transferring to UMich vs. BU - help?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I'm a sophomore currently attending Bryn Mawr College - a extremely small, women's liberal arts college (seven sisters!) in Philly, PA.
I applied to transfer for the winter term of UMich LSA college, and BU College of Arts and Science.
I just got into UMich, and I am still waiting to hear back from BU (but I'm hoping for good news -- I applied when I was a senior and got in with a scholarship).</p>

<p>But I'm not sure where I should go.
I really love Bryn Mawr in the sense that it has VERY small class sizes (the largest I've ever had is no more than 30 students), and the professors are extremely helpful and always available -- and you're not "just a number". However, I plan to major in Biology and I feel as though the Bio program here is going downhill -- if I do remain at Bryn Mawr, I am 100% majoring at Haverford (our brother school). Not only that, but the all-women's atmosphere, while liberating, is at the same time very suffocating (paradoxical, i know) with only women (and a good deal lesbians).
I love that Bryn Mawr has made me very open and accepting of all types of people, and I DO feel that it has pushed me to become more independent and has made me very driven - typical of any women's college, however, I also want a "normal" college experience, and a co-ed environment.</p>

<p>So if I do decide to transfer next semester, I'm not sure where I should put my deposit into UMich or BU. I love the location of BU, and it is considerably smaller than UMich, but the UMich reputation is much better than BU's.</p>

<p>I also hopefully plan to go to graduate school, which puts me in a dilemma because Bryn Mawr has an excellent rate of students getting accepted to grad school (it's ranked top 10 in the country, I believe, for successfully getting students in)</p>

<p>I'm also not sure if I should appeal to push my transfer back to enter in Fall'11 as a junior, instead of a second semester sophomore. I ideally wanted to enter as a second semester sophomore because it gives me more time to settle in to the new university, however, i'm not sure if it is too disruptive?? </p>

<p>Ahhhh, please help!!!</p>

2

<p>Interesting. I’ve seen people transfer out of Bryn Mawr a lot. I used to live in Philly and the girl I met from Bryn Mawr said it was uber competitive and thus she transferred to UNC. Is it really that competitive? (Just wondering)</p>

<p>I understand your dilemma. BU and UM are both great schools. Yes, UM may have a better reputation, but if you want consistency with what you love about Bryn Mawr (small class sizes, etc) perhaps BU is the best choice! </p>

<p>Other questions to consider: </p>

<p>How do the departments stack up against each other? Does one offer a little something extra? (For instance, I’ve always loved the fact that Brown and other top schools offer a concentration for Biology majors) </p>

<p>How is the financial aid for both?</p>

<p>Good luck :)</p>