I’m a current freshman intending to transfer into either Mount Holyoke or Bryn Mawr, but I’m having a lot of trouble deciding. I’ve visited both, but I haven’t really been able to go inside the buildings because of covid. As a result, I still really like both schools and could envision myself at either. Both have an equal amount of pros and cons. I’m hoping someone with more familiarity with these schools can give me some insight. I’m planning to be either a neuroscience or environmental science major. More than anything, I’m just looking for a college where the students aren’t cliquey or competitive, and are inclusive.
Forgot to add I also want to be on the pre-med route.
Bryn Mawr offers a back door option to UPenn. Something you might want to look into. https://www.brynmawr.edu/registrar/university-pennsylvania
The OP, “more than anything,” is seeking “a college where the students aren’t cliquey or competitive, and are inclusive.” I don’t see why UPenn would be especially attractive to her.
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Where are you applying? Just these two? There’s no guarantee you’ll get into both, so it seems premature to worry too much about a decision between them.
But one reason to lean toward MoHo is that they simply accept more transfer students. About 50 new transfers start there every year, which is a nice cohort.
Most of Bryn Mawr’s matriculating transfers are in the McBride Scholars program, which is for women 24 and older. In 2020, only 3 students transferred in outside of that program, out of 20 who were accepted. In 2019, 19 were accepted. So, as a regular-age transfer, you wouldn’t have many peers transferring in with you.
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I’m applying to other schools as well, but these are my top schools. I was accepted to both as senior in high school and doing pretty well at my current college, so I am hoping I’ll be accepted to one again. I can apply to Mount Holyoke for spring admission as a transfer, while Bryn Mawr is only fall admission which the main reason I am trying to choose between them. The amount of transfers at Bryn Mawr does concern me, but if I were to be accepted and attend I feel I would have no issues.
Bryn Mawr’s most recent Common Data Set shows it admitted 20 transfer applicants, of which 3 enrolled.
It sounds as though you do not have a clear preference for either BMC or MHC. If that is the case, and you are truly unhappy at your current school, then apply now to Mt. Holyoke. Transferring this spring, it seems, would be preferable to waiting until next fall given your current situation.
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A couple of observations. Up front I’m going to lay my own subjective preference and just say I think Bryn Mawr is the better option between the two unless it is a person’s desire to be in a really slow and sleepy part of the Pioneer Valley. Northampton and Amherst are one thing … but South Hadley is DEAD. Bryn Mawr is in a vibrant, upscale busy suburb of Philadelphia and near a bunch of other schools, including D1 Villanova. Both campuses are beautiful, but I’d score BM as the winner there. BM has a little more $$ as I recall, for whatever that is worth.
And, as to your stated goals, BM has one of the most tippy top post bacc pre-med programs in existence. Kids go there and work hard for a year and place into pretty elite medical schools with which BM has affiliations (through the post bacc program).
You wouldn’t be a post-bacc, but whatever makes that post bacc program so special is bound to be there for you as an undergrad. Also, their consortium isn’t so spread out. You’d have real and practical access to Haverford.
Honestly if this were me, and it’s not, but if it were, it would be an absolute no brainer. And this is coming from someone who loved visiting a kid at Smith for a year (who was in their math post bacc program). BM is just lovely and offers a great deal from my perspective. Both great schools and in my estimation comparable academically.
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My daughter was also torn between the two for many of the reasons already stated: kind and supportive students, beautiful campus, strong academics and accessible teachers. I feel like there is a lot of overlap in interested applicants. So the good news is that you can’t go wrong.
I can tell you that my daughter ended up at Mount Holyoke and could not be happier. As the above poster noted, the biggest difference could possibly be in the setting. Do you want a more city-like and busy campus experience, or a more rural setting near the mountains? My daughter reports that at MHC the Outdoor Club is perhaps the largest and most popular club, which takes advantage of its location by offering lots of activities from hiking to snowshoeing to kayaking. She and her friends frequently go to Amherst and occasionally Northampton for more lively fun and parties, but she loves heading back to her MHC home.
So it may boil down to which experience you would prefer. I agree that the Bi-Co experience between Haverford and Bryn Mawr is so much more accessible than the five college consortium, but I also think that the five colleges are more accessible than trying to add Swarthmore or UPenn to Bryn Mawr course loads. So a little give and take. My daughter has friends currently taking classes art UMass and Amherst; she plans to take a class at Hampshire and possibly Amherst in the spring. We’ll see how that goes!
My advice is to look at finances and the difference in location to see if one is the clearer choice. If not, just go with your gut. That worked out for my daughter and I hope it would for you as well. Both great options - Good luck!
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