Hello. My daughter was admitted to all of the above plus Muhlenburg and UMass Amherst. How should she decide where to go? I am somewhat familiar with Brandeis, Smith,Northeastern, Mt. Holyoke and Umass but completely ignorant about Lafayette, Franklin and Marshall and Muhlenburg. Her admission to Northeastern is only to the program in which you spend the first semester of freshman year abroad, which does not appeal to her as she would prefer to get settled on a campus. She thinks if she is going to choose a women only college Smith and Bryn Mawr are better than Mt. Holyoke. So she is mainly thinking of Lafayette, Brandeis, Smith, Bryn Mawr, or WPI. She is somewhat inclined to choose a coed college over one that is all women. She is good at STEM but also at everything else so her interests are not well defined. I would appreciate any comments regarding the flavor, character, or feel of the different schools, academic quality, student life, etc. I want her to be happy and healthy and with other bright well-rounded kids. I don’t want her to be at a school with a lot of heavy drinking or drugs or sexual assault. She enjoys playing a sport but at a club or intramural level. Thanks in advance!
Daughter admitted to Brandeis,Lafayette,Smith,Bryn Mawr,WPI,F&M,Conn College,Northeastern+Mt.Holyoke
My D is at Lafayette and it sounds like it could fit the bill for your D. It it excellent in the STEM fields as well as in the humanities. She is getting a great education, has wonderful friends, developed close relationships with a number of professors, has done research, is happy socially etc. My D is a science major and theater minor so one can pursue many interests. There is also plenty of opportunity for club sports (friends are involved in things ranging from fencing to tai quan do to crew) and to get involved in any aspect of campus life. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.
Honestly all the schools on your final list are very good. Have you visited? I feel that is good to visit if possible for a LAC because each one has its own “vibe” or personality and fit is important. If you can’t visit I’d read up on the schools using books like Fiske, Insiders Guide, Princeton Review (probably in guidance dept. or library) and see if you can find school newspapers online to try to get a flavor for each school.
I would say that WPI, while it is an excellent school, is a bit of an outlier as it is more of a technical/purely STEM school than a well rounded LAC.
Net price at each, after financial aid grants and scholarships are subtracted from the list price?
Is engineering of interest? If so, then only a subset of the schools offer it natively. Also, some majors at UMass - Amherst may require high grades or GPA to declare or change into. Investigate this for any major she may be interested in (check the other schools as well to see if there are such restrictions).
If price is no factor or is equivalent, I would lean Lafayette off this list of choices. However, you should certainly have your D visit some of these schools before deciding. Fit is very important, and can definitely impact her academic performance, too.
Good luck! Your D has some wonderful options.
What is the net cost at each?
If you are interested in all women’s school, then I would get rid of WPI as it tilts the other way.
Thanks for the advice and information!
She has no particular interest especially in engineering. She is considering that as a possible major but really has no idea what she wants to study. She is inclined NOT to go to a women’s college. Price is not an issue.
Is she not seriously considering Conn College? It does have a lot to offer. Strong in sciences as well as the arts. Pretty campus. A bit preppy, but definitely felt an intellectual vibe there.
If she’s inclined not to go to a women’s college and she has all of these options, it seems like a simple narrowing technique to eliminate Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Mount Holyoke. They are great schools, of course, but she has a lot of great co-ed options.
If she’s interested in a lot of things and the liberal arts and sciences-type education appeals to her, then WPI might be another place to eliminate. It’s not that WPI doesn’t have good arts and sciences; it’s just that it is a technologically focused school and if she wants a more well-rounded experience the other places on her list do it better.
Seems also a great idea to eliminate Northeastern since the program she’s in will require her to spend the first semester of freshman year abroad and she doesn’t want that.
That would leave you with Brandeis, Lafayette, Franklin & Marshall, Connecticut College, Muhlenberg and UMass-Amherst. UMass is a bit different from the rest - you have four small liberal arts colleges and one research university with a small undergrad population that’s going to feel a bit like an LAC. UMass is a medium-sized research university. Does she have a preference for size and experience?
I agree that given her interests and preferences I would go with Lafayette from this list. Great school with great all-around education. Brandeis would be the other choice on my list.
