For better community input, please provide the below details about your college offers:
Cost is not a factor
Bryn Mawr and Franklin and Marshall major is Pol Sci and Laf is government and law.
Goal: Law school –> Lawyer
Domestic, New York
All of these are the same in terms of weather and other factors since they are all small schools. I am leaning towards F and M and BMC bc/ they feel less rural.
Why did you apply to each college you are considering?
I applied to Lafayette because they gave me a fee waiver.
I applied to Bryn Mawr because I wanted to go to Villanova and didn’t get in (Same area)
I applied to F and M just because, I kind of always knew about it.
The vibe at Bryn Mawr is very different from F&M and Lafayette. I think you might be able to pick purely on that. I think outcomes for going to law school will be very similar. Just depends on whether you want a more liberal, academic-y, and all women’s Bryn Mawr or a co-ed and quite a lot more mainstream F&M. If you haven’t visited yet, I think that might seal your decision once you experience the campus and students.
And edited to add that if Villanova was your first choice on vibe then F&M is probably closer to that. If it was your first choice because of location, then obviously Bryn Mawr is next door.
I would think your first decision to make is whether you would like to go to a women’s college. If so, Bryn Mawr is one of the best, so that’s easy. If not, then on to the other two.
Lancaster is in fact a notably larger town than Easton, and more urban-feeling (actually, “small city” is probably a better term for Lancaster). So that’s a reasonable basis for decision. Some people also like the College House system at F&M.
But honestly, you can’y go wrong with either. It is purely a matter of where you would be most excited about the overall four-year experience.
F&M is one of my D26’s top two choices. We were very impressed by the campus. I liked that it has the same number of students as other LACs, but the campus size is more compact and more urban. The buildings looked in good repair and very clean, including the dorms. My daughter thought it was cool that there are electrical outlets under the trees in the quad for outside studying. Lancaster is a very nice little city! I love that it has a train station within walking distance, as well as a small airport 20 minutes away. There are also opportunities for internships.
We also visited Lafayette, but it was not a fit for my D26 so she did not apply. We thought the campus was very nice. We did not like Easton very much.
One differentiating aspect of Bryn Mawr is that it is part of the Quaker Consortium, which means that you would be able to take courses at UPenn, Haverford, and Swarthmore. BMC students tend to frequently take courses at Haverford, probably because it is within walking distance. So – although BMC is al-women, it probably wouldn’t feel that way given the interaction with Haverford.
Kids apparently also occasionally take courses at Swat and UPenn, but with less frequency due to distance/logistics/class space.
If the consortium cross-registration opportunities interest you, you might consider that in your decision.
Nothing wrong but applying due to a fee waiver but clearly it’s not for you.
I would not attend BM because it’s near Nova. That’s not a reason.
Law school is irrelevant - even if it wasn’t these. Top law schools pull from everywhere - your top schools - Penn, Harvard, UVA, Gtwon pick from over 100 and even 200 schools. Gtown 222 schools in its first year class.
So this comes down to gut - F&M is a bit more urban I think - it’s smack downtown although BM isn’t far. BM is all female - does that matter?
Do you have a chance to go visit both?
You’ll likely know from your visit. Both are great. Even Laf is but it sounds like you don’t like the surrounds.
You might also look at % of athletes, % greek, and any special majors that might interest you (like subsets in poli sci or any institutes) or even quality of dorms and food.
When I talk about subsets or in this case enrichment, as an example, F&M shows they have a Public Service Leadership Program Fellows opportunity. Does that interest you? You might learn more about it. They also host a well known Center for Opinion Research that does political polling.
BM doesn’t seem to be as robust - but that might just be on their webpage. You could reach out, set a departmental appointment, to learn more.
Maybe it’s transport. I assume you can get to NY by train easier from BM than F&M - is that an issue?
It could be that both will be fantastic for you - it’s not like there is one school out there for everyone - likely many schools would work for many kids.
All great options. I would pick based on which college you feel is the best fit. Your post-graduation outcome will be determined by what you achieve during college rather than which one of these fine LACs you choose to attend.
For full disclosure my D graduated from Laf and had a wonderful experience there in every respect. I know people who enjoyed the other two schools as well.
