<p>I have been accepted to both schools (and both schools have given comparable financial aide).
I don't know what I will major in (though I really like Classics, Linguistics, and Biology).
I was rather skeptical about these boards - but as they introduced me to Bryn Mawr in the first place, I have decided that asking strangers for help might not be such a bad idea.
Do any of you have advice? </p>
<p>For Classics and Linguistics, I’d lean strongly toward Bryn Mawr. Classics is one of its most highly-regarded departments. Linguistics generally is not too well covered at LACs, but if I’m not mistaken, BMC would give you access to courses at UPenn, which has a very strong Linguistics department. Verify that Bryn Mawr students can in fact take Linguistics (or Classics) courses at Penn (since the cross-registration options may be more restrictive than they are for the partnerships with Haverford and Swarthmore.)</p>
<p>Carleton is excellent, but the winters are brutal. BMC/Haverford gives you easier access to Philadelphia than Carleton gives you to the Twin Cities. </p>
<p>Thank you! </p>
<p>BMC alum here – do investigate online to find out about U Penn registration. My understanding was that, for classes within the liberal arts spectrum (ie. not Wharton or Engineering at U Penn), Bryn Mawr and Haverford (and Swat) students can take classes at U Penn. The bigger challenge can be fitting the U Penn class into your regular schedule, since you need a bigger block of time to get in and out of the city than you would, obviously, hopping over to Hford, where the class schedules are designed to integrate with BMC courses.</p>
<p>Putting that aside, a quick search shows that Hford offers a Linguistics major, and of course, you can major at Hford. </p>
<p>I would agree that weather and accessibility make Bryn Mawr an easy choice. BMC is well known in Classics, has strong sciences, with full access to Hford sciences as well, and you can get into museums in Philly easily, and an Amtrak train ride away from NYC and DC. </p>
<p>Great choices, good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I was considering linguistics at bryn mawr for a while. While I am not too sure about taking ling classes at penn, I know for sure you are able to major in ling at haverford or swarthmore (your choice). I believe penn, swat, and haverford share ling professors. That being said, Carleton is an incredible school; you can’t go wrong either way. Did you visit both?</p>
<p>I can’t visit either. </p>
<p>Be aware that the Tri-College Linguistics Department at BMC and Haverford draws most of its faculty resources from neither of these schools. BMC has 1 faculty member and 2 affiliated and Haverford 2 faculty and 3 affiliated. Swarthmore has 9, and the phonetics lab is at Swarthmore. You’re going to be doing some shuffling if you go to BMC in linguistics. You might want to look into this further. But in Classics, BMC is top notch, and Biology is strong at both BMC and Haverford. Carleton will have just four linguistics faculty, but their Bio and English are very good. The upside to small departments is the bonds formed between students and between students and faculty and staff. Most LACs and even midsize unis don’t have large linguistics departments, and many linguists find themselves in English depts with one other linguist if they’re lucky. So in terms of course variety, faculty resources, and depth of field, BMC is clearly the favorite without even mentioning Penn.</p>
<p>You could call BMC and find out what percentage of linguistics classes are taken at Haverford and either Penn or Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr may have a joint major with Haverford and Swarthmore and only two affiliated faculty, but that’s still greater access to resources. Carleton only has three permanent professors in linguistics (that fourth person is a visiting professor.) Bryn Mawr has a very strong classics offering, but Carleton’s is also pretty good (focused on language, but there are non-language courses too). Biology is probably about equal in both.</p>
<p>Given that you aren’t sure what you want to major in, I wouldn’t select a college based on their resources in a particular major. While I definitely think it’s important to think about that, and to look for the resources offered in the majors in which you are interested before you attend, it’s very possible that you get to either school and don’t major in any of the three things you selected. So I’d choose based upon other factors.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is a women’s college. Do you want to be at a women’s college?</p>
<p>Carleton is bigger than Bryn Mawr (2,000 students vs. 1,300) but Bryn Mawr students also have access to the student bodies at Swarthmore, Haverford, Villanova and to a certain extent Penn. Carleton is in the same town as St. Olaf.</p>
<p>They’re both pretty suburban. Northfield is about 45 minutes away from Minneapolis-St. Paul, but it looks like you need access to a car if you want to get into the city. Bryn Mawr is a 25-minute drive from Philadelphia, and there seems to be public transit that gets there (as well as a shuttle to Penn, if I’m not mistaken).</p>
<p>My suggestion is to take the academic offerings out of the equation and base it on other fit factors. You will have plenty to study in your fields of interest at both schools, with strong professors and engaged students. I say this as the parent of a son whose number one passion is linguistics (has been since high school) and yet is perfectly happy at an LAC with one linguistics professor and an interdisciplinary program but not a major in Linguistics. He’s taken a really interesting variety of classes in the subject nonetheless (including a school-sponsored trip with his class to the Linguistic Society conference in Minneapolis over winter break) and has a contingent of friends who engage quite blissfully together in nerdy linguist conversation (I use the word “nerdy” with the utmost affection!)</p>
<p>The obvious differences are location, co-ed vs. all-women, trimester vs. semester (i’m assuming but don’t know that Bryn Mawr is semester). </p>
<p>Weather? Eh. Look at the recent winters in the northeast. pretty intense. I am pretty sure that Carleton schedules its winter break (Thanksgiving through New Years) to avoid the worst of the low temperatures. Carls make fun out of winter, icing over one of the quads for a perpetual broomball rink. </p>
<p>At Carleton, the trimesters allow for taking more courses in a given year and shorter but more frequent opportunities for study abroad. The downside is that the term is compressed so the pace is quick.</p>
<p>Even though Carleton does share its town with another college, I am pretty sure that life at each college is pretty self-contained (both academically and socially). I imagine that this creates a different campus culture than a college where students take classes at different campuses. and this is something for the OP to decide which is preferable. </p>
<p>In terms of city access: i doubt that many Carls go very often to the Twin Cities, so I wouldn’t put this as a draw for that college, if you’re looking at city proximity as a plus. </p>
<p>OP: particularly since you can’t visit these schools, I’d suggest you also post this on the Carleton and Bryn Mawr forums. You are likely to get more perspective and first-hand experience.</p>
<p>Thank you, I will do that!</p>
<p>I’d pretty much agree with SDonCC. Academics will be great at both your choices, a pretty fair wash, but the social life won’t be anything alike at the two. Bryn Mawr all female, but add to that smaller Haverford with more than 1/2 female means a pretty skewed imbalance.
And the Bi-Co - it’s very real, the Tri-Co - not really. Swatties keep to themselves, very little overlap with BMC/HC. And few people go to the trouble (or can manage the scheduling) to head over to Penn. Similar #s of kids graduate in Classics/Linguistics at Carleton as combined BMC/HC. Lots and lots of bio majors at all three.
The only other issue is attrition. Carleton (and HC) kids don’t leave. 1st years return 98% of the time, 94% graduate. Numbers are very similar at 'Ford. But at BMC 1st years return 90% of the time, 82% graduate. Gotta ask why.</p>