<p>Hi,
I would like to gauge the academic rigor of Bryn Mawr as well as a comparison to Wellesley, if possible.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Hi missdeecee,</p>
<p>As you may find in researching and visiting the Seven Sisters, they all possess an investment in academic rigor and breadth of study. Bryn Mawr has historically been stereotyped as “the brainy one” of the seven, but each school has highly committed faculty and intensive coursework. One of my good friends went to Wellesley, and while there are many social distinctions between the colleges, one of the academic differences is that Bryn Mawr requires a senior thesis. There are a few select majors where the thesis is optional, but I would guesstimate about 90% of Bryn Mawr students complete a thesis (humanities, social sciences) or independent research (sciences, math). </p>
<p>That said, I would encourage you to research specific departments you might be interested at both colleges to try and gauge which might be a better fit for your needs. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m talking with a BMC coach and a friend’s mom, who is a Wellesley alumna. They both agree that Bryn Mawr is just as rigorous–it’s just not as well-known because its much smaller, and didn’t have two secretary of states go there. Still, the alumnae list is impressive–Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard, and Alice Rivlin. I myself have been stuck between Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Scripps, but am now applying to Bryn Mawr ED2 because I think I’ll have a better experience there. There’s so many ways to get involved in student government and other leadership positions, and it seems so welcoming and not intimidating or competitive.</p>
<p>Again with the “brainy” stereotype of Bryn Mawr . . . how can that be when the other seven sisters are all so brainy? That doesn’t make sense to me. Something seems amiss here. </p>
<p>@Dustyfeathers, to quote my response to you on another post–
Of course all of the Seven Sisters are academically rigorous–there’s no question there! I’ve spent a fair amount of time in archival content and historically Bryn Mawr has been referred to as that stereotype in popular culture. It’s not to say one is more rigorous than the other, but women who went here have historically been very committed to their studies, i.e. “When Bryn Mawr College opened its doors in 1885, it offered women a more ambitious academic program than any previously available to them in the United States. Other women’s colleges existed, but Bryn Mawr was the first to offer graduate education through the Ph.D.”</p>
<p>All the Seven Sisters are definitely “brainy”, but within that label, they have very different environments and approaches to learning and academics in general. Bryn Mawr’s history and reputation have given it a bit more of the “brainy” stereotype than the others, even when it’s not a necessarily distinctive quality among the Sisters.</p>
<p>@owlbethere, I am curious about what the differences in environment and approaches to learning there are between Bryn Mawr and Wellesley that you might be able to talk more about. Both are on my D’s list and we plan to visit. I’d like to find out more about differences that might not be obvious if we don’t know to look for them.</p>
<p>@shoboemom A big difference between Bryn Mawr and Wellesley is the implementation of an honor code. I’m not sure if Wellesley has one, but Bryn Mawr was the first college to introduce the practice through self-governance. Via Bryn Mawr’s site: “1892, the College became the first institution of higher education in the United States to give students responsibility not only for enforcing rules of behavior upon themselves, but also for deciding what those rules should be.”</p>
<p>The honor code includes social and academic components. The social is more along the lines of not worrying about people taking or messing with things left unattended, like shoes outside your door or books on a table. The academic honor code allows students to take self-scheduled exams during finals and professors can even assign take-home exams. The College wants to encourage students to learn in ways that make sense for the individual, whether you’re most comfortable taking your exam at 2am in the library or at 2pm in a classroom. The honor code is a serious commitment by students and Haverford has a similar arrangement. Students from both campuses really hold each other accountable and place a lot of trust in each other. It really does work!</p>
any current students on here? like how much hw do u get a night, roughly.
i know it differs based on class and major.
interested in romance languages (spanish and italian), english/creative writing, and music (nothing in music is considered hw to me as its too much fun, same with creative writing).
plan to double major (possibly double major and minor or major and double minor).
thoughts?
I’m actually a Haverford student (the two colleges cooperate extensively), but I know many people who have taken classes at BMC. My friend (history major) says that her classes are rigorous. She was always writing papers this past semester for her classes (one or two of which she took at BMC). Your workload can vary greatly though depending on your classes and the professor teaching.
Since HC and BMC are so small, they share some departments (Bryn Mawr does theater and dance, Haverford does music and fine arts etc…) So for music classes you would likely be coming to Haverford (15 minute bus ride, the buses run so that people can easily get from one campus to another for their next class). The Orchestra and Chorale rehearse at Haverford as well and are made up of students from both schools.
I took an intro Music history class and absolutely loved it. My professor was super chill and we didn’t get a crazy amount of work. I’m planning on taking some music theory classes in the future as well…
I believe Bryn Mawr also requires a Senior Thesis in your major so people generally don’t double major, but I may be wrong on that…
Geology is another major where classes are at Bryn Mawr–not only for Haverford students but for Swarthmore students as well. Not a student, but my daughter is a BMC graduate (2011). Her best friend from high school went to Swarthmore and spent most of her time at BMC because she was a geology major.