Yes, but in looking at the BM Poli Sci page, it’s sort of bleak. I’m not saying they don’t have great extras - but F&M has, as I noted - the Public Service Leadership Program Fellows and also the well known Center for Opinion Research.
Neither of those may be of interest to OP. But if enrichment type activities like these are, does BM offer any? OP would have to inquire as they don’t appear on the website.
I think a consortium is great - and it will really be with Haverford. Being in a consortium sounds great but Swat and U Penn are a fair distance away - depending on time of day but 25 mins plus drive. How many are really utilizing them? And so it’s more classes.
But there is more to college than class (and shuttle rides in between).
Not saying BM isn’t suitable for the student - but I would look deeper at enrichment or specific areas of study of interest. I just didn’t see much at BM so if I was leaning that way, I’d steer my student to look deeper into the depth of their program - and not just classes.
Since the OP is potentially interested in legal studies, they might be interested in the Tri-Co Law Review. They also have a Mock Trial team and Pre-Law Society.
Having just come back from Haverford admitted students day this past weekend, I just want to note that the relationship with Haverford is highly integrated. Almost every student we talked to had taken classes at Bryn Mawr. Many also talked about eating there all the time (the Bryn Mawr food is apparently quite good), being in clubs with students there, and some majoring there. At the Haverford academic fair, we talked to two Bryn Mawr students who were at the table and doing a major that is shared across campuses. Course registration is seamless.
We also talked to a number of students who had taken classes at Swarthmore. It seems less utilized than Haverford/Bryn Mawr due to distance. But there is a regular shuttle so students don’t have to drive there. People do it for courses they want, and there are some tri-co activities between them. I wouldn’t classify that relationship as just classes.
My sense was that Penn classes are more specific use case and less used. And that relationship seems more ability to take classes than part of the same community for most people.
So, if one is looking at a department, I would not write off what the other consortium schools have to offer.
Edit: I should add that dining halls swipes work equivalently across Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore dining halls (at least for Haverford students). So one could go to Swat for the day and eat, library, do everything over there seemlessly.
I don’t know much about F&M and Lafayette, but my D and I attended Haverford’s admitted day last weekend. There is a lot of cross enrollment between BM and Haverford as they are pretty close and even share some of the same clubs and culture. Students regularly take classes between the 2 colleges. Not many at either take more than 1-2 classes at Swat or Penn - largely because of the distance. A couple of students thought Swat - much more than Penn - has a snooty attitude towards BM and Haverford.
The Political Science dept at Haverford is very robust and there are a lot of prelaws there. Not sure how this would impact you at BM.
Everyone at Haverford though Bryn Mawr’s food was quite good - much better than at Haverford and Swat.
Agreeing with those talking about looking at Haverford’s Poli Sci offerings as part of the BMC educational offerings as BiCo students take classes on both campuses. For what it’s worth, back in the day, I was a BMC Poli Sci major who took almost all my Poli Sci classes at Haverford because H’ford had more depth in the areas of my interest. There seems to coordination about depth and coverage so that each school’s department doesn’t try to replicate the other school’s offerings.
Haha - we were literally at the same event at Haverford and posting about it at practically the same time! I didn’t get the snooty Swat comment from anyone while we were at Haverford. Interesting. Nice to see the rest of our intel largely matched. Is your kid committed to Haverford?
I’ve seen that same sort of division of labor in other fields as well. Bryn Mawr and Haverford seem pretty smart about maximizing the benefits of the relationship.
Bryn Mawr is part of the a group of undergraduate schools that offer Liman fellows from Yale Law School for students interested in public policy law. D23 received a fellowship through her school MHC. She met all the fellows from Bryn Mawr at Yale last week.
That’s why I mentioned further investigation as the BM page was underwhelming but I says to get more context. This is a good point.
Really all I said was to look deeper as F&M had its leadership fellows so I hope OP investigates both more - was my message - so they find the best fit for them.
I thought she’d be headed that way after admitted students day but she just decided to stay close to home at Pomona. I think she would’ve been happy at either and think Haverford’s vibe was more her type. But she ultimately decided to stay closer with a lot of encouragement from mom.