Current student + friends at BMC, ask us anything!
lacscn
78 replies5 threadsRegistered User Junior Member
lacscn
78 replies5 threadsRegistered User Junior Member
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Replies to: Current student + friends at BMC, ask us anything!
In your estimation, what percentage of student body are from private school background?
Thank you.
I do feel that I'm at a historically women's college, 100%. While we are very very close with Haverford in many aspects, it doesn't mean that we give up our identity as a school. It's really about the attitudes of our students/profs/staff etc., and having a supportive community of people who face disadvantages because of their gender. There's always a much larger ratio of women:men on campus, since the other tri-co schools are also 50% women. Generally, people from other schools are respectful of the space they're in when they come here.
That being said, if you want to, our association with Haverford (and to a lesser extent Swat) makes it a lot easier to find men than if you were at, say, Agnes Scott. I've never gone actively seeking them out, but if you want to they're there. I feel like it's the best of both worlds because I know I always have the very strong sisterhood of Bryn Mawr but I don't ever feel trapped at all.
I'd say somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of students are from private schools, but the type of private school varies a lot. I know some people who went to private school close to home because they got scholarships and their public high schools were really bad, and I also know some people who went to fancy boarding schools.
I am not Jewish and will not pretend to be super knowledgeable about Jewish life on campus, but I can tell you what I do know.
It is a small but active minority on campus - there is pretty strong Hillel participation and as a college very dedicated to social justice they often do what they can to get other students to learn about what's happening in their community and issues they're dealing with. Sometimes those issues are here on campus, sometimes they're in Philly, sometimes they're across the world. Dining services does what they can to be supportive during times when food accommodations are needed. I don't really know about the general stance on BDS, sorry
Sorry, so many questions - I intend to visit for an overnight - I can ask these questions then if you don't feel comfortable posting here. Thank you again!
Schools I applied to/results (as many as I can remember... it's been almost two years!):
Carleton ED: rejected
State schools: accepted
Gustavus Adolphus: accepted w/ some really good scholarships
New College of Florida: accepted w/ even better scholarships
Macalester RD: accepted
Grinnell RD: accepted
Bates RD: waitlisted
Haverford RD: waitlisted--->accepted
Hamilton RD: accepted
WUSTL RD: rejected
And of course, Bryn Mawr RD: accepted
I love Bryn Mawr! My best friends are here and I've learned so much from my professors/other students and have received SO much support. The dorms are nice and the food is good! The level of siblinghood I feel is seriously so strong, I genuinely feel like I could rely on almost any student/graduate of BMC. Sometimes it feels a little stifling because it is small, but I can always get off campus if I need to and it's a good area to be in. I wouldn't want to be at a college that was bigger, despite the small disadvantages. I feel like I regret it when I'm there every once in a while because I miss my people at home (they're in the Midwest) but it's just homesickness. I would definitely choose Bryn Mawr again - I had a very hard year but I think learned more in that year than I did in all of my life previously. I answered about the tri-co/quaker consortium in an earlier answer, feel free to ask any more specific questions about it also! Quick answer: we're chill, closest with Haverford, then Swat, then Penn. It's nice to have so many potential people to be friends with even though it's a small college. Hope to meet you when you visit campus
The social scene really is what you make it. Cliche, I know, but it's true. I'm not a huge partier but when I want to I usually just pop over to Haverford on the weekend and find a party. At least 3/4 of weekends I'm sitting in bed watching netflix or doing something really lowkey with friends, but that's just what I like to do, not necessarily because I'm tired. Going to Bryn Mawr town to rite aid or a restaurant or somewhere else can be surprisingly fun, and a lot of people do that often. I personally like to go into Philadelphia and and go to orchestra concerts (college subscription for the w i n). On BMC's campus there's usually stuff to do on weekends with clubs, sometimes they have movie screenings or group discussions and honestly it's never boring on campus. I know people who were literally at haverford or swat every single weekend partying, so that option is definitely there if you want it. In general though I think a lot of BMC students are social in a way that they know a lot of people since the campus is so small. Most people will make small talk and sometimes you're standing in the dining hall line and start talking to the person next to you and you realize you have a mutual friend or something like that. There's obviously introverts and extroverts but people in general are pretty nice.
I definitely wouldn't say most, but a significant portion of bio majors are pre-med. I really have no idea about environmental studies, I'm sorry!! I have a friend who is planning on majoring and has liked her classes so far, so that's a good sign! I'm a serious musician so I was at Haverford twice a week for orchestra/chamber music and then another time for a different class. It's SO easy. We have buses that go between the two campuses and they take ten minutes each way max and they go multiple times an hour into the night. It's free, it's easy, it's convenient, and I'll love the blue bus forever. Honestly it's rare that someone doesn't have to go to Haverford on at least a semi-consistent basis, so they made it easy for us. It's also really not a bad walk; I've done it before.
I was born to talk about this haha. I'm a Russian major and was always going back and forth from Bryn Mawr to Haverford for music. If your daughter will be in beginning Russian, they're actually offering that at Haverford also this year if she didn't already know. If she can't take it at Haverford or will be in intermediate though it's really really easy to go between campuses, don't worry about it at all. In the worst terms, it's a minor inconvenience, and that's only if the bus is really full. Otherwise I actually enjoyed having a little time to think about nothing. If she has any questions about Russian @ BMC, dm me or post them here, I love talking about my department!!