There are lots of tremendous LACs out there. Now that you know what you are looking for, I’d get your hands on one or two good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review, Insiders Guide) and start reading up on different LACs. If you don’t want to purchase the books, check in your local and school libraries, your guidance office etc…
Consider Scripps because the Claremont consortium is unique in offering 5 contiguous campuses. You have the benefits of a women’s college but plenty of interaction with the other 4 colleges. Unlike other women’s colleges that are part of a consortium, the 5C’s are part of one walkable campus so no need to take a bus from one to the other. http://www.cuc.claremont.edu/maps/TCCmap.pdf
Have you visited Bryn Mawr, or are you basing this on what you have read/heard/seen online? If you have not visited yet, try to do so after classes have begun there this fall. That way you will be able to get a better feel for the environment, and you will have a much clearer picture as to whether or not you could be happy there. You also should be able to visit Haverford that same day, and possibly squeeze in a visit to Swarthmore as well.
Bryn Mawr, btw, doesn’t appear to located in a college town. Their suburban setting seems to be primarily an established commuter town for residents who work in Philadelphia.
@merc81 True, Bryn Mawr, the town, is a suburban area, with beautiful (and expensive) homes. Many of the shopping areas around BMC and Haverford are focused on the residential community, not college students, but the basics for college students are all there – great pizza, dive bars, accessible grocery stores – plus a 20 minute train ride to Center City, Philadelphia. Villanova University is 2 miles one direction from Bryn Mawr, while Haverford is 1 mile the other direction. Towns on the Main Line are old and well-established, with charming “main street” shopping districts on Montgomery and Lancaster Avenues, so the area does not feel “suburban” in the sense of soul-less shopping centers and big box stores.
Great indian food, too! And a good microbrewery for the 21+ crowd.
There’s a lot on and just off the Lancaster Ave stretch of Bryn Mawr/Haverford/Ardmore which is about 2 miles long and easily navigated by foot or by bicycle.
To the list on #2 I’d add a few that are not quite as selective, but excellent. Connecticut Coll, Wheaton (Massachusetts), Skidmore, Wooster, St. Olaf, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Lawrence (Appleton has 70000 though). These will still all be majority female. Reed and Lewis Clark are great also, in suburban Portland.
