Smith vs Bryn Mawr

CarolynB
Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:34:46 +0000

My daughter, now a senior, was accepted to both schools and chose Smith. Byrn Mawr was the very first women’s college she visited so she knew she’d apply, but by the time she was accepted at both, she knew she’d outgrown Bryn Mawr; it was too small for her–in the diversity and number of students, courses, special academic opportunities (research, STRIDE, Kahn Institute, etc.), open curriculum, internships, alumnae network, etc.–that she had no hesitation in choosing Smith. Her decision has borne out. Smith has been the right size for her, 2600 students, vs. 1300 at Byrn Mawr. She’s also taken an excellent class at Amherst College, one of the schools in the Five College Consortium.

Northampton is a delightful, lively town; to me it’s the PERFECT college town if you don’t want to be overwhelmed and distracted by a large city, but you want to have a small city that has interesting things going on when you want a break from studies. It has the BEST restaurants and shops! It’s like a smaller version of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I also agree your Smith pros are stronger than your Bryn Mawr’s. Guitar500 has a very good point about the open curriculum at Smith allowing you to double major more easily.

Good luck with your decision.