Bryn Mawr College Top Questions

The best thing about Bryn Mawr is the community atmosphere created by so many amazing women living and studying together. Traditions definitely help with this, and they are a wonderful part of the year for many students. There's Parade Night to welcome frosh the first week, Lantern Night when frosh get their lanterns with the class color, Hell Week when frosh are truly initiated, and May Day at the end as a celebration of spring and the start of finals. My best experience at Bryn Mawr was the Duck Pond Run freshman year during Hell Week, which is an experience that I will cherish for my entire life. Students are usually very proud of their school, partly because of our unique experiences, and have a strong sense of camaraderie. Bryn Mawr the town is small but nice. There's a small, independent movie theater that plays the non-blockbuster-type movies, and it's really nice. A lot of students spend time at the adjoining Milkboy Cafe or Starbucks which are nearby. There's a post office, Bank of America, Rite Aid, supermarket and an organic grocery store, restaurants, and some small shops within walking distance. The train station is also right by the campus, about a five minute walk, and it goes straight to Philly and the airport. However, there are a lot of activities on campus as well, and I know people who spend a lot of time going off-campus to either Philly or other colleges and people who spend most time on-campus.

Bryn Mawr is a women's college about 15 miles outside of Philadelphia. It is a small liberal arts college of about 1500 students, 400 graduate students, 100 post bacs and about 150 professors. We have a relationship with Haverford and Swarthmore colleges and we are capable of taking classes there, majoring there, having fun there and their students are allowed to do the same. We are steeped in tradition, the majority of which makes the experience really enjoyable and a lot of fun. Bryn Mawr is an intense environment, and no just academically. People who come here are passionate about SOMETHING. it may be a ridiculous something, it may be a political something, it may be an academic something or an athletic something, but they are indeed, passionate about it. It can be daunting, but Bryn Mawr certainly would not be, well, Bryn Mawr, without it. If nothing else, it gives us something to talk about (whether that be good or bad, well, that's for the individual to decide). Bryn Mawr is a small but strong community, brought together 4 times a year by major traditions, which break up the semesters, designate rites of passage and generally are a big welcome to the freshmen and a fun time for the upperclasswomen. Bryn Mawr is not a party school. Sorry kids, but it's not. If you want a crazy social life with parties thursday through sunday, you can...you just have to go a couple miles down the road to the other universities surrounding us. So, you can have that life, you might just have to work for it a little. We have dorms like palaces, food fit for kings (especially if you are a vegan king).

Two of the biggest issues I have with Bryn Mawr are the size (it's a small school) and its location on the main line (you have to drive everywhere and there's not much to do). That being said, the small class sizes are one of the best, and Philly is only a 20 minute train ride away. Another awesome part of campus life are the traditions. We have lantern night, parade night, Hell Week, May Day, and Katharine Hepburn's legacy of skinny dipping in the fountains, not to mention smaller traditions like Senior Row, the Senior Steps and splitting the poles.

Bryn Mawr is amazing. To me, the best thing about Bryn Mawr is the wonderful community of women. I've met so many amazing ladies here, and I've felt so welcomed into the community. One thing that I would change about Bryn Mawr is the phys ed requirement (I hate gym). The school, to me, is just the right size, because I didn't want to go to a large school. However, some might find it a little small. For example, somehow everyone knows everyone else and it's a little weird, but I find it funny. I spend most of my time on campus in my dorm, hanging out with the ladies on my hall. Mostly we watch movies or sit in the hallway and have amazingly ridiculous conversations. I love them!

Bryn Mawr is special. The students who go here generally love it. I have never learned more, worked harder, or had a better time.

