The Honor Code

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bryn Mawr College
1

When I was looking at Bryn Mawr, I read about its honor code, but didn’t pay much attention to it. After all, my high school had an honor code (essentially a piece of paper telling us to be good). And while I lived by its values (honesty, respect, etc.), the honor code itself meant nothing to me. How could a college honor code be any different?

At Bryn Mawr, the honor code means so much more than most prospective students realize. We have two honor codes - a social honor code, and an academic honor code. They’re quite long, but essentially, they mean: “We trust you.” The honor code - especially the academic honor code - creates an environment where students are truly treated like adults.

Here is a small list of ways I have benefited from the honor code. Bryn Mawr students, feel free to add on!

  1. A few weeks after I arrived on campus, I came down with a nasty fever. I emailed my dean, and she CCed me on an email to my professors asking them to work with me (and provide extensions and understanding). I didn't need a doctor's note, a health center confirmation - the fact that I claimed to be sick was enough.
  2. Today, we had a snow day. It's also midterms week (yay!...:/). Class was cancelled, so one of my professors simply emailed us a PDF of our exam, told us to time ourselves (80 minutes) and refrain from using notes/internet/friends, and email it back when we were done. I just completed it in my pajamas in my dorm. Now that's trust!
  3. Finals. We have self scheduled finals. Most colleges have set periods in which entire classes sit in squeaky, uncomfortable desks in a stuffy room for X hours of silent misery.

At Bryn Mawr, we have a nine day or two week period with multiple 3 hour periods from which to choose. Whenever we are ready to take an exam, we simply show up at Guild (a building on campus) at one of those times. Student volunteers sit at tables with files of exams. We simply tell them our names and the exam we would like to take at that time. They note that the exam has been signed out, and hand us a sealed envelope with the exam. We are given a very long list of classrooms in which we can take the exam.

There are student proctors, but they are not the classrooms in which we are working. They are in the hallways - studying for their own exams, on their computers - and are there in case of emergencies or to answer questions, not to enforce the honor code. We pick a classroom (some students prefer classrooms by themselves). Once we are done with our exam, we place it in the white envelope, seal it, and return it to Guild.

Last semester, I made sure to take my political science exam last so I would have more time to study. I took my French exam first because I was pretty confident with the material, and wanted to get it out of the way. One of my professors assigned a take-home exam - so we just downloaded the exam from Moodle, and took it whenever and wherever we pleased (we just had to time ourselves and not use any notes/internet resources/friends). I ended up taking the political science exam on the fourth day of the exam period. Although the exam period was a little over a week, I was finished several days early.

So there are a few ways the honor code benefits students at Bryn Mawr! Questions and comments welcome - and Bryn Mawr students, feel free to add comments/experiences/etc.!

2

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Gives those of us interested in Bryn Mawr a personal glimpse of how exams are done at BM. When you have time, can you share some personal insight on academic rigor, dorm life, financial aid ect. Thanks.

3

Of course!

It’s a bit hard to give you an idea of all of those aspects of campus because they vary so much from student to student.

Academic Rigor: This really depends on basically everything - which high school you attended, which classes you are taking, and which professors are teaching them. It’s hard to say - some students are overloaded with work, others feel like it’s manageable. Personally, I have felt like the workload has been manageable. Like most students transitioning from high school to college, I have noticed a great shift in how learning is done - a lot more is required of me outside of the classroom, and (in the classes I have taken, anyway) there has been no “busy work.” I must say though, that the weeks leading up to this one (I just finished midterms this morning have been intense.

Dorm Life: Each dorm has a different “personality,” so to speak. Dorms are pretty tight (some more than others) in that you will most likely be quite familiar with the people on your hall (especially after “Customs Week” - orientation week) and in your dorm. Many of the Bryn Mawr traditions are done with your dorm. For instance, in the middle of Hell Week, the seniors read bedtime stories to the first-years in their dorm. The dorms are absolutely beautiful - they are much, much larger than most college dorms, and much better quality. Mine has a fireplace and a window seat. I am in a triple which consists of three rooms. Other than that, dorm life really depends on the person to a point where I can’t say much more. However, laundry is free, each dorm has a piano, a TV, and the works.

