<p>Hello all! I need a little input, and I thought this might be a good place to ask.</p>
<p>I’m 27, and I’m finishing up two years at a community college in the midwest. I’d like to major in English and I’ll be applying to transfer schools this fall. Bryn Mawr is number one on my list.</p>
<p>These are my concerns:
–I don’t have a car, and can’t really afford one. How difficult would it be, realistically, to get around Bryn Mawr and the greater area with no car? Getting to/from the airport? I’m afraid the public transportation situation might make life impossible.</p>
<p>–I won’t be able to visit BMC before I apply. It seems all reviews online (of every school I’ve looked at) are either very positive or very negative, and it is difficult to get a clear idea of what it’s really like. What do you need to know before you go? Was there anything you wish you’d known? I’m especially interested to hear from McBride scholars, if there are any out there.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, in advance, for any help you can give me. Any little piece of information or advice would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>D will be an incoming freshman and my husband is from the area so I can tell you a little of what I know. The main drag is Lancaster Avenue along which (over several miles) are strung Villenova, Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges as well as local shops, restaurants, banks, etc. There is frequent shuttle service between Haverford and Bryn Mawr since the it’s part of the tri-co (along with Swarthmore which is a little more out of the way). There is a Septa regional train a couple blocks from the Bryn Mawr campus which takes you into Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station (and effectively, the University of Pennsylvania and the city). My husband tells me there are local buses that can take you into center city, the airport, as well as adjacent townships, including Ardmore with its mall-ish Suburban Square stores. It all seems very civilized ;-). I think I heard from the Bryn Mawr tour that there is also a weekend shuttle to the King of Prussia Mall.</p>
<p>There are several banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, hair salons, dentists, and restaurants within walking distance. There’s a Bed, Bath and Beyond in Wynnewood (3 train stops from Bryn Mawr). For cloth shopping, the two most popular destinations are the Gallery at Market East Station and the King of Prussia Mall - Bryn Mawr sends a shopping shuttle there about once a month, or you could take SEPTA. As the previous poster has said, Bryn Mawr provides a free shuttle service to Haverford and Swarthmore, and Penn is only a train ride away. (Financial aid recipients get reimbursed for the train tickets to a Penn class!). </p>
<p>If you don’t have too much luggage, you could get from the airport to Bryn Mawr taking the R-1 to center city and then the R-5 to Bryn Mawr. If you are struggling to handle all of your luggage yourself or you are traveling with luggage during peak hours, I would recommend a taxi instead (~ $60 one way). </p>
<p>Using SEPTA to get around the suburbs is cumbersome. However, it’s very easy to get into center city with the R-5 or the Norristown High Speed Line. Once you are in center city, there are two subways, eight trolley lines and countless bus routes to get you anywhere within the city limits. Philadelphia was recently voted one of the 10 most walkable cities in the US! </p>
<p>One thing worth mentioning is that the trains stop running pretty early on weekends. (The last R-5 on Friday night departs center city shortly after midnight, I believe.) If you go out, you will either have to come back early or stay out till the next morning.</p>
<p>Speaking of mobility, are you planning to live on campus or off campus? Most of the student life revolves around campus. In a normal week, I only left campus once or twice a week (except to take classes at Haverford or Penn). You might feel more need for a car if you choose to live or socialize off campus.</p>
<p>I would live on campus, probably, just because it would be easier coming from so far away. Also, I seem to remember reading somewhere (can’t find it now, of course) that there is a house or an area set aside for McBrides, and that sounds awesome. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for responding, Vot123 and b@r!um!</p>
<p>There used to be a house off campus that was reserved for grad students and McBrides but I believe they’re no longer using it as such? I might be wrong, though - I graduated a few years ago. I knew McBride scholars who lived in the dorms, I don’t know if you get special consideration or not for room draw.</p>
<p>Glenmade? I was under the impression that the college sold it a few years ago, but the McBrides webpage elaborates on it as a housing option. So I guess that Glenmade was repurposed rather than sold?</p>
<p>But to second power2change, I too know two McBrides living in the undergraduate dorms, both in their 20s. Older McBrides usually live off campus.</p>
<p>Absolutely no reason to have a car if you live on campus (or just off-campus), in fact it would be more of a hassle than anything else. Easy to get to Philly via public transport. Pretty easy to get to Haverford (altho with changes they’ve recently made to the Blue Bus schedule, not quite as easy as it was before), a little less easy but still free to get to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Not to throw a damper on anything, but speaking as someone who did not go to college directly after high school, I would say that Bryn Mawr is not like a large U. where, at 27, you would blend in seamlessly. Not to put you off Bryn Mawr, but they only accept a few people a year who are outside of the absolutely-traditional-just-graduated-18-yr-old-high-school-student. Then, they call them “McBride Scholars” and brand them & treat them, in many respects, as “different” from other students. For instance, all the 1st-years get a lantern in their year’s color at a ceremony, but “McBride Scholars” aka not 18-yrs-old, get a “special”, “different” color of lantern. You are not old at 27, but at Bryn Mawr, you might feel like it. I love Bryn Mawr for my daughter, but personally I don’t think I’d have been very comfortable there as a person who’d been out of high school for a few years, at least, not as much as I was at a larger U. On the other hand, maybe it’s wonderful to be a McBride, idk.</p>
<p>Maybe you’ll find out differently, since I haven’t talked to any actual McBride Scholars. But I’ve often wondered why BMC sets these students apart–it’s kind of foolish, imo, in this day and age. Bryn Mawr is a wonderful college, just be prepared for the “different” treatment.</p>
<p>That’s a good point. I do think it makes sense to set McBrides apart because many of them are part-time students or very much beyond the traditional college age. A 40-year-old is not going to identify with 20-year-olds, and part-time students may not be able to predict when they will graduate so you can’t really assign them a class year for traditions. The entire college is set up to cater to young adult full-time students. Anyone other than that is going to stick out like a sore thumb and the college might just as well acknowledge that.</p>
<p>I do agree with you that it might be counterproductive to isolate full-time McBrides in their 20s artificially, when they would otherwise blend into the student community seamlessly.</p>
<p>Hi, I just wanted to add a little more input. I agree with most of what’s been said here: There’s no need for a car. The R-100 (high speed line, cheaper, requires a subway transfer to get to downtown Philly) and R-5 (regional rail) make getting around very easy.</p>
<p>I would probably feel weird living on campus as a 27-year-old. (Now I’m 28.) But it depends if that’s what you’re looking for. As a senior at Bryn Mawr, I lived just off campus and loved it. (I lived in an apartment complex on Montgomery Ave, about a 2 minute walk from campus. It was managed by Preble-Killian Realty.)</p>
<p>Most of the McBride scholars I knew loved Bryn Mawr. </p>
<p>Optimus, if you have questions about being an older student who’s not a McBride, you might want to get in touch with Bryn Mawr admissions directly. It’s a small office and they’re very friendly and helpful.</p>