There is nothing fun to do and all people do is work

The best thing about Bryn Mawr is the traditions on campus that really make the college feel like a community environment. It connects all the classes and makes the atmosphere on campus a friendly one perfect for studying and hanging out with friends. One thing I would change would be the stringent policies regarding residential life that proliferate the stereotypes that Bryn Mawr is an isolated school full of women that are incapable of maintaining and substantiating friendships with males. The school for me is the perfect size - small enough to have engaging class discussions - and yet big enough to study a variety of things that allows every mawter to find their niche. They are shocked because I have always been so liberal minded and have grown up with close male friendships. There perception is that Mawrters go to Bryn Mawr to avoid male interaction. I spend most of my time on campus in the library - I am a senior after all. But I also do enjoy visiting friends rooms, the dining halls and the gym. There is a college town - but you really need to be 21 to partake in it. Also Philly is close which is a huge perk - 20 minute train ride and there is virtually every type of entertainment at your fingertips. Bryn Mawr's Administration while helpful at times can also play negatively because of how small the school is - everyone knows everyone's business. There are biases, there is a lot of work and students dumped on a very small select group of people. While it is possible to get to know the administration you have to work to make yourself known - it is very easy to meet with your Dean once a year for four years and never really take advantage of their services. The biggest controversy on campus has to be issues of race and class clashing. From groups like Posse, Sisterhood, White Students Awareness Group and the Student Government Association a lot of individual issues are put front and center into our mainstream community. Given that we are a small college - I feel that personal issues are more likely to be brought forward and have the whole campus react to or against them instead of having other forums. Sometimes it gets extremely tiring to hear about racial biases when most of the people griping are given practically free rides to come to this institution while we have other girls not of color who are also of similar socio-economic standing are are having to foot the entire bill or tuition with little or no assistance, coupled with the pressures of having elite wealthy students interacting on campus who are unable to relate to issues of poverty or financial hardships. Lets just say it creates A LOT OF TENSION. There is school pride - but there are few outlets to truly display it. We don't have many sports teams and the ones we do aren't really supported by the student body. Also to have a lot of school spirit can be seen as a negative as you are automatically perceived as a woman who also has all the stereotypical qualities of a "Bryn Mawr Girl" The unusual thing about Bryn Mawr is the ambiguous nature of our honor code and social honor code - what one may find offensive another may not and this leads to a sort of disconnect as students are forever fearful of infringing upon its edicts. Also for a school run by its students - it sure as heck does things that would not be agreed upon by a large majority of its student body. The experience I will always remember was Hell Week. But I can't go to far into that. Another was realizing that four years flew by quite literally before my eyes. The most frequent student complains - poor quality of our gym, the graduation requirements, and the hours of gym/dining hall operation.

I went to a huge (3400 students) public high school in a suburb of Atlanta. While I'm not "one of the boys," I have always had guy friends (and boyfriends), so when my mom started suggesting women's colleges, I was a little skeptical. I know, though, that I need a sense of community (something I found within my close friends in high school, as well as my fellow theatre kids), and Bryn Mawr definitely seemed like it had a strong and close-knit community, so I applied, partly because I was interested, partly to appease my mom. Anyway, once I was accepted, I went on a tour of all the northeastern colleges I was considering, and got to see Bryn Mawr in person for the first time. I grew to like it a little more after that experience. Even after all that, though, Bryn Mawr was still not my first choice. To be honest, the defining factor in my decision to come here was the fact that their financial aid package was the largest, and I needed all the help I could get. So, needless to say, I was still wary of a lot of things when I came. People from more urban areas (or even simply suburban ones) tend to worry about the social life a lot, and I was definitely not an exception. I've found, though, that your social life at Bryn Mawr is what you make it, and most everyone is happy with what they've made of theirs. If I have a lot of homework during the week, any free time I have is spent relaxing. If my workload is light that week, though, I have done things like going shopping or dinner in Philly during the week. Even if I do have a lot of work, though, I can still do social things. A lot of people go to the coffee shops or other places with friends to do work during the week. Weekends vary as well, depending on how I'm feeling. Sometimes I go out to parties, sometimes I stay home, order food and watch movies with the girls. Most of the parties I've been to have been at Haverford or Swarthmore, but I've been to a couple at Penn, and I know people who have gone to Villanova. There are, too, parties on Bryn Mawr's campus occasionally. Haverford parties are kind of lame, but not terrible, Swat parties are a bit less lame and still fun, Penn parties are fun, especially if you know someone there, and I really have no idea about Nova. Bryn Mawr parties have been the most fun, in my opinion. They're all open to any Tri-Co student, and anyone else if a Tri-Co student signs them in, so there are ALWAYS boys. If parties aren't so much your scene, there are always a number of other social events around the various campuses on weekends, which are very fun as well. My only real issue with being at Bryn Mawr is the difficulty in meeting dateable boys. I have to admit, though, I haven't really tried very hard to find one. A lot of girls here have boyfriends, and there are certainly endless meaningless hookups to be found. I have made boy [space] friends, but no boyfriends. Like I said, though, I haven't really tried all that hard, and my lack of boyfriends is more than a fair trade for the rest of my BMC experience. A huge part of Bryn Mawr culture are the traditions. There are, of course, the four big ones (Parade Night, Lantern Night, Hell Week, and May Day) and a million other small ones (Step Sings, Athena, Skinny-Dipping in the Cloisters). These things are what really make you a Bryn Mawr woman (aside from the rigorous academics you both love and hate). They make you realize just how incredible and unique this place is.

