Should I transfer to Barnard?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
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<p>I am a freshman at Bryn Mawr College, another one of the Seven Sisters just outside of Philly. I love Bryn Mawr in many ways, but after some traumatic experiences the first semester (including family distress, financial distress, and my long-term boyfriend walking out on me), and the shutdown of public transportation into Philly (the local train no longer has weekend service and jacked up prices due to financial distress which isn’t going to get better any time soon), I am considering applying to transfer to Barnard. I have always loved NYC and always will, and I miss the thrill and excitement of it. Suburbia, at this point, is killing me (I grew up in suburbia).</p>

<p>Anyway, my concerns about Barnard are as follows:</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr is a really tight-knit community and that’s partially what’s so cool about it. It’s so accepting and happy and helps me to succeed. The professor-student relationship is outstanding. Is Barnard the same way? Is it comparable academically, as respected in terms of academics (not talking selectivity here, but academics), great professors, etc.?</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr has a stellar academic reputation, offers the opportunity to get a combined BA/MA in four years in my major, and fits me very well academically. I am told that even a mediocre GPA from this insanely stressful institution is quite impressive. Is Barnard’s academic reputation the same?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for all your help. This is a difficult time in my college experience and any helpful advice would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>I think Barnard is certainly comparable in reputation and availability of " great professors," especially if you include those at Columbia. If you have financial distress, though, New York is a very expensive place to live and entertain yourself. Don't transfer while on the rebound from a love relationship that fizzled. Seek solace in your work and the friendship of your classmates. Fewer distractions can be a boon to academic success. If you still feel the same way by Oct. sophomore year, then apply for the transfer.</p>

<p>Can you answer some of my questions?</p>

<p>Is there no way without a car into Philly on the weekends. Could Bryn Mawr get it together to offer a bus or van service? What causes the situation to be insanely stressful? I thought Bryn Mawr was not competitive academically. My daughter is considering applying to both Bryn Mawr and Barnard.</p>

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<p>There is no way the college's budget, even combined with Haverford, can accomodate vans into the city. The city is not that great, anyway. I was all excited about it like the other frosh until I experienced it -- then I realized why all the tour guides at Swat (which I also looked at) and Bryn Mawr said no one goes to Philly -- it's not that great, and there is NO TIME. Don't get me wrong. Bryn Mawr is wonderful. The academic situation is bliss. It is just that so much is demanded of you that you nearly die. </p>

<p>The students are not competitive with one another as one might expect. But then again, if you stop working on that problem set and look around, you'll see that there are 1200 successful, driven, and confident women around you that are working just as hard and seemingly harder than you are. Academic work rules your life, and everyone else's, at Bryn Mawr. (We are called Mawrytrs for a reason. I slept three hours a night during exam week and just barely got all my papers written.) Your daughter must decide for herrself whether or not that is a good thing. I find it invigorating most of the time.</p>

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<p>Hold on... has the SEPTA issue cutting weekend service actually been finalized?!? Supposedly, it was still just a threat...</p>

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<p>I just checked the SEPTA webside. They seem to still have weekend service from Swarthmore to Phillie. Isn't that the same regional rail line?</p>

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<p>HI I totally sympathize with you. I am a bryn mawr freshman who also wants to transfer to Barnard. Bryn Mawr just isnt' the place for me. And iwht the amount I'm paying I need to be satisfied with the college. So i totally sympathize iwth you.</p>

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<p>In6104 and Wondering,
I am curious as to what changed about Bryn Mawr so that you now want to leave? Or is this the dissatisfaction that plagues so many college freshmen? This is a serious question as my D is very interested in Bryn Mawr and Barnard. D's type is serious intellectual; talkative introvert.</p>

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<p>Hah, your daughter sounds like me, mardad--a talkative introvert...</p>

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<p>And mine makes a third.</p>

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<p>Yes, mine is also like that. Bryn Mawr students --give us some more details please to help our daughters make their plans.</p>

