hi! i was recently admitted to both bryn mawr college and whitman college and am interested in hearing other people’s thoughts on which one would be better suited for me.
my intended major is neuroscience or biochemistry on a pre-med track.
i have listed the pros and cons for each. i’m aware of the importance of maintaining a high GPA, and i know both these schools have fairly rigorous academics, so i am more wondering about the quality of the academics and people’s experiences at these two schools. in terms of financial aid, they are both pretty similar, but whitman is slightly less than bmc.
Bryn Mawr College:
Pros:
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strong academics and really accessible professors
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lots of clinical/premed opportunities around the college + in philly
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access to haverford classes and some penn courses as well
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would still be a good school if i changed my mind from premed
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small class sizes
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great premed advising office
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honor code, super collaborative
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pretty good alumni network that makes shadowing more easily available
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easier to do research which i’m interested in
Cons:
- Not sure if academics are too challenging to maintain a high GPA for applying to med school
Whitman College:
Pros:
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helpful professors, but I don’t hear people raving about them like a lot of the students at BMC do
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well-laid out premed advising program
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i’m an outdoors person (love skiing and hiking!), so the surrounding area is perfect for me and i’d definitely be happy there
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non-competitive and more collaborative
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connection to hospice and active premed clubs
Cons:
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there’s only one hospital nearby, since Walla Walla is kinda in the middle of nowhere, so getting any clinical or shadowing experience may be difficult
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not sure if the bio or science programs are particularly strong, but I have heard a few people say that it’s not an easy school, so it’s definitely not that easy to get a high GPA or anything.
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if i change my mind from premed, i’m not sure that whitman would be a great place for other things
im mainly concerned that walla walla is a bit too remote for me to have access to most ECs or clinical experience. please let me know your experiences or thoughts. thank you!!
Well, I think first consider if you want to be at an all women’s school.
Both wonderful schools. Whitman has long had CC fans in the know. There have been a number of years when Whitman has been in Princeton Review’s Top 20 for Happiest students, top 20 for engaging classes or similar. If it’s at all useful, my D spent a semester abroad with several Whitties and they were really great people. They had a lot of fun together, but were also doing a rigorous study abroad program.
As far as majors, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be able to study what else you’re interested in at Whitman. It offers 37 majors, and Bryn Mawr offers 35, so I don’t see a substantial difference. Premed is not a major and both will have all you need to do that. And for medical experience, I’m guessing you will do much of that in your summers. Clearly Whitman does have some relevant opportunities for your goals.
You’ve got good pros for both schools. I think your con for BM is very solid though. You need a high GPA for med school and it may indeed be harder to keep it at BM. I think the atmosphere is low key at Whitman, which might be conducive to you getting the high grades you will need. And to me, it sounds as though you prefer Whitman.
Should be easy to decide between a single sex, sophisticated, suburban school versus a co-ed, fairly rural, outdoorsy school.
Retention rates & 6 year graduation rates are identical for both schools.
Bryn Mawr attracts a lot of social justice warrior, activist oriented students. Is this you ? Does this type of environment excite you ?
Whitman is one of those “colleges that change lives”. Reading posts from those who know about it shows why.
Whitman would still be a good school if you changed your mind.
Is there a $$ difference?
“whitman is slightly less than bmc”
as you said, with Bryn Mawr you have access to UPenn, Haverford, and Swat. it’s like a mile from Haverford – another great LAC – so if you are missing guys, well, go for a walk and there they are.
Swat and Haverford are outstanding LaCs, and Penn is a great university. You have access to many of their assortment of courses, in addition to the wealth at Bryn Mawr. Look, Whitman is a very good school in its own right, but i would take bmc over it academically, and factoring in the Quaker Consortium, there’s little question which opportunity offers more comprehensive academic options… and of the very highest caliber.
Most pre-meds don’t end up in med school. If you had to change course, I think Bryn Mawr offers more. If you wanted to do econ or finance, or history, or sociology (or really anything else)… internships in Philadelphia are right there, half an hour away. You’re that close to a city large enough to offer any type of work experience you could conjure.
Settings are very different obviously: Rural Pac NW vs. suburban Philadelphia. The opportunities to explore and have urban fun will be very different. Whitman offers its beautiful natural setting, if that floats your boat.
Whitman is a very good school, and if you stay true to pre-med, it could be equal to BMC and its consortium for that purpose. But if you favor access to a city and much greater breadth of course offerings, Bryn Mawr is the better choice, imo.
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Have you visited Whitman or attended their Admitted Student Saturdays? My son just committed to Whitman last week. We visited last month and attended their Admitted Student Saturday. We were very impressed and their huge Outdoor Program is a huge part of the school and culture. My son is a rock climber and they have a ton of climbing kids for such a small school (both a climbing club and comp team). They have so many classes you can take in outdoor stuff like kayaking, whitewater, mountain biking, backpacking, climbing, mountaineering, etc and outdoor trips every single weekend. In the winter/spring they have a school shuttle that takes students to the nearby Blue Mountains (1 hr) to ski/snowboard all the way into May. Every student is given $150 each year to use exclusively on outdoor trips, which is usually enough for 2-4 trips. Students aren’t competive, lots of collaboration, all seem very happy, and Whitman is a Colleges That Change Lives schools. Have you joined the admitted students FB group and Instagram? My son isn’t on social media so hasn’t seen them but I follow the Instagram page and most of the students all proclaim their love for outdoor activities. Whitman is actually very strong in the biological sciences. It’s one of their most popular majors. The hospital is walking distance to campus so that could be a big plus too.
Also, we appealed our merit aid after our visit and they ended up more than doubling my son’s initial offer! That sealed the deal.
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