Financial Aid: Alas, I can say the least about this - it is completely dependent on your package/situation/etc. I am on almost full aid, but I can’t say the same for everyone else.

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Hey, thanks for this information! It’s really informative and more up-to-date.
I was wondering–one thing I’m worried about Bryn Mawr is how small it is. Have you had or heard of anyone having issues scheduling or getting all the classes they need for their major? I know you can take classes in the Quaker Consortium, but with the exception of Haverford it seems like a hassle…

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No, I haven’t heard of any issues - Bryn Mawr has tons of classes, and so does Haverford. You shouldn’t have a problem getting everything you need between those two - or even one, depending on your major. Swarthmore is a bit further, but there still is a van/bus that runs all day - just less often than the Bi-Co bus, which runs as frequently as every 10-15 minutes at peak hours. UPenn is the only one that is a bit more of a hassle, though Bryn Mawr reimburses students for travel expenses to and from UPenn.

6

I’m taking the most challenging curriculum my school offers with several APs so hopefully that will help make the transition more manageable. The dorm life sounds very welcoming.

I am a high FA need applicant and I understand this will make it more difficult to get accepted than someone with less FA need. If you don’t mind, could you share what your stats were like to give me a general idea of the chance I have. Thank you

7

I got pretty hung up on statistics when I was applying to colleges - SAT scores, acceptance rates, how many students were admitted ED, etc.

With Bryn Mawr, admissions are a lot more holistic than most places. I know a lot of schools say that they look at you as a whole person…sometimes it’s true, other times, it’s ■■■■■■■■. You can generally tell. But with Bryn Mawr, the proof is that they went test optional this year: http://news.brynmawr.edu/2014/07/21/bryn-mawr-adopts-test-optional-admissions-policy/

My SAT scores were pretty good at face value - the cumulative score was above 2000 (I believe the system has changed…) but distributed weirdly. I did very well in one subject, and only okay in another. Also, I have always been let down by standardized tests. I’d say if you are above the average (for Bryn Mawr) you have nothing to worry about. However, if you aren’t, you still need not stress. Bryn Mawr admits that standardized testing is kind of crappy in a lot of ways. (Socio-economically biased, not always indicative of academic success, etc.)

I had a weird situation - my GPA was great, my grades were great…but I had a very weird situation in high school that caused me to miss essentially two years of school. It actually made me look like a not-so-great student, if looked it in a certain way. But Bryn Mawr was willing to really read into my situation/transcript to see the story, rather than taking the complicated transcript at face value. So while my GPA was great, because of my situation, I don’t think my experience will shed any light on how yours may play out. But if you happen to be a student with an unconventional situation reading this and worrying whether or not it will hurt you - they understood my situation, even though I wasn’t able to fully explain it.

Financial aid, again, I can’t really say anything. It’s hard to make a prediction. However, being a high-need applicant doesn’t hurt your chances for admission. How much aid you will receive, that’s another story. But again, I am on pretty much full aid/merit (in other words, I was a high-need applicant whose need wasn’t totally justified by FAFSA - Bryn Mawr came through for me).

8

I’m not so great w/ standardized tests either but my GPA and course rigor is very good.

Did you apply ED? Did your FA package include alot of loans?

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I did not, and no, it did not. Though again, I really can’t predict or shed any light on what your package might be.

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Thanks @PlasticNebula for your helpful posts.

When you applied to BM, did you have a hook (legacy, athlete, URM, ect.)?

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@threegoodapps‌ No, I didn’t. You keep asking about specifics on my application, but what happened to me has no real bearing on what will happen with you. So many Bryn Mawr students had wildly different situations - financial, academic, and otherwise. It’s not as clear cut as you think, and factors that give students a considerable edge in admissions at other institutions aren’t as telling at Bryn Mawr.

I wish you the best of luck now, though - one more week (probably less)! You can do it :smile:

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I am reviving this post for 2021!