Any thoughts on Bryn Mawr vs Smith vs Wellesley?

<p>I only know Bryn Mawr so I cannot compare departments between the two colleges, but I love the math department here <3 I am a math major - if you have any question about the math department I would be happy to help you as good as I can. And if you decide to come to Bryn Mawr, shoot me a PM!</p>

<p>I have only experienced the psych department from the perspective of a guinea pig, but I know that they have a lot of money. I think it is the best-paying student employer on campus and they run lots of paid studies; not to mention that they just got a brand new building!</p>

<p>Shelley14, Smith does have an academic Honor Code.</p>

<p>From the Smith Handbook:</p>

<p>Academic Honor Code and Honor Board Distinguished
All Smith students sign the Academic Honor Code which describes the standards of responsible behavior, respect, and honesty while engaging in academic activities. The Academic Honor Board is the committee of students and faculty responsible for upholding the Academic Honor Code and hearing cases of alleged infractions of academic rules and regulations. Its jurisdiction and procedures are outlined below and referenced in Article X of the Student Government Association Constitution and Bylaws.</p>

<p>My D overnighted at Smith and Bryn Mawr, and decided to go ED Smith. Both are outstanding schools -- Smith was just a better fit for her. She loved walking to Northampton, and she liked the house system. She felt that there were more course offerings in Art History and English, her areas of interest. She was also impressed by the foreign study opportunities at Smith -- she is going on Smith's junior year abroad to Paris next year, a full year program. </p>

<p>But, Bryn Mawr (as well as the other women's schools) all have their plusses. It's all about the fit.</p>

<p>I'll highlight two important consequences of Bryn Mawr's academic honor code that maybe not everybody is comfortable with: </p>

<p>In order to promote a collaborative environment, our honor code prohibits any discussion of grades in public spaces. This also means that (most) professors do not give us any information about the distribution of grades in a class and that we do not have a Dean's list (like an Honor Roll in high school). I have to admit that this was quite a shock after high school and sometimes I wish I knew where I was standing in a class, but I think it has made me a more driven student: I have learned to compete against myself and not against my fellow students.</p>

<p>Another point is exams. Exams are generally not proctored (not even in-class exams!) and most of my exams so far have been take-home, meaning a professor hands out an exam in class and asks us to return it e.g. a week later. Take-home exams come with varying degrees of freedom (open-book vs closed-book, with or without time limits etc) and it is great to know that professors trust us to follow all of their rules. There are also self-scheduled exams, which are just like in-class exams except that you can decide yourself when you want to take it.</p>

<p>Again, I am not attempting to draw any comparisons to Smith. Smith is a wonderful college too and I might even be there now had I been accepted :)</p>

<p>Thanks for the clarification, momofsmithie. Not sure why I thought Smith did not have the honor code. Good to know.</p>

<p>Hi everybody,
I have been reading all the comments & they are helpful. D was really attracted to Bryn Mawr because of the honor code. She was impressed that students could leave belongings (even laptops!) in the library, etc, and no one touched them. D is interested in math, science and music. I know Smith has great science programs, and Bryn Mawr has great math programs. Does anyone know about music? Specifically music theory & performance?</p>

<p>I just want to clarify one (important) point with "honor codes". Many schools have honor codes but what makes them unique is the philosophy and tradition behind them. For example, southern schools like UVA and Davidson and the military academies have honor codes as does HC and BMC... but their honor codes were developed from ideas of southern chivalry and military honor which are very different from Quaker ideals of "inner light" and concensus. I think Conn College has an honor code too but from what someone once told me, theirs is based on an Athenian ideal of a "perfect" society. How the honor codes were brought into being often informs how students interact with these codes and the resulting campus cultures of the schools may be very different as a result.</p>

<p>thanks for all the posts guys! my parents are flipping out because i wanna go to bryn mawr but they refuse to send me any privates on the east coast if it's not smith. i don't know why they'd prefer smith over bryn mawr though. probably because smith is placed better than bryn mawr on the us news college ranking. -_-</p>

<p>wedgedrive, Bryn Mawr does not have a music department - your D would have to take all her classes in music performance and theory at Haverford or Swarthmore. It is definitely doable but might be a little bit inconvenient.</p>

<p>b@rlum,</p>

<p>Ah...thanks for the info. She also just heard that she's been accepted at Haverford. That might be a better fit then. Anyone know if Haverford has distribution requirements?</p>

<p>Haverford's distribution requirements are similar to Bryn Mawr's but Haverford students have to take 3 classes (instead of 2) in each division and a class that deals with issues of social justice.</p>

<p>Does BMC have a nice pool/fitness centre like Hav (silly question, I know)?</p>