Bryn Mawr is a quirky women's college. My favorite aspect of the college our traditions. We have the running of the freshmen on parade night, the first night of classes, we have class colors, lantern night where all of the freshmen get a lantern in their class color which will be theirs forever, there is hell week which is sort of an initiation ritual, we have sing-alongs, the senior steps. They might sound odd but they really serve the purpose of making every student feel at home. Bryn Mawr is a small school, for some this could be a turn off but for me personally I like the close-knit feeling. Many people have never heard of Bryn Mawr although it well known in the world of academia. There is a nice downtown area walking distance from campus with shops and restaurants and the campus is walking distance from a train that goes straight into Philadelphia. From the station in Phili one could hop on an Amtrak or catch another train to the airport. So from Bryn Mawr College you could easily get to anywhere in the world that you want to go.

The geology department is the best thing. I would change the logistics of how professors are hired (or unable to be hired to tenure track positions. my favorite professor has to leave this year because there is no tenure track position available for her. we are increasing the enrollment in my department, but they wont increase the number of tenure track positions. The size of the school is PERFECT. Some people know Bryn Mawr when i tell them, and others dont. The ones who know it, REALLLY know it, and are really impressed. I spend most of my time on campus in the science building. We have sort of a college town, which is nice, but then we have Philadelphia too! The biggest controversy on campus in recent time was when someone through a racially offensive themed party. There is a lot of school pride, but not in a sports team way. We are proud to be who we are in all aspects. if you are out in philadelphia, or anywhere in the world, and you run into a current student or alum, there's an instant bond. Bryn mawr is very unusual, we have a lot of opportunities and support from our professors, we are given lots of responsibilities and trust, we have an amazing honor code, they community is extremely accepting and enthusiastic, and we have very old traditions. One experience I will always remember is flying in a helicopter over a volcano and seeing lava flows on the Geology Departments Fall Break field trip to Hawaii in 2007. Student complaints are that there is too much work, the food sucks, and we're so stressed. But this is college, there is supposed to be a lot of work (you dont go to Bryn Mawr to party, you go to work your ass off) and the food is really delicious.

To me, Bryn Mawr is the PERFECT size! It's small enough that you see familiar faces throughout classes and you can form close relationships with other students in your major because the group is small enough that people can really connect with each other. Our small size also lends itself to close professor-student relationships. It's great to have that one-on-one attention with a professor. That kind of support is unparalleled. On the other end of the spectrum, Bryn Mawr is still big enough that I can walk into the dining hall or campus center and see someone I've never seen before. For those looking for the bigger collegiate experience, the consortium allows for students to take advantage of Haverford, Swarthmore and U-Penn's additional social and academic resources. Basically, Bryn Mawr gives its students the best of both worlds. The traditions at Bryn Mawr are certainly unique and memorable experiences. With four major traditions and several smaller ones, these campus wide events promote inter-class bonding and school spirit. I think most students are much more into the traditions than into athletics from a spirit standpoint. The most memorable experience I've had so far was the duck pond run, a part of a February tradition in which freshwomen run to Haverford's duck pond in the wee hours of the morning. My love of Bryn Mawr at the that times was as strong as it will ever be and I l will look forward to sharing that experience with the new freshwomen every year until I graduate. My favorite place on campus is my dorm room. Our dorms are really amazing and I feel so at home in my room. It's a haven where I can retreat when I need some quiet time or alone time.

The best thing about Bryn Mawr? TRADITIONS! HELL WEEK! YEAHHH, babyyy! Uhh...ahem. It's a liberal arts school, so it's definitely a lot smaller than most universities and colleges. However, that also provides for a more intimate space for our students, making it easier for us to get to know each other. I wouldn't say the environment here is stifling either, but rather, it's a comfortable size for those who are sick of being the little fish swimming in a big pond. There's definitely a feeling of personal space on campus. There is definitely a lot of Bryn Mawr pride (especially when it comes to our rugby team) on campus, but I think a lot of it has to do with the bubble that we live in at Bryn Mawr. Bryn Mawr is quite different from the outside world, in that there is a social and academic honor code that we all try to live by. There is usually a lot of trust on campus - you can leave your stuff lying around and nobody touches it because of the honor code. And then there's Hell Week, which is probably an experience that I will never forget. There really are no words to describe what fun I had during Hell Week <3 <3

The traditions are fantastic. If I had gone to a larger university, I would have rushed for a sorority, however at Bryn Mawr, you're automatically part of this giant campus-wide sisterhood.

