<p>Hi - I was just speaking to friends who recently visited with their d who mentioned that BM has a very high Med school acceptance rate and their concern was this meant that Bio classes might be rigorous to the point of weeding out the non med school bound. My d is very interested in bio but from research not med school angle. Any current student have a take on this?</p>
<p>Is she interested in majoring in bio, or just taking a bio class or two for fun?</p>
<p>If it's the former, then I'm not sure. Bio is one of the five most popular majors, and I really doubt that every one of these majors is also planning on med school, but that's just an idea. If someone doesn't come along here after a while, I can ask a current student on the Facebook group.</p>
<p>If it's the latter, there are bio classes made for non-majors. I know a couple people who are signing up for a class geared towards majors and a class for non-majors and then planning on dropping one or the other in the first three weeks of classes (no consequences for dropping classes in the first three weeks).</p>
<p>She is planning on being a bio major - at the moment leaning toward neuroscience. She is coming from a very challenging private school so I think she will be bale to handle the classes but it's more an attitude issue I guess. Whether the point is to educate vs. end up with great stats for med school admission which I know is an issue at a number of the Ivy's. I guess we are looking for more of a sense of how he department works. That said we have heard only good things about BM so far.</p>
<p>I am not a bio major and I have not taken a single bio class, but I know a lot of students who have taken bio classes and I have never heard any complaints about bio being a weed-out class. I would be surprised if we had any weed-out classes at all. Bryn Mawr also has a fantastic post-bac pre-med program that enrolls very many Ivy graduates and may affect our overall med school admission rates. (However, the post-bac program has separate science classes so your D won't have to compete with those students.)</p>
<p>I think your D might be interested in Haverford's bio program as well. Haverford focuses on cellular and molecular biology while Bryn Mawr covers the different aspects of macro-biology. The two biology programs start out differently: biology majors at Haverford take chemistry but no biology in their first year while biology majors at Bryn Mawr typically start with the intro biology sequence in their first year and take chemistry in their second or third year. Students who start out as biology majors at Bryn Mawr can still major or take courses at Haverford, but they may have to play catch-up at first.</p>
<p>Thanks - Our overall impression of Bryn Mawr is great and this seems to fit the picture we have. Since you aren't a bio person any take on the Spanish or English departments? My d has two friends going next fall so she will probably do a visit when she can sit in on a class as well.</p>
<p>Well, I can only speak as an entering freshman, but I can say that BMC has quite a good rep in it's bio program. I'm thinking about double majoring in Bio and Anthro but I'm thinking that most likely it's not going to work out. Even a minor in Bio requires a lot of classes and my heart belongs to anthropology so I may just stick with 1 major (although it will make my mother terribly upset to find her daughter going into social science). But anyway, your D really should come to Bryn Mawr. I fell in love with BMC from the start. The only thing I really had to consider was $$$. I was caught in the middle financially (didn't qualify for aid but can't afford full tuition) and had to make a really tough choice between Full-priced BMC and an $80,000 scholarship. I chose Bryn Mawr to my economist mother's dismay and now there is a glare etched upon her face and a snarky comment out of her mouth everytime I mention BMC. So just a warning: if you don't think you'll get enough aid and won't pay big money for school don't let your D fall in love with BMC. That's my advice of the day. Nevertheless, I am sooooo excited for next year! Excited/Nervous but still psyched!</p>
<p>I am afraid I know even less about English and Spanish than I know about bio. I am more into math/computer science/physics. But if you have any specific questions I would be happy to forward those to friends who know more about these departments. Just let me know!</p>
<p>Re financial aid: Unfortunately the upper middle class often has a hard time qualifying for need-based financial aid at any college. I just wanted to mention that if your Bryn Mawr financial aid package seems to be lower than financial aid packages from other schools, talk to the financial aid office. I know too many students for whom the initial aid package was unaffordable, but who got more aid after talking to the financial aid staff. They are really helpful! My initial fin aid package from BMC was the worst of all the financial aid packages I was offered, but my revised package was the best. It made the decision to come to Bryn Mawr that much easier :) I am so lucky to be at a wonderful place like this!</p>