<p>Hello Bryn Mawters! I’ve been accepted recently and I’ve never visited, but I have a few questions about BMC. I’ve narrowed down my school choices, and BMC is one of them but there’s one huge concern for me. </p>
<p>Basically…I’m convinced that Bryn Mawr has stellar academics and especially a supportive staff/admissions office/parent group/fellow students and such but I want to know more about its relationship with Philly. I want to pursue print journalism so to me it’s important for me to be in/near a big city with lots of internships and such. </p>
<p>How close is Bryn Mawr to the city and what is the city of BM itself like? </p>
<p>Is it easy to get to Philly? Subway, bus, or car/freeway? Is the SEPTA (is that what it’s called?) an easy, cheap, and frequently used way to get to town? Or the school’s buses are enough? </p>
<p>Is it more like the relationship of Wellesley to Boston…where Wellesley is a rich, quiet, but nice suburban town about 30-40 min by car from Downtown Boston or is it closer and more accessible than that? </p>
<p>And ALSO, I’m interested in study abroad. very very interested, in fact. How is BMCs program? I’ve looked at their college catalogue and they seem more strict than usual on who gets to study and for how long… than other colleges. Anyone have any experience? </p>
<p>Any input (parents, current students, accepted prospectives) will be greaatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Hey im a student at bryn mawr so i think i can answer some of ur questions.</p>
<p>bryn mawr is about 30-40 minutes by train from philly. ure right, the train is called SEPTA. its really easy to get into the city since the bryn mawr train station is right across from campus, and the ride is short. going by car is faster, though parking isn't that good once u get in. i know a lot of people that go into philly almost every weekend (mostly by train since it's easier), and then theres others that hardly go at all. basically, it all depends on what you want to do. philly is there for anyone who wants to go. the only bad thing is that the train stops at 12am every night, so if u want to stay out late ull have to find a place to crash for the night. SEPTA isn't that cheap...about $7.50 rt off peak. i dont think there are any school buses that take u into philly...besides one bryn mawr sponsered for campus philly in the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>i love the town of bryn mawr. its pretty small, but its got everything you need: borders, barnes and noble, dunkin doughnuts, starbucks, cosi, bercuccis, thai food, post office, wachovia... also, its a pretty wealthy area. im not sure about the wellesley/boston situation, but it sounds pretty similar. however, philly and bmc may be closer than wellesley and boston, and more accessible cause of the train being so close to campus.</p>
<p>i havent studied abroad yet, but im definitely going to my junior year. i actually talked to my dean about it today. it's generally hard to go abroad for a whole year unless you want to study a foreign language or you have a reason similar to that (maybe a really good program in ur major or something). one of my friends convinced the school to allow her to go abroad to london for all of next year, but it wasnt an easy feat. however, talking to my friends in other schools, this seems to be the case in most liberal arts colleges. a lot of colleges have a residency requirement of 7 semesters, which gives u absolutely no option of going abroad for a year. also, bryn mawr has quite a few approved programs in different counties available, and i know a few people who have gone to un-approved programs abroad and got them approved for the school. ive never heard of anyone not getting all her credits transferred from going abroad...in fact ive only heard of people getting more credits than they earned in the school abroad! so, unlike my friends at other schools that ive talked to, there is really no fear of not having enough credits after going abroad.</p>
<p>i hope this was enough information. good luck choosing schools!</p>
<p>The Wellesley/Boston comparison is pretty apt. Both suburbs are safe and beautiful, but on the other hand, they don't offer much in the way of student life. BMC has SEPTA to access the city; Wellesley has a bus that runs to the city several times a day, stopping at Harvard & MIT.</p>
<p>If you're not on a tight budget, it's very nice to have a car at BMC after freshman year. You only need one per group of friends. :)</p>
<p>As already mentioned, Bryn Mawr is literally a stone's throw from Philly -- 30 minutes on the train (if it makes all stops). I lived in Philly my senior year and getting back and forth was no trouble. If you travel to Philly often enough, you can get weekly or monthly passes. If you go to Philly at night, it's only a two-block walk from the train station to campus, but you can always call BMC Public Safety for a ride.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr has a number of study-abroad programs. I participated in the summer program in Florence, Italy (which Bryn Mawr runs with UPenn). Most of my friends participated in the junior-year abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France and loved it. I wanted to go but none of the overseas programs were able to offer a sufficient number of classes for me to continue making progress in my major (Computer Science)... but Bryn Mawr did allow me to attend an engineering school for a semester during my junior year.</p>