<p>did you get into haverford froghorn?</p>

<p>Yes froghorn, Bryn Mawr has a pool and a fitness center. Look here:
<a href="http://www.brynmawr.edu/athletics/facilities.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brynmawr.edu/athletics/facilities.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>hey wedgedrive, I saw that you had a question about music at Bryn Mawr. I'm a current sophomore at BMC who sings in Chorale at Haverford. Bryn Mawr and Haverford have a very close consortium, and they split the art department between them. Bryn Mawr has dancing and theatre, while Haverford has music and fine arts. However, this does not make access to the programs at Haverford inconvenient for Bryn Mawr students (and vice versa) in any way. The two colleges are only 5 minutes away from each other, easily walkable, but also: the Blue Bus takes Bryn Mawr and Haverford students between the two colleges every 20 minutes for free. This makes it extremely easy to get back and forth several times throughout the day. </p>

<p>With this consortium, we have the academic opportunities of a major university and the strong, close community of a small liberal arts college.</p>

<p>I have quite a few friends at Bryn Mawr who major in music at Haverford and LOVE it. The director is absolutely wonderful, the kindest man I've ever met, and extremely talented. His e-mail address is <a href="mailto:tlloyd@haverford.edu">tlloyd@haverford.edu</a> if you want to ask him more about it. I sing in Chorale which meets at Haverford every Wednesday night. Last semester we performed Carmina Burana. There's also the Chamber Singers program, which is more competitive, that meets three times a week (twice at Haverford, once at Bryn Mawr), and every other year they sing abroad. Winter break 2006-2007 they traveled to Ghana! </p>

<p>There are also plenty of ways to get involved with music on Bryn Mawr's campus, especially through a capella groups, which are very popular and a great way to make friends. I hope this cleared up the questions you had. Since D also got into Haverford, I would consider talking to her about the differences between them, specifically the fact that Bryn Mawr is a women's college, which I have found to mean more to me than I originally expected. It really makes a wonderful difference. I would highly, highly recommend encouraging her to visit Bryn Mawr (Open Campus Days is so much fun) and consider the benefits of both living at a women's college and having three excellent co-ed schools at her fingertips. I absolutely love it here and couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. Please feel free to ask me more questions if you have any!</p>

<p>hey froghorn, Bryn Mawr does have a really nice fitness center like Haverford. Bryn Mawr also has an 8 lane olympic-size swimming pool (and a section of the pool that is for free swim), whereas Haverford does not have a pool.</p>

<p>Are we taking the same blue bus? Because the one I am riding only runs once or twice an hour and certainly not every 20 minutes.</p>

<p>Whether taking classes at Haverford is inconvenient is something everyone has to decide for herself, but I think it is. For one because a class at Haverford occupies two class slots at Bryn Mawr (and vice versa), secondly because of the waiting times for the bus (I am always 20 minutes early for and have to wait another 20 minutes after my math class at HC) and thirdly because you always have to plan your schedule around the bus schedule and really be on time.</p>

<p>It is great that we have the Tri-Co and are able to take classes at the other campuses. But attending a college that does not even offer courses in one's major has some disadvantages that one should be aware of before making a commitment.</p>

<p>How's the instrumental music scene? I play French horn... I'm thinking about retaining J. Montone, principal of Philly Symph, but I hear Swat has some good horn teachers on faculty. I'll have to contact the music dep't!</p>

<p><a href="http://www.brynmawr.edu/transportation/bico.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brynmawr.edu/transportation/bico.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>For peak travel times, the Blue Bus runs on the 1/2 hour. IN ADDITION, there is also usually a sweeper van during this time that leaves about 5 minutes after the main bus. So, transportation can look like... 10:15(main), 10:20(sweeper), 1045(main), 1050(sweeper).</p>

<p>The schedules of the 2 schools are staggered so that when a BMC class ends at 930, a student can make it to a HC class at 1000. There are 3000+ Bi-co cross registrations each year. By contrast, there are about 90 x-registers bmc->sc, 40 hc-->sc and about 50 sc--> Bi-co. The Tri-co/Penn consortium is like the 5 college consortium given distance. The bi-co is much much more practical given travel times.</p>

<p>There are plent of bi-co cross majors... notable ones include the current head of HC's molecular bio department who majored in bio at HC when she went to BMC, the current Dean of faculty at Williams who was a BMC Russian major while at HC and the current head of the American institute of archaeology who majored at BMC when he was at HC. </p>

<p>Froghorn: I know people who took classes at Curtis their junior or senior years (more time available). You should inquire about this.</p>

<p>What is the best option for a BMC non-music major to continue classical voice lessons in college? D is a BMC admit who wants a liberal arts undergraduate education and (hopefully) a graduate education in opera. She wants to participate in vocal groups, take music theory and continue voice lessons. Do any of the colleges have voice teachers who teach classical voice? Are lessons extra for a non-music major even if she sings in an ensemble? Is it even possible for a non-music major to study with the college's voice teachers?</p>

<p>One more thing--D also was admitted to Mount Holyoke, Smith and Wellesley. I am going to post on those threads also, but anything you know about the options and convenience of pursuing voice lessons as a non-music major at those schools in comparison with BMC-HC-SC would be so gratefully appreciated! </p>

<p>Froghorn--how is traveling with your horn into Philly for lessons? I did something like that MANY years ago from Swarthmore with a viola. I had to go by train to 69th street and then complete the trip by bus. It took forever and I did not continue lessons. This was way before we could get lessons at Swarthmore.</p>