<p>Hi! I know this might have already been discussed plenty of time but I truly don't know which is right for me. Unfortunately, I am an international student and I wouldn't get to visit both campuses before I decided. </p>
<p>I am a prospective double major in cs and political science/government and an international student going to US for the first time.</p>
<p>Smith
-open curriculum
-more classes available on campus
-houses
-name recognition (sorry, this is a bit shallow)
-larger alumni network</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr
-better food
-much easier to register courses at Haverford
-the campus looks really beautiful
-as a prospective Computer Science major I really like the labs at Bryn Mawr
-their acceptance rates are getting lower</p>
<p>Okay! so originally I was leaning towards Smith because of its open curriculum but after receiving the packet from Bryn Mawr the card from the admissions office was so nice that it made me fall into making this hard decision.</p>
<p>justchamp-- My D was accepted at Bryn Mawr as well as Smith. I noted your list of pro’s for each school. As an international, the larger Smith alumni network might more easily touch you post graduation. Just a thought. My D chose Smith and loves it.</p>
<p>It appears to me that your Smith pros are stronger than your BMC pros.</p>
<p>The food at BMC may or may not be better than at Smith, but the food at Smith is generally pretty good and usually with a good variety of options. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; while both campuses are nice, I prefer the Smith campus because of its varied architecture and the views of Paradise Pond. I believe that both school’s acceptance rates are dropping; though similar, Smith is still a bit lower. So I’m not sure you should even include the last item for BMC.</p>
<p>Good luck with your choice. It’s hard to pick without visiting, but they’re both great schools.</p>
<p>It also depends on how important it is to you to be near a major city. Philadelphia is a wonderful city, with world-class museums, restaurants, etc. Northampton is a nice town, but it really is just a town – the total population is less than 30,000, even including the outlying villages. It might seem pretty small after four years.</p>
<p>OP - photodad reminded me of something my D said in the middle of last semester, her first year at Smith after transferring from another college: </p>
<p>“Everyday when I walk past Paradise Pond on my way to class, it’s so pretty and calm, and I am so grateful to be here!”</p>
<p>I also think your Smith pros are stronger than your Bryn Mawr pros. You can’t go wrong with either school, though. </p>
<p>Anyway, this might just be me being ignorant about Bryn Mawr’s requirements, but won’t it be easier to double major at Smith because of the open curriculum?</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck picking! I’m also an international and a prospective CS major. I applied to both schools, but withdrew my Bryn Mawr app when I got into Smith. So obviously, I’d tell you to pick Smith But like I said you can’t go wrong with either school :)</p>
<p>My daughter, now a senior, was accepted to both schools and chose Smith. Byrn Mawr was the very first women’s college she visited so she knew she’d apply, but by the time she was accepted at both, she knew she’d outgrown Bryn Mawr; it was too small for her–in the diversity and number of students, courses, special academic opportunities (research, STRIDE, Kahn Institute, etc.), open curriculum, internships, alumnae network, etc.–that she had no hesitation in choosing Smith. Her decision has borne out. Smith has been the right size for her, 2600 students, vs. 1300 at Byrn Mawr. She’s also taken an excellent class at Amherst College, one of the schools in the Five College Consortium.</p>
<p>Northampton is a delightful, lively town; to me it’s the PERFECT college town if you don’t want to be overwhelmed and distracted by a large city, but you want to have a small city that has interesting things going on when you want a break from studies. It has the BEST restaurants and shops! It’s like a smaller version of Cambridge, Massachusetts.</p>
<p>I also agree your Smith pros are stronger than your Bryn Mawr’s. Guitar500 has a very good point about the open curriculum at Smith allowing you to double major more easily.</p>
But like I said you can’t go wrong with either school :)</p>