Bryn Mawr vs Scripps

3girls3cats
Fri, 25 Mar 2016 22:06:27 +0000

My daughter attended Bryn Mawr and I also researched Scripps for a different daughter. I love both schools so you’re not going to hear any negatives from me. They are both beautiful schools! I really liked the girls I met at both places.

The Haverford/Bryn Mawr bi-co is one of the easiest consortiums to navigate. The classes are not difficult to get (I think they are more open and available than the 5Cs from what I’m hearing lately) and the distance is about 1 mile between campuses. There’s a blue bus that travels frequently between the two schools and it’s an easy bike ride. D worked at H during the year one year and biked over from BMC all the time. Many of the activities are bi-co activities. While Swarthmore and Penn are also part of the consortium, it’s more challenging to take classes there. D had friends who managed Penn, even though their schedule isn’t neatly aligned with the other schools, but it took planning. It’s nice to have Philadelphia nearby. I think it’s easier to take SEPTA into Philadelphia than it is to get to LA from Claremont.

The 5 Cs are great! I loved that the campuses were so fluid and that campus life flowed across college lines. I also loved the idea of being able to take classes across the 5 colleges. Be careful to make sure that cross-registering outside of Scripps is doable though. One of my girls was considering Scripps very seriously. There was a lot of concern that popular classes would be unavailable or have limited availability outside of the college offering the class.

One thing that was very different between the two-at least when my D was there-was the strong sense of traditions at BMC. If you have a kid who isn’t into Lantern Night and May Day (I have one who loved it all and one who would have refused to participate), BMC is not the place for you. I can’t speak for the current cohort of women at either school but I can tell you that the vibe at Bryn Mawr was not overwhelmingly anything. It was very much a mix of different types. Same with Scripps.

The weather in SoCal is beautiful! I loved visiting in February.

I hope this helps a little.