My child recently visited both colleges. Liked Haverford but loved Bryn Mawr. She wants to study biology but is not sure about which area within biology she wants to focus on.
Strong stats (1520 SAT, straight A student in a science magnet). Also loves History and English and is a decent writer. She will go onto graduate school but is not sure whether she will continue studying biology or medicine or something different.
We want her to go to a LAC so she can figure all of this out but want her to go to a LAC with a strong biology program. If she does end up wanting to study medicine or pursuing a Ph.D in the life sciences we want her to easily have that option.
I have a few questions about the biology departments in the two colleges. We were told that Haverford focuses on microbiology and Bryn Mawr focuses on macrobiology. My first question is how difficult is it for a Bryn Mawr student who is interested primarily in microbiology to take and do research at Haverford.
Related question is if she finds the biology subjects and professors at Haverford to be more to her liking is it practical for her to work with them and do research with them. I am sure with the trico it is possible, I am asking whether it is common/practical/likely to happen.
The Haverford biology department website states that 35% of biology graduates end up in medical school and 25% end up pursuing a Ph.D.- very impressive!
I cannot find similar stats for Bryn Mawr. Anyone know how their biology graduates fare? They tout their post bac program but it is unclear whether undergraduates are as successful.
Also wonder whether the presence of graduate students in Bryn Mawr makes it difficult to find professors to work with.
The senior thesis was really emphasized during our Haverford tour but we didn’t hear as much about student research (beyond the opportunity to do so) at Bryn Mawr. I got the impression that the Haverford curriculum was designed to prepare students over time to succeed in their senior thesis.
Thanks for your time.