<p>My sister is a current HS senior looking to double major in Psychology and Creative Writing/English and minor in Dance. She has been accepted at Bard College, Bryn Mawr and Smith. It would be great it if anyone could share their thoughts on the programs at these schools, especially between a comparison between Bard and Bryn Mawr. Thanks!</p>
<p>Great choices! Bard is wonderful for the areas she’s interested in. (I have no experience with the other two.) I would imagine major differences would be, of course, that Bard is co-ed. There will be men in her classes, including dance. Also, Bard is more rural and isolated than the other two which are near larger towns/cities. However, Bard’s dance program is very connected to NYC - not sure about the others on her list. And the Creative Writing/English program at Bard is one of the best in the world. An absolutely amazing faculty. And great course offerings. I would recommend that she look at the course offerings for this spring, and past semesters at each of these schools and compare the actual classes she would be choosing from, as well as investigate the professors in those departments.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr alum here – biggest differences would be that Bryn Mawr is suburban, with easy access to Philly whereas Bard is more remote and, of course, BMC is all women’s college. Unlike Wellesley and Smith which participate in the 5 college consortium, the Bryn Mawr cooperation with Haverford (1 mile away), is much more easily integrated in daily academic life. The “blue bus” runs between both campuses all day so that students can take class on one campus and then get to their next class on the other campus. Students can major at either school, I believe they can still eat at either school’s dining hall, though double check on how that works, I don’t know if it counts as flex points or something. For those looking to go further afield, Bryn Mawr students can cross register at U Penn and Swarthmore, though those logistics take more planning.</p>
<p>As an accidental grad of a women’s college (I could not afford my first choice), I think there is a terrific benefit for young women to pursue their education in an environment which is 100% committed to their development and success. As someone who went on to work in what was still, back in the '80s, a fairly male-centric environment (law), the confidence I developed as a BMC student served me well. </p>
<p>Your sister has 3 great choices, really can’t go wrong. Sounds like visit time!</p>
<p>If dance is a consideration, I would have her explore the dance offerings and contact someone in the dance department to find out if it’s possible to minor or just to take daily class without an official dance designation. Does the school/department focus more on ballet, modern or contemporary? Are they performance, or educationally focused? Is there a dance therapy option for her to combine her interests? At what levels would she be able to dance? What are the requirements for the minor and can she fit that in to her other requirements?</p>
<p>My knee-jerk reaction is Bryn Mawr, as she’ll be able to have access to more dance in Philly and NYC than the others schools, even with Bard’s connections in NYC.
Your mileage may vary…</p>
<p>What about the food and dorms? Being a vegetarian, would she have decent options at all of these places? And as a freshman, how good are the dorms?</p>
<p>Besides, at Bryn Mawr, even though students can cross register at Swarthmore and Upenn, how easy is it for them to travel to these colleges? Do some students decide to move to either campus for a semester and take multiple classes there?</p>
<p>future mawrtyr here–it seems pretty easy to travel to Swarthmore on a bus. Not quite as convenient as Haverford, but very doable. UPenn is more work, but after talking to a few current students who make the trek to UPenn for a class or two, I am pretty sure I’ll do the same, taking the train.
Students can live on different campuses for a semester, I believe, so men can room at Bryn Mawr or vice versa!</p>
<p>Although across the academic spectrum Bryn Mawr is probably a stronger academic school than bard, for these specific programs, Bard is absolutely fantastic. Bard’s English program is very, very strong, (The likes of Chinua Achebe has taught at Bard), and their creative writing program is equally strong (John Ashberry taught there). They also have a very good dance program. </p>