BMC has many sports, and it is easy to walk on to most of the teams. I expect sports at Smith and MHC is similar.
Is she Jewish?
@tennismom2016 Congrats on all these wonderful choices! My daughter found herself in a similar situation last year. My daughter’s decision was driven primarily by cost. We did not qualify for any need based aid so needed to try for merit aid, which some schools awarded right away. We were able to eliminate F & M right away because they give no merit aid. We tried to contact Lafayette to discuss cost and received no response from them so they were eliminated. My daughter did receive an offer of merit aid from Brandeis, but she had no interest in the school (I made her apply there)-- it’s kind of far from where we live. We appealed to other schools that accepted my daughter that initially granted no merit aid to see if they would be willing to provide any. One of those schools did offer her a nominal amount of aid that they hadn’t originally, but the amount offered would not have made much of a dent in the total cost. We ended up narrowing her choices down to 4 schools in the end that would have been affordable for us. She visited those schools on their accepted students days and got a very distinct feel for each. She felt the most at home, comfortable straight off the bat, and welcomed by both students and faculty at Muhlenberg College. She loved how down to earth and genuinely friendly and warm the kids were at Muhlenberg. And this has been the best decision. My daughter is so happy there. She has made tons of friends and is challenged with her coursework (she’s in one of the honors programs). The administration has been a dream to work with and nothing but kind. I’m sure my daughter would talk to your daughter about it if you wanted to put her in touch. You could message me privately.
On the women’s college issue, I have a good friend who went to Bryn Mawr. It’s a bit less of a classic women’s college experience than Smith or Mt. Holyoke because of the very close association with haverford. In fact, she spent her last two years living at haverford.
For someone who wants a more coed experience than a traditional women’s college experience, Bryn Mawr can be a good experience. In fact, she says she would encourage her three daughters to apply to Bryn Mawr and Barnard in a way she wouldn’t encourage Smith, Holyoke or Wellesley, unless they were really particularly looking for the immersion in a female community.
Yes, Smith and Holyoke have the consortium and I’m sure it makes a difference, but I suspect it’s still a different experience than Bryn Mawr.
To sum up: take a look at Bryn Mawr if Bryn Mawr and Haverford are appealing.
Lafayette is like the Swiss Army Knife of schools, an LAC with D1 sports, great school spirit, fun rivalry with Lehigh, great alumni and a solid location.
Based on the list, Lafayette seems like a great choice.
Funny, I was thinking very much the same as on the bubble…but I was going to say it’s one of those “best of both worlds” schools: small but with Div 1 sports; LAC intimacy but with enginerring; northeastern but friendly;, smaller city but not far from bigger ones; on a hill with nice view, but not “hilly”, etc.
Also the home of Crayola Crayons 
Ok maybe this doesn’t matter but I’ll bring it up and possibly someone with more knowledge can either refute it or support it. With Smith you have the open curriculum which might appeal to someone that doesn’t really know what she wants to study. You’d be able to take a wide variety of classes in different subjects to find your passion instead of taking a bunch of requirements for graduation. So it might be a small incentive if any but it might.
Please please please go to visit Bryn Mawr College campus even if your daughter thinks a women’s college is NOT for her. We visited Bryn Mawr College two weeks ago and my sophomore daughter LOVES IT. We are from the midwest. She plays a sport similar to yours B-) we have visited several private research universities in PA and upstate NY as my daughter is also interested in STEM. My daughter was not interested in a women’s college or a LAC for that matter, but Bryn Mawr’s beautiful campus and proximity to Philadelphia along with their student body character and sense of purpose and community and all the opportunities blew us both out of the water. In addition to the Tri-Co relationship with Swarthmore and Haverford, Bryn Mawr also has cooperative relationship with the University of Pennsylvania. My daughter is very excited to move Bryn Mawr College up to the top of her sports recruiting list. Feel free to message privately if you want any more info 
“…Bryn Mawr’s beautiful campus.and proximity to Philadelphia along with their student body character and sense of purpose and community…”
NONE of which makes up for the fact that there is no crayon company’s headquarters even slightly close to it.
@Tennismom2016 Where did she end up going? How does she like it?