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<p>I'm not sure if I can really answer this or not...I don't actually go to Bryn Mawr yet, but will be next year (yay!!!!). I'm pretty shy, but at the same time do talk too much sometimes. I'm really into reading, creative writing, and latin (all the dorky things), but also like to go out. I only get high b's in high school, but luckily they still took me...this may not help much because I won't know if I like bryn mawr or not until the fall...but i think i'm going to LOVE it. Hope this helps!</p>

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<p>I think perhaps my problem was that I had unrealistic expectations about college and about Bryn Mawr. I imagined every aspect was gonna be <i>perfect</i>. I thought about transferring nearly all first semester too (to places like Barnard, NYU, and occasionally to places closer to home like the Claremont schools). But now that I've been back for winter break, I actually can't wait to fly back to Philadelphia and go to Bryn Mawr. </p>

<p>Negatives: - Obvious lack of boys. Even if it doesn't drive you nuts, it's probably driving a couple people around you nuts.
- You have work to do ALL THE TIME. If you're in your room not doing anything, you should probably be doing work...
- Most professors grade really hard. Occasionally, you'll get a paper you worked really hard on (which you feel would've earned you an A+ in high school) and it'll come back bleeding from red pen corrections.
- SEPTA sucks. Some times, Philly also sucks
- Biggest complaint = Almost everyone bonds by complaining. This was discussed in a College Seminar class once. Since we can't talk about our grades, we tend to whine about our workload instead. The idea behind no grade-talk, is no competition, but competition is human nature. The problem with the complaining though, is that you vibe off other's stress, and therefore you kinda stress out yourself.
- Some times the work feels like the "busy work" you had in high school (depends on the class/professor). You feel worse when you're talking to friends from other schools and realize that they have way more free time than you do.
- You may or may not complain about the selection of guys you have access to.
- Weather, if you're used to a warmer climate. Though, it's actually not that bad. </p>

<p>Positives: - I'm not sure if I've felt the positive effects of a single-sex education yet, but it really can be refreshing to not have to worry about boys -- not worry about how you look all the time, because you might be trying to impress a cute one.
- It's not hard to meet guys. Like everyone says, you just have to be willing to go out. You might not be happy with them, but be realistic -- college guys here are like college guys anywhere else.
- Professors are amazing. There are some classes that I couldn't miss, just because I didn't want to miss out on the lesson, even if I could have gotten away with sleeping in. I struggled in one of my classes all year, and was able to meet with the professor almost every other day for extra help. They will work with you until you understand the material.
- Food. Mmmm.... you may take it for granted, but try eating at other schools' dining halls.
- Dorms. Compare them to some frosh dorms at Penn, and really, you can't imagine living anywhere else.
- Though there are a good number of people who spend their weekends in, studying, it's a personal choice and not a default. There's usually something going on every weekend some where, if you're willing to leave campus. I don't think I've ever spent an entire weekend on campus.
- The workload is do-able. Especially if you realize that Bryn Mawr's hard grading is what forces you to strive. The graduating class of 03's average GPA was (rumored) to be a 2.7 (not sure about this exactly). But when it comes to grad school, med school, etc., I heard that Penn Med multiplies your GPA by 1.1 -- but the point is, grad schools know that we're working hard for our grades.
- Shopping :-) I've looked at the receipts a couple times, and uhhh no sales tax on clothing, while sales tax for other goods are about 6%. Philly is pretty convenient (and mostly walk-able in good weather - if not there's the subway).
- If your daughter is a serious intellectual (heh, sorry I went off about all the shallow, physical aspects about Bryn Mawr) she'll be really happy at BM. Either the Yale College Review thingy or Princeton, I don't remember, said that Bryn Mawr was the academic brain powerhouse or whatever of the Seven Sisters. It's certainly true - you have professors and peers that'll blow your mind and engage you in conversation for hours. </p>

<p>Oh wow, sorry that was really long.</p>

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<p>luvvlise,</p>

<p>Thanks so much for all those details--that's hard to find info and really useful for decsion-making.</p>

