Bryn Mawr vs Kenyon

Anonymous
Which would you choose (for ED) and why? Interested in creative writing and introverted. Likes Kenyons focus on writing and its traditions. Likes Bryn Mawr’s connection to Haverford and the location.
Anonymous
If location is playing any factor, go to Bryn mawr, you’ll also have more literary events and happenings being near Philly than Ohio.
Anonymous
Bryn Mawr has some great traditions itself. Some like Lantern Night are well known. Some are secret and you don’t learn about them until you get to that point in your freshman year.
Anonymous
Co-ed versus non co-ed?
Anonymous
Here's my advice. If she can get into Bryn Mawr, then she can likely get into Smith. We visited both, and Smith is so much more dynamic and well resourced. Bryn Mawr seemed faded and oddly overemphasizes it its relationship with Haverford (which seems far less invested in the relationship). I'd definitely visit Smith before doing ED. And while there, visit Mount Holyoke as well, which our DD and I also liked better than Bryn Mawr, and seemed like a great community.

Kenyon is a very good college and they definitely promote their writing program. But I've been there a lot over the past few years for another child's sports events, and Kenyon is truly in the middle of nowhere. It's a fairly nice campus with a great athletic center. But you truly can't believe how isolated it is until you drive there. I would also add that, despite some artsy writing students, the overall vibe feels more Midwestern umc subueban somewhat preppy.


Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Here's my advice. If she can get into Bryn Mawr, then she can likely get into Smith. We visited both, and Smith is so much more dynamic and well resourced. Bryn Mawr seemed faded and oddly overemphasizes it its relationship with Haverford (which seems far less invested in the relationship). I'd definitely visit Smith before doing ED. And while there, visit Mount Holyoke as well, which our DD and I also liked better than Bryn Mawr, and seemed like a great community.

Kenyon is a very good college and they definitely promote their writing program. But I've been there a lot over the past few years for another child's sports events, and Kenyon is truly in the middle of nowhere. It's a fairly nice campus with a great athletic center. But you truly can't believe how isolated it is until you drive there. I would also add that, despite some artsy writing students, the overall vibe feels more Midwestern umc subueban somewhat preppy.



Bryn Mawr is more invested in the bi-co relationship? Could you expand on that?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Here's my advice. If she can get into Bryn Mawr, then she can likely get into Smith. We visited both, and Smith is so much more dynamic and well resourced. Bryn Mawr seemed faded and oddly overemphasizes it its relationship with Haverford (which seems far less invested in the relationship). I'd definitely visit Smith before doing ED. And while there, visit Mount Holyoke as well, which our DD and I also liked better than Bryn Mawr, and seemed like a great community.

Kenyon is a very good college and they definitely promote their writing program. But I've been there a lot over the past few years for another child's sports events, and Kenyon is truly in the middle of nowhere. It's a fairly nice campus with a great athletic center. But you truly can't believe how isolated it is until you drive there. I would also add that, despite some artsy writing students, the overall vibe feels more Midwestern umc subueban somewhat preppy.



I'm realizing I didn't answer the question. In head to head for a student very interested in writing, I'd take Kenyon over Bryn Mawr. Everything about Bryn Mawr seemed like time passed it by. And Kenyon's writing major is its signature program. I'm sure they'll make sure it stays excellent.

But if your DD likes women's colleges enough to consider ED at Bryn Mawr, I'd go with Smith, Mount Holyoke, Kenyon, and Bryn Mawr, in that order.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Here's my advice. If she can get into Bryn Mawr, then she can likely get into Smith. We visited both, and Smith is so much more dynamic and well resourced. Bryn Mawr seemed faded and oddly overemphasizes it its relationship with Haverford (which seems far less invested in the relationship). I'd definitely visit Smith before doing ED. And while there, visit Mount Holyoke as well, which our DD and I also liked better than Bryn Mawr, and seemed like a great community.

Kenyon is a very good college and they definitely promote their writing program. But I've been there a lot over the past few years for another child's sports events, and Kenyon is truly in the middle of nowhere. It's a fairly nice campus with a great athletic center. But you truly can't believe how isolated it is until you drive there. I would also add that, despite some artsy writing students, the overall vibe feels more Midwestern umc subueban somewhat preppy.




+1, Smith is fascinatingly gorgeous and invests a ton into its academic resources. It was our favorite of all the women's colleges and continues to standout throughout the years. My husband joked on our first tour that he should've been a woman, because he wanted to go so badly after!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Bryn Mawr has some great traditions itself. Some like Lantern Night are well known. Some are secret and you don’t learn about them until you get to that point in your freshman year.


I was thinking the same.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here's my advice. If she can get into Bryn Mawr, then she can likely get into Smith. We visited both, and Smith is so much more dynamic and well resourced. Bryn Mawr seemed faded and oddly overemphasizes it its relationship with Haverford (which seems far less invested in the relationship). I'd definitely visit Smith before doing ED. And while there, visit Mount Holyoke as well, which our DD and I also liked better than Bryn Mawr, and seemed like a great community.

