overwhelmedma

Any opinions especially re:
sciences
languages
size of school socially?

SmithieandProud

These posts are always difficult to answer, because almost none of the people in either forum have first-hand experience with actual courses at the opposite school.

I can tell you that I visited Bryn Mawr and didn't like it very much. It didn't suit me, and my tour guide made it seem like all the social life really happened at Swarthmore, and teh Bryn Mawr students just de-camped there for the weekends. I wanted a college that was self-contained, even if it was in a consortium with other schools.

Are there particular languages you're interested in? Smith is strong in some and less so in others. But Smith is investing heavily in the sciences over the past few years. By the end of 2009 we'll have a brand new engineering and bio-sciences building for example, thanks to Ford Motors.

overwhelmedma

HI - thanks for replying - she is studying Spanish and plans to continue. By the time she start college she will be between intermediate and advanced courses so she is looking for a program with a decent amount of depth. She sat in on a Spanish 200 level class at Smith this spring and felt like it matched what she was doing in school at the moment.

radionowhere

smith is also in the five college consortium with mount holyoke, which has tons of international students -- she'd be able to practice with people who speak all sorts of dialects from all sorts of countries, which is important when mastering a language.

cattv

Academically, I'm sure she would find both schools great in languages and almost every department that would interest her.

Socially, and size-wise, it depends on the individual. I went to Smith, preferring a larger class, but my older sister went to Bryn Mawr. We both loved our college experiences!