HopefulRae

This is one of my top choices, so I'm trying to liven up the board...

Is it easy to manage activities and school work? I heard that the college is known for giving students a large workload.

How is race/class interaction? Do people tend to group with people of their race and socioeconomic class?

What are the best traditions at Bryn Mawr? That's one of the things that attracted me to the school and I was wondering what some of the favorites were.

Eh...I know I had some more, but they slipped my mind. Thanks to anyone who answers!

brillar

Managing- I've balanced everything really well so far and that's something I usually can't do. As long as you take the right classes, it's easy to be involved and do well.

(Different types of classes include small seminars with a lot of work and writing, bigger intro lecture classes that are probably more memorization based, sciences/math with labs, language classes and intensive languages, PE classes.... don't take all seminars or all sciences with labs, that kind of idea.)

Last semester I had over 20 hours of class (intensive languages paired with lab sciences can rack up the hours) and I still did things around campus and had a LOT of fun in addition to doing well in school. There are also billions of people (deans, customs people, PMS people, HAs, upperclassmen) that can help you balance your classes and make sure you won't be overwhelmed.

Race/Class interaction- Class interaction was weird for me at first because I'm in the minority on that front, but at this point I have a lot of friends across the spectrum and it's been a legit learning experience. My friends are probably less racially diverse than they were in high school, but I'm pretty sure that was a coincidence- it probably varies more from person to person, but my friends are all very different people.

Traditions... gah!

We've done lantern night, and parade night, plus step sings, so far. Parade night is probably going to be my least favorite of the four, but it was also the first, so it has a special place in my heart. It wasn't bad, but the other ones are just so AWESOME. Lantern night was beautiful. Eerily beautiful. And the step sings are looong but adorable (at least go the whole time for your first). And it's fun to explain to your friends: "Yeah.... my whole school gets together and sings..."

And hell week is just around the bend- so excited!

HopefulRae

Thanks for the reply! I can't wait until March...

saskia2

Hi Brillar,

What language are you studying? I'm hoping to do Romance Languages at BMC with an emphasis on French (beginners) and Spanish, but I wanted to know how intensive these programs are, and whether it's possible to become fluent. I'm applying as a transfer.

brillar

I'm taking Spanish (and probably majoring in it). With the incorporation of studying abroad (which is required for majors and recommended for minors), I think it's very possible to become fluent. My speaking has improved considerably in the past semester and a half- I've taken Intensive Intermediate Spanish and now I'm taking Introduccion al analisis literario with Prof Quintero. I love my literature class- we read short stories at home and spend the class discussing symbolism, etc. Sometimes I can't believe how well some of my classmates can speak.

Fluency is definitely my goal- I might not be there yet, but I'm much closer. I just wrote my first 3-4 page essay in Spanish- I'm glad I've finally gotten to do that. It just seems like a nice milestone to have.

firefly16842

c' Tomó español en la escuela secundaria? c' O comenzó en la universidad?

saskia2

To do intensive intermediate Spanish in the sophmore year, do you necessarily have to do intensive elementary spanish?
Currently I'm doing intensive beginners Spanish, but the Spanish department at my school only offers 4 hours per week while I know at BMC you can do nine hours of spanish per week. I definitely want to become fluent at Spanish but write now my speaking is appalling, so I'm worried that even if I do get to go to BMC I'll be considerably behind.
Is it really easy to travel to Philadelphia, and is Bryn Mawr a good place to live if your on a tight study budget? Thanks!!!

superwoman

I just read this whole post, the answers are definetly helpful! I'm a little fluent in Spanish, but I speak French, and Haitian Creole, which is like it's own fully-functional language. I'd love to minor in German! I wanted to know if the courses for German are very intensive? Also, I'm a Biology major would I be able to minor in German if I wanted to or double major?

Thanks!

b@r!um

Intensive Intermediate is a direct continuation of Intensive Elementary Spanish, but you do not necessarily have to take Intensive Elementary in order to take Intensive Intermediate. I know that some freshmen are placed into Intermediate Spanish because they are too advanced for Regular Intermediate but not quite ready yet for the upper-level language and literature classes.

The best way to figure out which class is right for you is to take the placement exam. I would like to mention though that even the non-intensive introductory Spanish class meets 5 days a week. By pure math it would seem that regular intermediate Spanish might be the better option for you, but your Spanish class might have been very intensive without a lot of contact time. Even if you do have to take the regular intermediate class, so what? It might be better to take the one additional class now than to take literature classes with a weak foundation.

Many beginning language students have a hard time with conversation. The best way to overcome the difficulties is to meet and practice with peers until it feels more natural to speak in Spanish. You can also request a tutor through the Dean's office (free of charge!) who will meet with you for a limited amount of time to work on specific weaknesses. The Language Learning Center is another great resource, but it may not be quite as helpful for speaking problems because it's just you, a computer and tons of listening/video/reading material.

Since most of our daily needs are paid for by tuition, room and board, it is possible to live very frugally. The only things you absolutely have to spend money on are toiletries and textbooks, and you may even be able to borrow the textbooks from the library for a semester. How much money you need beyond those basic items depends mostly on your living style.

Philly is very accessible through the R-5 and the R-100 train stations. Most students prefer the R-5: it's $9.50 for an off-peak round-trip, 5 walking-minutes from the college and gets you directly into Center City. The R-100 is only $4.40 but 15 minutes from Bryn Mawr; it's the most direct connection to the University of Pennsylvania if you want to go there for classes or parties. Both trains run all day except between about 1am and 5am.

saskia2

Thank you so much for your advice. I wasn't even aware that you could get a free tutor to help with your language skills. I just hope I get in, I can't wait until April 15th!!

brillar

Edit on my traditions response:

Hell week is even better (not scary at all, I promise). They get better and better throughout the year (and I have high hopes for may day).

HopefulRae

Yeah May Day sounds like it will be a lot of fun!

Gaby3

Can you tell me if they have different religious masses for the students? My D is Catholic and likes to go to mass (most of the time) or have a place to just sit and think. I know a lot of students aren't that religious, but is there a Catholic Miinistry and other functions for students who do want to keep some practices?

brillar

There isn't one on campus but there are several churches nearby- one must be Catholic because I saw a lot of students with ashes on Wednesday (so it must be easy to get to too). I was surprised- there are a lot more Catholics on campus than I thought. The community is definitely here.

HopefulRae

Speaking of religion, is there a rift between the religious and non-religious students? I'm asking because I heard not many of the students are religious.

Also, what is the social life like? Is it pretty much what you make of it?

Thank you so much to the people answering questions!