposed to be in the 80's today so I wonder how long she will actually wear the sweatshirt?
She told me as she went out the door that I had to mail the deposit today. She didn't want to wait any longer. Last night she was filling out the housing form on line.
The truly national draw is why she felt so at home in such a different physical environment. She has been chatting on line with another Bryn Mawr prospie from Pasadena she met at the school. Pasadena is only a half an hour from our house. They are both so excited! So, she already has a friend there. In addition, she knows two people, a guy and a girl, from her high school who are going to Swarthmore next year. There will be a 'home' contingent for her, too.
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mackinaw
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 04:25 pm |
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| That "so in love" stage that your D is demonstrating toward BMC is always something to behold. Great decision.
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riviera
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 06:59 pm |
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| Outwest, this is great that your daughter is so excited about her future school! I am sure she's going to love her four years there.
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Canadian
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Posted: Fri Apr 18th, 2008 12:23 am |
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| Music to my ears to hear about your happy D!!!
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outwest
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Posted: Fri Apr 18th, 2008 04:30 am |
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She came home today telling me that so and so is going to Haverford. I feel good knowing there will be a few people there she knows from home.
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InterestedDad
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Posted: Thu Jun 5th, 2008 01:28 am |
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Outwest:
It's great to read your D's enthusiasm for Bryn Mawr. She's going to love it. Great school. Great location.
I think the visit reports here for Bryn Mawr are selling the neighborhood a little short. Bryn Mawr and neighbor Haverford are more than "nice little neighborhoods". They are among the most expensive neighborhoods in the country.
The US Open Golf Tournament is scheduled again for historic old Merion Golf Club, which adjoins Haverford's campus. Bryn Mawr is the only "college town" I know of that has its own Ferrari dealership!
PS: If you are looking for a special dinner the night before orientation, make a reservation now at Iron Chef Morimoto's restaurant in downtown Philly. It's worth it.
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outwest
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Posted: Thu Jun 5th, 2008 03:58 am |
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Awesome, InterestedDad. My D is a foody and an iron chef groupie. Thanks for the tip!
We thought the area around the colleges was really nice, but we were in a little bit of culture shock, so didn't notice much other than flowering trees and stone, stone, stone (I never saw so much stone!). Obviously, stone is a readily available building material. Many houses seemed gigantic, but not cheery (does that make sense?) because of all the stone. I agree, I am very happy that she is going to college in such a very nice area, though! I am sure our reaction was just because we haven't seen it before and there were very few bushes, which was different, too. The trees were gorgeous. The differences just made it seem very cool. It was the first time my DH and daughter had been to the East coast in their lives. The air felt heavy to us (I hope she does humidity!). The thing is, it was all those differences and the school itself that made it all seem so exciting. She wanted to try somewhere NEW! And, PA is new and very cool. She found out that the appalachian trail is not far away, either. Now she is very jazzed about giving it a try.
We also drove through Philly with the gps. The gps does not avoid scary neighborhoods. But, much of Philly is nice, too..The history in Philadelphia can not be compared to anywhere in the US except maybe Boston.
The neighborhood around those colleges seems very, very safe (and upscale) and with a couple of nice downtown areas not far away. The train is very close too. I felt like she could go walking anywhere around there and feel safe.
We/she have never been to New York. Since it is only an hour and a half by train, we may just have to give it a try sometime. That is the other thing. Philadelphia seems so central to so many places, none of them very far away.
Last edited on Thu Jun 5th, 2008 04:27 am by outwest
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InterestedDad
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Posted: Thu Jun 5th, 2008 04:41 pm |
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Yeah, the stone is a trademark of the Philadelphia/eastern Pennsylvania area. You don't seem that much of it anywhere else. Wood in New England. Brick in the south.
Here's a sampling of houses on the market in Bryn Mawr right now. You can see a pretty sizeable cluster near the college in the $2 to $5 million range. That may not be much by California standards, but those pretty price little abodes on the east coast.
http://www.trulia.com/PA/Bryn_Mawr/#for_sale/Bryn_Mawr,PA/price;d_sort/
Like I say, Bryn Mawr has its own Ferrari dealer, just in case you D gets a hankering for something a little sporty, in red, for zippin' around town!
Safety? In Bryn Mawr? I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, lightning can strike anywhere and I suppose you could get randomly mugged. Let's just say Bryn Mawr doesn't have many abandoned crack houses!
Humidity? Hah. We easterners get the opposite problem in LA. Our skin cracks and noses start bleeding from the dryness! Philly's not that bad. It's only hot n' muggy when school is out of session in the summer -- and every day that parents have to carry stuff to or from dorm rooms!
Philly is very convenient to everywhere on the east coast. My daughter did multiple weekend trips to New York and Washington, DC. using public transportation. She got cheapo airfare routinely to Boston and also to Atlanta and Miami for vacations during college. If you are in LA, you should be checking out Southwest from all of your regional airports to Phlly.
Here's the link to Morimoto. We had been talking about eating there for four years, but always ended up tired after a long day's drive or whatever for a big production dinner. We finally went before graduation and had probably the most enjoyable all-around dining experience ever (food, decor, service, etc).
http://www.morimotorestaurant.com/
Last edited on Thu Jun 5th, 2008 04:43 pm by InterestedDad
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Chedva
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Posted: Thu Jun 5th, 2008 06:01 pm |
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Stone's big in New England, too, if you live in a rocky area (ours is right next to a former quarry; lots of stone fences and huge boulders in landscaping in our neighborhood.)
There are a number of towns around Philadelphia, of which Bryn Mawr is one, called the "Main Line." That's where Philadelphia's Old Money lived when the railroad came in - they were on the "main line" of the rail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Main_Line
Last edited on Thu Jun 5th, 2008 06:02 pm by Chedva
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outwest
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Posted: Thu Jun 5th, 2008 09:32 pm |
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Yes, the whole East seems open for exploring from Philly. We are so excited for her! Even here, 2-5 million is a very hefty amount of change, InterestedDad. Thanks for the link.
One of her original favorite colleges was located in the midwest. I am sure she would have been thrilled there, but in retrospect....think of all the things she can do and the places she can go attending Bryn Mawr! WOW! There is really no comparison. Many of the other womens colleges are also located in places without easy access to other locals. With the train system around Philly and in Bryn Mawr it really becomes clear that this was THE best choice for her all around. A student at Bryn Mawr who went to her high school is now a Junior. She came home for the summer and my D and she went out to lunch the other day. This young woman just got my D all riled up about going again. If this gir can be so happy coming from lotus land to Philly, I know my D will be, too.
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