<p>Though I am a Bryn Mawr student, I wound up majoring at Haverford because I found its program to be far more flexible, especially with creativity and the author’s perspective. If you’re interested in writing a creative thesis for your final project, Haverford offers the opportunity to earn the concentration via submitting a portfolio for review. Such an option is not available at Bryn Mawr College.
Even if you don’t get the creative thesis, there is still a great deal of emphasis placed on a writer’s voice. I got a strong taste for this in ‘Inventing the Novel’ with Professor McGrane (who, along with the department chair, Raji Mohan, is absolutely brilliant. Take a course with them at least once). Thus far, nobody at Haverford has chastised me for bringing up outside reading in-class, or discussing how an author’s thought process shapes a novel. As someone who is predominantly a creative writer, I find this is helpful for expanding both the creative and analytical halves of my craft.
If you wish to be around more boys, I find Haverford to be the better environment for a major as well. In my English classes at Bryn Mawr, we’ve had maybe 1-3 boys, if we’re lucky. At Haverford, it’s closer to 9-10. Having mixed perspectives in class definitely strengthens the discussion, and makes it easier to meet people.
I don’t know how much this will help with “How did you choose Haverford?” in comparison to a broad range of schools, but in comparison to Bryn Mawr, this is how I made my choice. Across the board, I have found Haverford to be a much better fit for me. It’s ironic, considering that I never gave Haverford two thoughts in my initial college search.</p>