Bryn Mawr College

Date: Nov 19 2007
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
While Bryn Mawr can—and in some departments, does—have great professors and quality of teaching, overall, its academic caliber doesn't seem to measure up to that of other liberal arts colleges in the Greater Philadelphia region. The perception of the school as being not as rigorous (as say, Swarthmore) matters just as much as the reality, at least where employers are concerned.

Small class sizes make for easy interaction with professors and dynamic class discussions.

Good opportunities, such as internship and research grants, are available to the best students, but many others seem to miss out.

Bi-college relations (between BMC and Haverford) are superficially friendly, but uneasy underneath the surface. As a visitor to Haverford, I have often found disrespect and condescension from HC students and faculty—though, to be fair, it is a significant minority. Still, much could be done to improve bi-college relations and to dispell myths of one school being superior over the other.

Sadly, the most remarkable thing that I can think of about BMC is the dining hall food, which is above-average quality. I feel that the school could do much more to make Philadelphia more accessible and to increase faculty salaries to boost the retention of visiting professors.