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<p>I guess I have a very different experience at bryn mawr. I know a lot of people who love it and those who don't . I guess I just feel claustrophobic. i need more to do and see. Its hard to get off campus , philly sucks for me (i'm from nyc area) and I get sick of just seeing bryn mawr students. I would sya that my professors and classes were alright. I didnt find any of them too challenging or any professors brilliant. It might be cause of my high school and the teachers I had there. I am also incredibly annoyed by the fact that they offer very few courses every semester in a particular major. You look in a course book and half the classes aren't offered this year. I came for a particular indisciplinary major that was listed and basically advertised and when I got there they did not even offer it anymore. haverford doesnt offer those subjects that i'm studying and I'm not dragging myself to Swarthmore or PEnn. Basically I feel like bryn mawr lacks energy. The campus and the dorms jsut always feel dead, ecspecially on the weekends.</p>

1 Like
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<p>luvvlise,
Thank you, that was very helpful</p>

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<p>I agree with a lot of the things luvvlise said. I don't know, I just ... argh, I don't know! I think the main things I miss are: an active arts scene with real facilities, that "grown up" feeling (feels like high school), and men. I'm sorry, I miss them. Life stinks without them. And they always think I'm not interested in them "in that way" when I say I'm from the Mawr. For the rest of my life I will have to be EXPLAINING why I chose a women's college in suburban PA. And I'm not really sure why anymore.</p>

<p>One thing I don't agree with is the difficulty of the classes. I took 5 very different and "difficult" credits this semester and have a near-perfect GPA. (Against honor code? Hmmm ... oh well. I'm anonymous here. I'm sorry, Athena ... I will bring you doughtnuts.) I feel kind of like the "academic difficulty" is just parroted by complaints ... or I just prepared very well in high school. I don't know. I want straight answers from someone about whether or not grad schools give us advantages or whatever because our grades are "deflated" ... </p>

<p>Why has BMC produced only 3 Rhodes Scholars? Why are there only a few Marshall scholars speckling the past of Bryn Mawr? Is what we do respected in the academic community, or do they just tell us that so we feel better? I want a clear answer from someone in the college. Where I'm from nobody's heard of Bryn Mawr, and I mean NOBODY, and they always embarrass my family by saying, "Oh, well, it doesn't matter so much anymore where you go," assuming I'm some kind of idiot!</p>

<p>I'm not trying to push a negative image of BMC, and I am sorry if this offends anyone, really I am. I just don't know what to do. There are many wonderful things here, there are many bad things, too. I don't think my high school grades are impressive enough for transferring, and transferring is so hard in the first place. Will my high BMC GPA outweigh that? Would I do better at a women's college in the city? </p>

<p>I just do not know.</p>

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<p>wondering,
Grad schools in liberal arts subjects don't care so much about GPA. They look at GREs and performance in your chosen subject, as well as the quality of recommendations from "known" professors in your field. You can also submit a sample of your research work. As to men, I graduated from Mount Holyoke over 30 years ago. Once you leave undergrad college, men don't care about why you went where to school. They respond to who you are at the time they meet you. Through alumnae networks, I can tell you that most of the women I knew in college are married ( more or less happily). As for men in your life now-- consider internships in summers that have coed opportunities, or volunteer to work in Philly for a "cause" you believe in--but not women's issues! All the best to you...</p>

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<p>Wondering, I would consider first how much of my unhappiness is extrinsic to BMC: family problems, boy friend troubles, financial etc. Next I would recall that the school work may seem easier to you because you may be at the upper range of ability in the school. The ranges of SATs accepted be the more selective women's colleges is broader than those accepted by the more selective coed schools. This does not imply that the work is any less challenging at Bryn Mawr. It may be easier for you, but you can still find it rewarding and fulfilling. It may be just as easy at Barnard. When I read your first post I felt that you still like Bryn Mawr.</p>