The best things about Bryn Mawr are the traditions we have. We have 4 major traditions and many many minor ones. Our major traditions are Parade Night, Lantern Night, Hell Week, and May Day. Nothing makes us seem more like a cult than Lantern Night, but it's so fantastic. My best memory, however, will always be the Duck Pond Run during Hell Week. Running to the Haverford College Duck Pond makes you more of a Mawrtyr than anything else! When I tell people from home that I go to Bryn Mawr, I mostly get blank stares. No one in Texas seems to know where it is! I almost always have to mention that it's one of the Seven Sisters. Once they know what Bryn Mawr is, they are always very impressed. Then they ask where I meet men. We all love our school so much. It's almost impossible to attend this school and not love it! We're proud to be here and to take advantage of the opportunities Bryn Mawr offers to its students. We can take classes at Swarthmore, Haverford, or the University of Pennsylvania. I really like that because I love living on a small campus, but I have the course selection of a major university.

I transferred to Bryn Mawr this year, so I think I have a bit of a unique perspective on the college. I'd say the location of Bryn Mawr is the best thing about it. I may be a bit biased, as I spent my freshman year of college at an isolated upstate New York school, but I find Bryn Mawr's location to be absolutely perfect. Located on the Main Line, Bryn Mawr is a great suburb (if a bit ostentatious and snotty) with restaurants, grocery stores and drug stores al with in incredibly easy walking distance. Getting off campus and going into the real world is incredibly easy to do, and that's something I really appreciate. BMC is also only a twenty minute train ride away from Philly, which is great. I'm the kind of person who needs to be close to a city, and BMC certainly allows me close proximity. Some times I love BMC's small size, and sometimes I find it stifling. It's great to be known by your professors and your deans. I love that I always run into someone I know anytime I am walking around on campus. But, if you don't find your niche, Bryn Mawr can be way too small a community. There isn't a huge pool to pick friends from, so hopefully you met people you click with, or it's going to be a long four years. Also, everyone knows everything about everybody else. The best part about Bryn Mawr is the traditions. Give in to the traditions! I found them hokey and cultish at first, but if you embrace them, they really are beautiful and help you to become a part of this great community of unique and woderful women. The traditions create a kind of bond between classes that I can't even begin to explain here. All I can say is, embrace the traditions, because you may not realize how important they are until you have missed them.

The best thing about Bryn Mawr is that it's all women. If there was one thing I would change it would be the size - 1200 people is just too small. When I tell people I go to Bryn Mawr the response is either, "Where's that?" or "Wow, that's a tough school." Surprisingly, I spend most of my on-campus time in the gymnasium. Between crew practice, working out, meetings with Coach, or work I feel like I make two or three trips a day to that place. The town of Bryn Mawr is almost inaccessible to Bryn Mawr students - the boutiques are too pricy for us to even browse. Philly's a great city, though. There are so many schools here that a train ride or a 20 minute drive can bring you just about anywhere you want to go. Bryn Mawr's administration is a bit of a mystery. What do they even do? I've never been able to talk to them in person. They are really good at pampering the parents and visitors. The biggest recent controvery on campus had to do with leadership roles and appropriate behavior for school leaders. As an athlete, it often seems as though there's no school pride. However, when I think hard about it I realize that there is tons of school pride here. It's just not expressed through the athletics department. Everything about Bryn Mawr is unusual. It's not a "normal" place. The women are strong and independent. They know what they want and they're not afraid to go after it. We have traditions that make other college students scratch their heads in puzzlement - things that only we would understand. One experience I'll always remember happened when I was a sophomore. It was May and I had a huge final paper due by midnight on a Friday night (though our professor had told us that any time before Saturday morning was fine). I was having a hard time focusing and getting my work done, so my friends came up with a plan that would get me to work. Around 11pm they invited me outside for a study break, where my roommate was waiting with a garbage can full of water to pour all over me. I was soaked! But my spirits were lifted and, once I got dried off, I was ready to pump out the last few pages of the paper and say hello to summer vacation. The most frequent student complaints are that there's way too much work. As an athlete, we often complain about the lack of support for the athletics teams on campus and the lack of resources to make the program stronger.

