My daughter is looking at several women’s colleges and a few that once were all women but are now coed: Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Vassar, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore. Besides the hard data of enrollment numbers, acceptance rates, etc. does anyone have more nuanced differences between them? Upon laying her eyes on the campuses, she was most drawn to Bryn Mawr (Hogwarts vibe and the area is beautiful), Swarthmore (similar vibe) and Smith. But I’m hoping someone can help me understand why one would choose one over another and if any offer merit based aid.
Swarthmore was never a women’s college, and other than Vassar, the others listed are not co-ed for undergrads, although some now accept transgender and/or non-binary applicants.
Smith/MHC and Bryn Mawr/Holyoke are part of consortiums which expands course offerings.
My own kid’s experience of the Western Mass consortium was that unless the school was physically very close by, it took too much time to travel to the other schools (unless of course it was an online class). Even if one had a car, one had to consider parking. The dedicated buses that ran among the 5 college consortium in Western Mass were fine, but it made getting to, attending, and returning from a class a half day affair, so if the class met more than once a week, and at a time other than the end of the day, it often conflicted with other classes.
1 Like
I love your daughter’s list - these are most of my favorite schools. Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, and MoHo were the top 4 on my D21’s list (she is going to Wellesley) and Swarthmore is at the top of my S22’s list.
One reason it can be hard to discern is because these schools do have a lot in common that your daughter might value (vs a large state public, for example). I think these schools all have:
- Great professor access
- Smaller class size from the 1st year
- Students deeply focused on intellectual pursuits
- Academic rigor
- Many students who want to change the world
- No Greek life
- No D1 sports/large scale school spirit (I do think they support their teams, though!)
- Tight-knit community
- Gorgeous campuses!
- Strong social justice and equity focus and support
I believe my D21 could have been happy at every single one of these schools because of these similar values.
You will hear people talking about vibes of these schools - some stereotypes include Smith being extreme social justice, Wellesley being competitive, BMC being more low-key. After we did research, we threw out all of these stereotypes because some were old (Wellesley eliminated grade deflation, which apparently was causing a lot of the competitiveness, and current students say the environment is very supportive; and I think all these schools are all committed to social justice and will all have a pocket of stronger voices and quieter voices).
Some of the differences I would focus on are what your daughter thinks of the locations (those do vary) and what your daughter thinks of the vibe of the current students she can see talk and interact with. And what support her potential major provides.
Bryn Mawr is the one I hear the most in terms of providing some merit. Wellesley is need-blind so their budget all goes to need-based aid. I would recommend looking specifically at what these schools are offering this year in terms of merit because Covid has pushed some of those numbers down and that may go into next year, at least. You can go on the decision threads for those schools and see some merit examples.
p.s. There are only 5 sisters left as all women of the 7 - the current description you might be looking for is “HWC” (historically women’s colleges). 
4 Likes
Yes, I know Radclife was swallowed by Harvard and Vassar decided to go coed late '60’s. Still, I think you’re right-- they have more in common than they have differences. I am very encouraged by your news that grade deflation has been done away with at Wellesley. We are looking for a supportive college, encouraging, challenging and social-justice minded. Honestly, I think Smith is probably the best fit but there was some magic for her at Bryn Mawr. I loved the town around Wellesley but wonder if it’s almost ‘too posh’ for my daughter-- she likes it to be pretty, though! Honestly, she will more than likely roll the dice and apply to all of them and in the meantime, reach out to current students. But thank you, your response is right on!
1 Like
Your daughter sounds awesome. Another difference I forgot is housing, particularly with Smith. Smith has a unique smaller “house” set up with 41 houses (Smith Houses | Smith College) that some students adore and my daughter wasn’t excited about (she wanted a larger more traditional dorm set up). Also Smith’s campus is more compact than others, which I think has pros and cons. For Wellesley, I don’t get the sense that students do much in Wellesley Square (or town) besides go to the drug store. I think students are drawn to the gorgeous trees, lake and beauty on campus and then jump on the shuttles for Cambridge or Boston when they want that experience. Another note is that I heard that Bryn Mawr’s food is great!
One other draw for most of these I forgot to mention is the traditions. The HWCs all have the kind of traditions that make me tear up, even watching on youtube. They have lanterns, colors, big sibs, special days, etc that I think adds to the community and sense of history that are a part of. Definitely have her check out videos of all the schools’ traditions - east coast LACs at their finest. 
4 Likes
Oh yes, the traditions-- that will be fun to dive into! Best of luck to your daughter as she gets ready for Wellesley. What a crazy time to go to college!
1 Like
The Haverford/Bryn Mawr consortium is much closer than the 5 college consortium and even the TriCo (HC/BMC/Swat). Lots of BMC students major at HC and vice versa. Many ECs are joint between the two schools, although they each have their own teams, clubs, and traditions. There is total cross-registration between HC and BMC and a free bus runs between the 2 campuses every 15 minutes during the week–a 10-minute trip from one campus to the other. Students can eat on either campus, although you’re more likely to find HC students eating at BMC, the food is much better, especially Sunday brunch. The schools are even in the same bubble this year. (Swat is not, so students can only take remote classes there this year.) HTH. @milgymfam is the parent of a current HC student whose D has taken many classes at BMC and Swat, if I’m not mistaken.
4 Likes
As far as merit aid, my daughter received an “early write” acceptance and a STRIDE scholarship to Smith worth $22,500 a year plus an additional $2770 in work study the first two years to work on a research project with a professor. I know Wellesley is good with merit as well. Of the many schools my D applied to, VERY few offer merit aid so this was a fantastic surprise.
I’m not sure if she will attend there, but the scholarship certainly has given her reason to seriously consider it!
