<p>Arianne, my daughter’s final two came down to Bryn Mawr and Smith as well. She had almost decided to go with Smith until she went to Bryn Mawr for their open campus. She fell in love with Bryn Mawr all over again. Her deciding factors were 1. academics (Smith offered more of the classes she wanted, plus she was not impressed with the Bryn Mawr classes she sat in on) and 2. NoHo. Also, she found Bryn Mawr too quiet. The two days were gorgeous and warm; yet, the students were not outside except between classes. At Smith, there were women (and a few men) sprawled all over Chapin Lawn. You could hear the hum on campus.</p>
<p>It’s funny but, for a kid who was originally dead-set against an all-women’s college, she tossed all the co-ed acceptances aside. The only co-ed school that would have swayed her in the end was Brown, but that was not meant to be.</p>
<p>MWFN, my feeling seems very similar to your daughter’s. I was definitely leaning strongly towards Smith in the start, almost ignoring Bryn Mawr. However, largely because of visits, I have fallen in love with BMC. The things I like about Smith are the same things you mentioned: more course selection, Noho, and the general feeling that there’s more to do on campus. </p>
<p>What I love about BMC, however, it the amazing sense of school wide community. At BMC, any student is allowed to enter any dorm until late at night. During my BMC visit, my guide showed be around several different dorms and seemed to know a whole lot of people in them. At Smith, you can only enter other dorms during dining hours. Smith’s community seemed very fractured between houses and possibly clique-ish. I also think the traditions seem a lot stronger at BMC than Smith. At BMC, the traditions were one of the biggest raves on campus, while Smith seems to have a lot of sour grapes about the recent dining hall changes.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts and comments, everyone! I actually think I’ve gotten more input here then on the threads I made for that purpose.</p>
<p>I know USC sort of seems like the odd one out, and I have some doubts about the campus culture myself. The reason I’m considering it is that I was accepted at the Annenberg School of Journalism, which is supposed to be a great program. Cal and UCLA also have excellent papers, but neither of them have an undergraduate journalism major. </p>
<p>Of course Smith is the other really different one. My parents have told me that if I really love it, they’ll help me to make it work, so we’ll see - I’m coming up this week. Hope I’ll be seeing plenty of you all there. :)</p>
<p>If you got into the school of journalism, then i can see why USC seems attractive. However, make sure you’re fairly certain about journalism — it’s no fun to lock yourself into a department or major only to change your mind about your interests. Also keep in mind that you can major in something else and still go to grad school in journalism.</p>
<p>My friend’s parents are investigative reporters (and graduates of Duke and Berkeley, if it matters), and they actually recommend majoring in something other than journalism while writing for the student newspaper. According to them, the most important parts are writing well and thinking critically, and the more journalism-specific skills can easily be learned on the job. The main benefits of attending a journalism school might be easier access to internships and job opportunities, but I don’t know if there’s a significant advantage compared to the other schools you’re considering.</p>
<p>To echo camelia, Judith Miller visited our newspaper class (she’s a really cool person…really awesome stories). But anyways, she said, “Do NOT major in journalism if you want to be a journalist.” She said it was more important to learn everything you can about the world because background knowledge is the most important asset a journalist can have. That being said, she suggested taking history classes. I too am interested in journalism, but I’m looking to major in political science or Middle Eastern studies.</p>
<p>Wow, all of your posts here really helped me out a lot. I just sent my deposits to Smith today! I just came on here to check if I made the correct decision of going to Smith and I was right. =]</p>
<p>One question though… I come from a relatively easy school, as in very little homework being distributed a week. Will Smith be overwhelming for me then? =s</p>
<p>My sister went to Bryn Mawr, I went to Smith, and we both loved our college experiences. Size of the student body is an important factor for some, and I definitely wanted a larger (but not too large) school.</p>
<p>I would disagree that traditions are stronger at BMC than at Smith. They are just different!</p>
<p>Arianne G, it has been a long time since I was at Smith, but unless something has drastically changed, you can definitely visit houses other than your own at times other than mealtimes! Of course, you have to be with a student who lives there, or be let in by one. I lived on Green Street, and some of my best friends lived in the Quad. The houses are only as insular as you make them, and it is very possible to make friends through your classes and extracurricular activities as well.</p>