Bryn Mawr is pretty set apart from the rest of the world, even other colleges. Simply by virtue of being an small, all-girls school that puts its emphasis on academics, we are kind of an alternate reality. But it's wonderful because our size gives a sense of a close-knit community, our gender makes us kind of like a sorority, and our devotion to classes gives a certain meaning to our lives. The best thing about Bryn Mawr is probably our traditions; I think that's the reason Bryn Mawr has been able to survive as an all-girls' school. It's just another way Bryn Mawr becomes a real community. I think a lot of students would be happy to see more parties going on on-campus. This year, people have had to go off-campus (haverford, swarthmore, villanova, penn) to party, but it's usually worth it.

I applied ED here and sometimes I regret it. There is definitely a concept of the "Bryn Mawr Bubble"- that the campus is its own environment and sometimes it can be hellish. There's definitely a feeling of need to get off campus every once and a while. It can be a pressure cooker. At the same time, orientation is great, and if you get involved in anything on campus, you can meet people very easily. And you meet their friends. I love the traditions here, though sometimes I don't understand the hype. The administration is great, and if you get a good dean, you can really luck out.

I love the fact that Bryn Mawr is a women's college. I came not knowing what to expect, but now I love it and wish that every woman could experience it. Bryn Mawr is like one big sorority, except that we work harder in academics. It's very small, but when you start feeling shut in you go to Haverford or Swat. I've made a lot of friends at other schools, so the size of Bryn Mawr really isn't a problem. The area is definitely a college town, the Main Line is great, and Philly is a great resource. There is a Ton of school pride. It's probably one of the best things abot Bryn Mawr, and alums have just as much as current students. The traditions are very unusual and memorable, and create a great feeling of connectedness and community on campus.

Bryn Mawr really care about its students and the campus is georgous! When things pop into my mind that I would like to change about Bryn Mawr, it is not so much the important things but the nitty gritty details just to complain about. For example, I wish we had a better gym. It is quite outdated but still there and used by all means. Sometimes I feel like the school is just a little too small but that is what I was looking for and it is easy to not get trapped at Bryn Mawr as there is the Tri-Co and UPenn so there is always opportunities to meet new people if you wish to do so. I spend most of my time on campus really in my dorm. The dorms are such a friendly and cozy environment. It is such a tight knit community that I really would rather spend it no place else. The location is wonderful. I love Bryn Mawr's location. It is in nice suberbs of Philadelphia. The houses are georgous and the neighborhood is great. All stores are in walking distance that you would need as well as a movie theatre. Sometimes I wish it had a litlte more diversity of a big city closer by but that is just because I am from a city myself. There is a grocery store, pharmacy, gas station, Starbucks, movie theatre, restaurants, etc all in walking distance so a car is not necessary. The location truly is ideal! When I say I go to Bryn Mawr I get a variety of reactions. From the older generations they all have such wonderful reactions and are so proud of me for going to such an elite institution. All the older ladies seem to knwo soemone that went there. Sometimes I get the "where is Bryn Mawr" question or then the question of " is everyone there a lesbian?" since it is an all women's college however those are all misconceptions and we Bryn Mawr women know the truth of Bryn Mawr and I say I am from Bryn Mawr loud and proud. Bryn Mawr's administration is one of the best aspects of the school. They are so caring and really make themselves avaiable for the students. My dean gave me his cell phone and home number in case I ever needed to reach him in a more urgent matter and always gets back to my emails asap. I suppose another thing I would change about the college is that sometimes I find it a little too politically correct and that some students do in fact take themselves too seriously btu that only encourages me to lighten up a little bit more and a reminder can never hurt! There is a lot of school pride in terms of academics but not in terms of sports. Sports are not very big on campus but it is a great place to go to play sports if you want to do both school and sports. I played volleyball freshmen year and it was the best experience I ever had on a team before. The wonderful thing about Bryn Mawr is almost everything is unique to the college! It is definately not a typical college experience. A big part of Bryn Mawr is all of our wonderful traditions that really help welcome the freshmen to the college. Hell Week is fantastic and one of the best weeks I have ever had in my life. I will ALWAYS rememeber Hell Week and the Duck Pond Run.