Good luck - the process is stressful but can be incredibly rewarding at the end!
Great for your daughter at Smith, congrats! Just for clarification so the OP isn’t confused, Wellesley does not offer merit aid, just need-based aid.
Oh thanks for the clarification! Sorry about that!
1 Like
Bryn Mawr has milder winters. I’m a grad and more recent grads still rave about the food and try to get recipes for their favorite dishes. Bryn Mawr traditions are still strong and are based on being inclusive and welcoming.
A family member of mine is a recent Wellesley grad as in about 3 years ago. She did not like the competitive atmosphere and had a difficult time with administrators for managing things like getting PE credit.
Smith has such a beautiful campus.
2 Likes
You can’t go wrong with any of these choices! My daughter had the same list and here was her thought process as she narrowed it down:
Campus
SMITH She thought Smith had the best campus due to being in an eclectic college town, the houses for dorms, the compact campus, and the multiple cafeterias.
WELLESLEY She didn’t love the idea of a spread-out campus and she didn’t like that it was in an expensive suburb. She did like the dorms with full kitchens and the 5 dining halls.
BRYN MAWR She loved the Hogwarts vibe of the campus and the generous dorm rooms. She didn’t like the affluent suburb, the fact that none of the dorms have kitchens, and the single dining hall. She also didn’t like the proximity to Haverford as she felt it would take away from the all-women’s experience.
MOUNT HOLYOKE While more rural, she preferred the small town to the affluent suburbs of BMC and Wellesley. She liked the dorms with kitchens and pianos, and she did not like the single dining hall.
All of these colleges are known for having beautiful campuses, nice dorms, good food, and unique traditions. What really set them apart for my daughter was the programs and course selection. There are considerable differences, and if your D is trying to narrow down her choice, I highly recommend looking at the course catalog for each one, to peruse the offerings over the last two years in her intended majors. My daughter is pre-law and is interested in American Studies, Women’s Studies, Sociology, and Peace & Justice related studies.
Courses/Programs
SMITH Smith had the least appealing courses to my daughter. She really wanted to love Smith because of the campus and location but the courses were so underwhelming that she was unable to muster enthusiasm. Truth be told, she actually started to cry after looking through the catalog. 
WELLESLEY Wellesley had among the best course selection which was much, much better than Smith and offered plenty of social justice related options.
BRYN MAWR The course selection was not nearly as appealing as Wellesley and over half of the courses she was interested in would have to be taken at the Haverford campus.
MOUNT HOLYOKE Their offerings were the best of the four, with the most courses having a social justice focus.
VASSAR She didn’t explore the Vassar campus like the others because she found the course selection to be similar to that of Smith.
Finances
Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr and Smith all offer merit aid. Wellesley does not. Bryn Mawr is the most rigid in their financial aid policies. If your D doesn’t apply for aid the first year, she is ineligible to apply for aid for the remaining three years. The other colleges have requirements but none are as stringent as Bryn Mawr. Given the uncertain times we live in, I was not comfortable with that policy even though we are a full-pay family.
My D21 had been rejected at her ED1 reach and she was trying to decide which of the above four to apply to ED2. The only campus she was able to physically visit was Bryn Mawr. Due to course selection, it came down to Wellesley and Mount Holyoke. Although Wellesley is probably less competitive than it used to be now that there is no grade-deflation, when reviewing their handling of COVID and reading recent articles on the student news site, we felt there still exists a certain rigidity about the college. Although my D21 has high stats and great ECs and recs, she is not a classic overachiever. She is a student who often asks for extensions, gets bogged down with perfectionism, and is prone to anxiety. Therefore, we determined that Mount Holyoke, with its reputation for having a more chill vibe, would be the best fit. She applied ED2 and was admitted with a 20K a year merit award. She has no regrets about withdrawing her other applications and she’s thrilled to be joining the class of 2025 this fall.
Another great way to get a sense of the vibe of each school is to visit the student newspaper pages along with Instagram or Facebook accounts for the previous year’s class. I wish your D the best of luck!
9 Likes
Yes, Haverford is literally right there when you’re on BMC’s campus— I liked the proximity and that there would be boys in some classes, just not in the dorms. I’ve anecdotally heard there are some decent parties at Haverford and the BMC girls get to go, have fun and then go back to their quieter campus for bed!
3 Likes
Wow! Thank you! This is a very thorough discussion and very helpful. I will definitely sit down with my daughter and look at course catalogs.
1 Like
Minor edit to @GoldPenn’s excellent post: Bryn Mawr has two dining halls (they used to have more), plus they have a cafe in the campus center.
1 Like
Ah, I had a feeling I’d heard something about another cafeteria. I should have checked. Is the cafe you refer to called The Lusty Cup?
No, but I love that name! It’s Uncommon Grounds. The two dining centers are Erdman (where I enjoyed many a delicious Sunday brunch to escape from Haverford’s inferior food) and New Dorm (not around when I was there in the Stone Age).
2 Likes
so much good information above that I will just add that
-
Swat has a really different vibe than most of the others on you list: there is an academic intensity (not competitiveness) that is almost palpable.
-
We are huge fans of Vassar (one of the Collegekids had a superb experience there), but it really is a ‘fit’ school- it clicks or it doesn’t. The underlying ethos of having been a women’s college really shows, and stood to our one, who is in a field that is currently 85% male. The encouragement to try things outside your comfort zone (such as the NRO option, which makes it safe to take a chance without messing up your GPA) was great.
3 Likes
Excellent rundown of the schools.
It is such a shame MHC got rid of their dorm dining halls and went to one central hall. The kids still love the food but there was something great to having sit down dinners with your dorm mates every night.
1 Like