Kenyon is a very good college and they definitely promote their writing program. But I've been there a lot over the past few years for another child's sports events, and Kenyon is truly in the middle of nowhere. It's a fairly nice campus with a great athletic center. But you truly can't believe how isolated it is until you drive there. I would also add that, despite some artsy writing students, the overall vibe feels more Midwestern umc subueban somewhat preppy.



Bryn Mawr is more invested in the bi-co relationship? Could you expand on that?


Yeah, during our tour, our guide constantly talked about how they could take classes at Hacerford, go to social events as well as eat there. We went to the info session and got lots more references to Haverford. We then drove over to Haverford because Bryn Mawr sold it so well. During the info session at Haverford, there was a brief mention of Bryn Mawr, but it got less play than letting us know that Haverford students could also take classes at Penn and Swarthmore. And during the tour, our guide didn't say anything about Bryn Mawr until we passed the little bus and the Bryn Mawr students all piled out of it. BTW Haverford was pretty and very nicely maintained, but school is very small even for a SLAC, and seemed very white-bread suburban.

FWIW my daughter ED'd at another SLAC (coed FWIW), but would have applied to Smith and Mount Holyoke of schools in my posts.

On the coed side, you may also want to look at Wesleyan, Oberlin, and Skidmore, as schools that might also be a good fit for a smart, quieter kid who likes writing and has a kind, supportive environment for kids like her (which describes one of my kids as well).
Anonymous




Bryn Mawr is more invested in the bi-co relationship? Could you expand on that?

My friend's son goes to Haverford. He has a girl friend at Bryn Mawr -- his second in two years -- and takes at least two classes per term there. From what he reports, that is common.

I imagine Bryn Mawr leans into the consortium during tours bc many potential students, even though attracted to an all-women's college atmosphere for some reasons, are reluctant to commit to single sex education. Tour guides like to present Bryn Mawr as the best of both worlds.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:



Bryn Mawr is more invested in the bi-co relationship? Could you expand on that?

My friend's son goes to Haverford. He has a girl friend at Bryn Mawr -- his second in two years -- and takes at least two classes per term there. From what he reports, that is common.

I imagine Bryn Mawr leans into the consortium during tours bc many potential students, even though attracted to an all-women's college atmosphere for some reasons, are reluctant to commit to single sex education. Tour guides like to present Bryn Mawr as the best of both worlds.




His behavior is definitely not the norm for Haverford students. I don't recall seeing more than one male student in any classroom during our tour and zero male students in the dining hall during lunch. If others at Haverford actually do take half their classes at Bryn Mawr, it would be a lot more noticeable. I can only guess at his motivation, but he's definitely not typical there.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here's my advice. If she can get into Bryn Mawr, then she can likely get into Smith. We visited both, and Smith is so much more dynamic and well resourced. Bryn Mawr seemed faded and oddly overemphasizes it its relationship with Haverford (which seems far less invested in the relationship). I'd definitely visit Smith before doing ED. And while there, visit Mount Holyoke as well, which our DD and I also liked better than Bryn Mawr, and seemed like a great community.

Kenyon is a very good college and they definitely promote their writing program. But I've been there a lot over the past few years for another child's sports events, and Kenyon is truly in the middle of nowhere. It's a fairly nice campus with a great athletic center. But you truly can't believe how isolated it is until you drive there. I would also add that, despite some artsy writing students, the overall vibe feels more Midwestern umc subueban somewhat preppy.



Bryn Mawr is more invested in the bi-co relationship? Could you expand on that?


Yeah, during our tour, our guide constantly talked about how they could take classes at Hacerford, go to social events as well as eat there. We went to the info session and got lots more references to Haverford. We then drove over to Haverford because Bryn Mawr sold it so well. During the info session at Haverford, there was a brief mention of Bryn Mawr, but it got less play than letting us know that Haverford students could also take classes at Penn and Swarthmore. And during the tour, our guide didn't say anything about Bryn Mawr until we passed the little bus and the Bryn Mawr students all piled out of it. BTW Haverford was pretty and very nicely maintained, but school is very small even for a SLAC, and seemed very white-bread suburban.

FWIW my daughter ED'd at another SLAC (coed FWIW), but would have applied to Smith and Mount Holyoke of schools in my posts.

On the coed side, you may also want to look at Wesleyan, Oberlin, and Skidmore, as schools that might also be a good fit for a smart, quieter kid who likes writing and has a kind, supportive environment for kids like her (which describes one of my kids as well).



Not OP, but thanks for the advice and the suggestions on other schools.
Anonymous
If Jewish, skip Bryn Mawr. The pro-palestinian group on campus is very strong, and outright rejects anyone Jewish/Israeli. It is actively challenging on such a small campus and has been brutal for our Jewish child
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Which would you choose (for ED) and why? Interested in creative writing and introverted. Likes Kenyons focus on writing and its traditions. Likes Bryn Mawr’s connection to Haverford and the location.


My best guess is that an introverted female college student might do better in a single-sex setting--especially one that offers the opportunity to engage with members of the opposite sex by choice at nearby co-ed Haverford College.
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