<p>congratulations on your decision! to answer your question, yes, smith will probably be overwhelming for you–not just because there will be more homework, but because you’ll be far from home and getting used to a new culture and climate. </p>
<p>but there will be lots of people there in similar circumstances–international students and domestic students from the south who will be freezing right alongside you by october (and will take the same delight you will in playing in the first snow!), lots of students who came from less-challenging schools, etc. and almost all firstyears will be coming without many friends. so I think you’ll settle in just fine. </p>
<p>if you do start feeling overwhelmed, Smith has a lot of support–the chaplains in the chapel are amazing at counseling (no matter what your religion is), there’s a dean for international students, counselors at Health Services, professional and student tutors through the Jacobson Center, etc. And don’t be embarrassed to talk to your professors–they are very used to students coming in with different levels of academic preparation, and they can give you lots of advice and extra help. so long as you’re willing to work hard, you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>One of my classmates from high school ended up going to Bryn Mawr for the sense of “tradition”. She decided to transfer out to Colorado College within the semester. I’m still not clear on why Bryn Mawr’s sense of tradition was “too weird” for her, but I’m under the impression that she found it restricting to be encompassed by traditions all the time. I have never visited BMC, but I have heard from several people that it’s an excellent college. This classmate, however, told me she was unhappy with, in her experience, the way in which BM students chose to exhibit their school pride. I’m being vague about this myself, I realise, because I don’t really know how to explain what she meant, but I think she meant that at BM there is “too much school spirit” to the extent that it becomes isolating if one doesn’t participate in ALL school traditions or is perceived to have “less” school spirit. </p>
<p>There is also almost no interaction with Haverford, I have heard, even from those students whom I know to be happy at BMC. While navigating the five college consortium is not as easy as Smith’s advertising makes it seem, there are four other schools in the valley to choose from, and that is expressed in the range and amount of activities that take place in the valley. I, personally, was helped out by the fact that I attended an elite HS which sends 100% of its students to four-year universities/LAC. Even though I’m from a mid-sized college town in the Midwest, there are 7 other alumnae/i in the PV, and that helped me out immensely when I was first starting university. I still think it would be easier for a Smithie to get out and about than for a BM woman.</p>
<p>Inverted: Initially I wanted to study International Relations, and I based almost all of my college choices on this, applying and being accepted to both American U and GW’s Elliott School. Eventually I decided that I would be better off not just studying “international relations” either (a) in case I decided I didn’t like it, in which case I’d have to transfer out of an entire college and (b) because I could still pursue jobs that international relations majors could with a major in something else, since IR is such an interdisciplinary study already (Smith’s alumnae network would also help out immensely).</p>
<p>Journalism, as well, is something that I believe is an extremely interdisciplinary area of study. While you won’t learn to write in a certain “journalistic” style as well as you might be able to at an actual school of journalism, being a good journalist means having good knoweldge of history/government/economics/anthropology/etc., and you can still take more extensive classes about writing for journalism within the valley.</p>
<p>cattv: at Smith, you can enter another house as long as someone you know lets you in. At BMC, you don’t even need someone to let you in. That’s the difference.</p>
<p>I can see how BMC’s traditions can be very sink or float. You either love them and become obessed with school spirit and traditions (probably more so than you would at Smith) or hate them and transfer. There seems to be less to do on/around BMC than Smith, so the traditions are probably more important to keep people occupied and happy. If you don’t like the traditions, there may not be a whole lot else to do. Who knows. </p>
<p>Then again, I can see a similar thing with Smith’s housing system: you either love it or hate it. One thing that worries me about Smith is the thought of getting stuck in a house I don’t like, since houses are so important in your community experience. </p>
<p>As for the idea that BMC has almost no interaction with Haverford, I actually didn’t get that impression at all. There seemed to be a lot more interraction between BMC and Haverford than Smith and the other 4 colleges. There were more guys on camous on BMC, plus the class I visited had like 3 males (as opposed to none in the Smith class) and a Havergirl. I was, however, told by BMC people that Haverboys are “ackward” and Havergirls are “catty.” I was also told that Havergirls get along well with BMC students, as opposed to Amherst girls who apparently don’t like Smithies.</p>
