<p>We (father, mother, and daughter) recently spent a day at Bryn Mawr to get a feel for the college. One impression we didn’t expect and were a little disconcerted by, was a lack of engaging dynamic among the students we encountered throughout the day. Our daughter sat in on a class that went like this: 14 students entered the classroom, and sat for 15 minutes prior to the professor’s arrival WITHOUT talking to one-another - they just sat silently for 15 minutes - no friendly chit-chat - nothing. In the room, there was a table with about 10 chairs, and more chairs against the wall - the majority of the students sat back there, and throughout the class, there was very little engaging discussion between the students with numerous prompts and opportunities being given by the professor. We got the same impression from students we passed on campus and encountered in the dining hall. There just didn’t seem to be any sense of connection - no sense of shared unity. It really was quite bizarre.
I’m sure there are click groups where there is more energy and shared enthusiasm, but we’re concerned that the overall student body seems to lack this quality. We loved the campus, the professor teaching the class our daughter sat in on was fantastic, but we’re a little worried about the overall personality of the student body. Any thoughts or comments would be most welcome.</p>