Hi @sophieee123 ! I know the application deadline has passed now, but for future reference:
All of those sound like excellent letters. I would personally choose ones that showed the admissions committee something that they haven’t already read a ton about on my application. So if you wrote an essay about why you’re premed, I might not choose that lor because they’ve already heard about you as premed if that makes sense. Some other people would argue that your lors should support the things you talk about the most on your application. It’s really up to you because they’re all good options. Good luck with your decisions!!!
To science majors, is it easy to get involved in research? And does Bryn Mawr share research opportunities with Haverford (and Swat and UPenn?)? Thanks!! I’m thinking of doing a biochem/molecular bio major and recently found out about Haverford’s Super Lab.
Hi All, My daughter would really prefer an OPEN curriculum, but, at the same time, she is rather in love with Bryn Mawr, can you talk a little about required curriculum? How flexible is it? What does it entail exactly?
Hi @Felicity12 ! So I’m not a STEM major, but I have taken a fair number of classes in science/math and have many many friends who are. I want to give you fair warning about the biochem major at Bryn Mawr - if I recall correctly, it’s the major with the most required classes in the entire college and there’s not much flexibility in course scheduling.
If you want to do research, you’re going to be able to do it at some point in your undergraduate career. There are opportunities throughout the academic year as well as in the summer and I’m pretty sure it can be a component of the senior thesis as well. The further along in your courses you get, the easier it’s going to be for you to find research opportunities.
As for Haverford, Swat, and Penn, I believe you can do research there if there’s a faculty member who wants you in their lab. It’s definitely the most common to share with Haverford but I have one friend who did research at Penn as well. And superlab is great!
Hi @sonataB ! So Bryn Mawr does have a required curriculum, but it’s extremely flexible. I’ll detail the requirements below:
Quantitative readiness/quantitative reasoning: Quantitative readiness is achieved by reaching a certain score on the math section of the ACT/SAT… can’t remember what the scores are, but they’re not crazy high… or by passing a short basic math exam. If you don’t pass the test/your scores don’t hit the benchmark, there’s a course called QSEM which counts as your quantitative readiness requirement. The vast majority of students have this requirement met coming into college, but there’s absolutely no shame in taking QSEM- people actually really enjoy the course and it’s very helpful. Quantitative reasoning can be met through courses like calculus or statistics or in a lot of other departments. There are psych courses that meet the requirement, one called Logic in the philosophy department that really doesn’t involve math in the traditional sense at all… there’s a lot of flexibility and for people not big into STEM it’s not something to worry about at all. One semester course is necessary to meet the requirement.
Foreign language: pretty self-explanatory, BMC offers many language courses and one full year of a single language is needed to meet the requirement. There’s a full list of them on the website, i don’t remember them all right now. I personally recommend Russian, I’m a major and love the department!
Now there’s the 4 approaches to inquiry. It all seems like a lot, but really most students are able to get at least a couple of these in just taking courses they were going to take for their major/minor anyway. One semester of each is required.
-
Critical Interpretation: basically any class that involves a lot of analysis of and interpretation of texts/art/anything else. Example classes: writing for podcast and radio, introduction to comparative literature, history of Chinese art, metaphysics
-
Cross-Cultural Analysis: pretty self-explanatory, anything that centers culture and its impact.
Example classes: anthropology of food, the Philadelphia mosaic: immigrant communities in the city, human rights in China, feminist theory -
Inquiry into the Past: anything that’s focused on history/how things have changed throughout time in a certain subject, etc.
Example classes: themes in modern African history, introduction to the history of science, landscapes art and racial ecologies -
Scientific Investigation: pretty much what you think it is, with a fairly loose definition of science that’s very inclusive.
Example classes: astronomical ideas, introduction to data structures, earth’s oceans, introductory psychology
And finally, Emily Balch Seminars. There’s a lot of information on the BMC website about these, but essentially they’re very small writing seminar classes that are centered around a certain subject or idea. These happen in the first semester of the first year, and they’re generally very good and useful classes.
That’s a lot, but I hope it’s helpful! I’ve never met anyone that’s felt boxed in by the requirements; I think the college just wants to make sure that we all take classes in lots of different subjects!
WOW. Thank you so much! This is so very helpful and not just for my daughter but going forward for many other kids!
What is the 4+1 program with Penn like? Are there a lot of required courses to take in preparation for the program? Is it feasible to double major while in this program? When can I apply for it? Is the application process competitive?
Hi! I was wondering how close Philly really is? I’m looking to transfer from a school in a tiny tiny town, so really anything is better haha. But I’m a real city girl and love to be in a more urban environment, so I was wondering how close is Philly? and how often does a student realistically go into Philly? what the surrounding town of Bryn Mawr is like and is it very car dependant? thanks!
@corinnaolson I can answer that as a Philly resident (and parent of a BMC '25 student). The Septa commuter train runs every 1-2 hours from a station a very short walk (5-10min) from the Bryn Mawr campus to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia (and on to 2 more stations in Center City). It takes 23 min to 30th Street, and 30 min to Jefferson Station near Jefferson University (east of Broad Street). So, if you had an internship from 12-5pm, for example, you could take an 11:18 train from Bryn Mawr and be at your internship by noon. If you wanted to go to a restaurant or music venue in the evening, same deal. And of course, splitting Uber/Lyft with a few people is also easy and fairly affordable. Depending on traffic and where you’re headed in the city, it’s 20-40 minutes from campus by car.
Bryn Mawr (technically part of Lower Merion Township, not a separate town) has a cute, bustling commercial strip also a very short walk from campus (just past the train station). The main drag (Lancaster Avenue) runs all the way through the “Main Line” suburbs, from City Line Avenue at the Philadelphia city line all the way out to Villanova. The Bryn Mawr section of Lancaster Avenue has restaurants, a great movie theater, an amazing public library, coffee shops, thrift stores, and all the basics like pharmacies, banks, nail salons, even a Staples.
I can’t speak to how often Bryn Mawr students actually go into Philadelphia, but I know my daughter plans to continue to take advantage of the Philly music scene, thrift and vintage shopping, arts, urban parks, events, etc. when she’s at Bryn Mawr…
@Itisatruth thank you so much for that long response!! I was able to tour BMC when I was in my freshman application process, but it’s been so long since then and I don’t remember well. Thank you!!!
1 Like