My daughter just went through the same decision process. She originally applied to Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr, and Mount Holyoke, all RD. Like you, she tried to get a sense of the vibe in order to decide the best fit. They all have nice dorms, traditions, and strong alumni networks, with the Wellesley network likely being the strongest. Even though the reputation at each is different, there is enough diversity that I think you’ll be able to find your people on any campus.
Here is the thought process my D used when deciding:
—She really, really wanted to like Smith best because of the location. Wellesley and Bryn Mawr are in affluent suburbs, Moho is in a small town, whereas Smith is located in an eclectic, vibrant college town. She also loved the houses rather than dorms at Smith. However, when she looked at the course catalog in her areas of interest, the selection of courses offered was the least appealing of all of the colleges. This was a huge disappointment.
—She loved the idea of Wellesley, though the spread out campus and the affluent town weren’t quite as appealing as Smith. Compared to Smith, the course offerings were much more to her liking. Her concern about Wellesley was more about the culture. For a student who battles anxiety and perfectionism, she worried the more intense (some might say competitive) vibe wouldn’t be the best fit. As a parent, I worried she wouldn’t feel as successful at Wellesley (again, these are just our thoughts, rightly or wrongly).
—She visited Bryn Mawr a few years ago and loved the campus and the unique traditions. Bryn Mawr was always high on her list. But looking at the course offerings, she realized that in her areas of interest, she would need to go to Haverford for half of her classes. She also didn’t like that Bryn Mawr was smaller and so geographically close to Haverford. She worried the close ties to Haverford would take away from the all-women’s experience.
—She explored Mount Holyoke last and it turned out to be the best fit. Like the other seven sisters schools, it has a beautiful campus, nice dorms, and unique traditions. The more chill, supportive vibe appealed to my D, and the amazing course offerings blew her away. My D changed her application from RD to ED2, was accepted, and she’s thrilled to be starting in the fall.
The best advice I can give you is to look at the current course offerings in the areas of your interest. I recommend this even if you don’t know your major. The differences are significant and I bet this exercise will provide clarity. Be sure to focus on recent offerings because that too makes a big difference. For the record, had my D preferred the course offerings at any of the other three, it would have tipped the balance as she weighed the courses more heavily than the other aspects. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these schools and I wish you the best of luck.
D21’s stats:
3.8 UW; 4.3 W/ GPA
1520 SAT (unofficial)
IB Diploma candidate
National Merit Commended
Recs: 10/10
Essay: 9/10
—Model U.N.
—ASL proficiency
—Taught ASL as elective in school
—Racial justice advocacy volunteer
—Close-captioning videos volunteer
—Research as hobby: Deaf rights in workplace/Deaf and Incarcerated/Double discrimination of being Deaf and Black
—Tennis as club sport
—ACLU internship
No state or national awards
Admitted to Mount Holyoke with Leadership Award of 20K per year.