<p>Bea -
My daughter is a Bryn Mawr student, and quite to the contrary, thee is a great deal of “interaction” between BM and Haverford - class registration and attendance is seamless. It is also quite easy to take classes at Swarthrmore. My daugher is involved in several BM/Haverford groups, and has friends, and been to activities (parties, visiting, classes) at all 3 schools. </p>
<p>She also wondered about the intensity of the traditions at BM before she arrived on campus; she has found them to be fun at not at all intrusive (and she’s a kid who was never big on forced traditions at her high school). The 4 majory Bryn Mawr traditions are bonding, fun, non intrusive activities. She certainly doesnt feel constrained by traditions all the time.</p>
<p>She actively enjoys the ease of the tri co consortium, and easy access to Philly. She considered other women’s colleges, and while she liked them, felt they were too isolated for her taste. Everyone’es taste is different; its best to go see each place for yourself, sit in on classes, and talk to profs/other students.</p>
<p>Arianne,
I understand your concerns about being locked in to one house and possibly not liking the people there. If you do choose Smith, I would recommend you ask for one of the larger houses. That will give you more diversity.</p>
<p>Also, bear in mind that things may not seem perfect when you first get there. It can take a while to adjust to college and dorm life, no matter where you go. Eventually, you’ll find your circle of friends – just give it time!</p>
<p>Even thougn my daughter did not choose BMC, I concur with what everyone has said: Haverford and Bryn Mawr are completely joined academically. My d originally wanted to go to Haverford over Bryn Mawr since the Japanese department (for both schools) was on the Haverford campus. French is entirely on the Bryn Mawr campus. It takes only 20 minutes or so to get from campus to campus, unlike the much longer, circuitous route among the five colleges in MA.</p>
<p>Ironically, the shared academics of the two schools eventually turned my daughter off to both. She didn’t want to <em>have</em> to travel to both campuses just to take the classes she wanted. The dorms are much nicer at Bryn Mawr, but the orchestra and the theater were on Haverford’s campus. She envisioned herself on the bus all day, whether or not that would have been true.</p>
<p>Also, the idea that Haverford makes BMC less single gender is wrong. Both schools have about 1000 students. At Bryn Mawr, that’s 1000 women. At Haverford, 60% of the students are women. That means, with the two colleges sharing academic departments and classes, there are 1600 women to 400 men, a ratio of 4:1. </p>
<p>In two semesters, my d. has had about 6 men in her classes. Not a great ratio, either.</p>
<p>Mom waiting -
actually, the bus ride between Haverford and B M is shorter - they are about 5-1o minutes apart. I suppose where youre class is on campus may make it a longer commute, because you may have to walk a few minutes. Time is alloted for kids to attend the other campus on time. There is also a van to Swat, a longer ( i think about 20 min?) commute. </p>
<p>You are absolutely correct that the proximity of Haverford however does not make for an equal ratio of men to women. If that is what you are looking for , I suggest any young woman NOT go to any of the women’s colleges - including Barnard, which is the womens college most clostly tied to another insitution, Columbia,as Columbia, obvioiusly, is fully co-ed.</p>
<p>I was referring more to my kid’s enjoyment of the resources of the tri - co, the ability to take classes and get involved in the other schools was not difficult. As she tells me, the social life is what you make of it - it takes more effort to meet guys in a social situation; you have to be willing, at BM, to go to the tri co, maybe U Penn, St Joe’s, Villanova, - willing to get out off the campus. For my child, it was a nice compromise; she was never looking for a party type school, but one where she could excel in her given field, with like minded people. She does make the effort to broaden her social contacts; you know, one friend introduces you to someone else, you get invited places…I am sure that is true of Smith, Moho, Welleseley; the scene is what you make of it. They are all great schools - and that is why I urge all students to spend a few days at any school you are considering! You wil see what fits you best, and make a decision from there. She did that for most schools she was considering seriously; sitting in on the classes and really chatting with students told her more than any brochure or publicity piece from the schools. </p>
<p>I am sure my daughter would have enjoyed Smith or Moho too; for her, BM was just the better fit.</p>
<p>“She does make the effort to broaden her social contacts; you know, one friend introduces you to someone else, you get invited places…I am sure that is true of Smith, Moho, Welleseley; the scene is what you make of it. They are all great schools - and that is why I urge all students to spend a few days at any school you are considering!”</p>
<p>I doubt any of us will disagree with the above.</p>