Ursinus, Bryn Mawr, Drexel (Philadelphia, Lancaster: co-op, lawyers, neighborhood)

[sunsetwest]

Hi all,

We are beginning the college search and Ursinus, Bryn Mawr, and Drexel come up as contenders for different reasons. I have read and gotten great insight and advice from city-data for years, so here are some questions:

1. How is the college and town relationship...is it friendly for the most part?
2. What is the town's "vibe;" that feeling of being there that only comes from being a part of the community or living near the community for a while? It's subjective of course, but is also not something that surveys or rankings can really pin down.
3. We're from the Sacramento, CA suburbs, so our kiddo is used to very different weather. Climate zones can only tell you so much when you're not living in the environment. So when do the daffodils start to bloom in Philly?
4. Anyone willing to share their experiences with the university/college on their own are welcome too!

Thanks in advance

[DXBtoFL]

These three are indeed very different schools!

Drexel is an urban campus and not attractive as campuses go. But it's not bad, either. I'd describe it as a bit fragmented. It won't be lush and groomed like Penn's next door. Drexel is within easy walking distance of Philadelphia's Center city and Drexel and Penn collectively form what is called University City, a college town of its own. If kid is looking for an urban environment, Drexel isn't a bad choice. Like bigger urban schools, there will be more obligations on part of the student to navigate and figure his/her way through the college years.

Bryn Mawr is a gorgeous and lushly groomed LAC in an affluent suburb. Many will find the school to be too quiet, but others will find it a closely knit atmosphere. It has strong relationships with nearby Haverford College. The campus is within walking distance of a commuter rail station with direct links to Center City, but having spoken to a few BMC/Haverford students over the years, it's not common to go into Center City. There's not a whole lot near Bryn Mawr in terms of amenities (dining, drinking, retail) as it's an affluent residential neighborhood, but there is a little village center strip. As a small LAC, there's more hands-holding at Bryn Mawr, which can be great support for some students compared to the indifferent nature of a larger school. The flip side is that some might find it too small and claustrophobic.

Ursinus is probably viewed as the weakest of the three options. It's in a small town outside Philadelphia. I can't comment more on it.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by DXBtoFL

Ursinus is probably viewed as the weakest of the three options. It's in a small town outside Philadelphia. I can't comment more on it.

Ursinus is a smaller liberal arts college with a very good reputation regionally, but it will feel much more parochial than Bryn Mawr or Drexel.

It's also in a fairly affluent area, but not to the 1%-er wealth extreme of Bryn Mawr. The town is Collegeville, which while certainly not in the boonies, feels much more outer-suburban, bordering on exurban in nature, although it does have a smaller village-like Main Street. But entertainment/socialization will be more limited compared to Bryn Mawr, and especially Drexel. At least Phoenixville is nearby, which has really taken off over the past 10 years and has a fantastic Main Street.

If a potential student is turned off by big city living, or even a very busy suburban area like Bryn Mawr, Collegeville would likely seem like more of a respite.

[bridge12]

Spring in the Philadelphia region is lopsided between beautiful, crisp sunny days with highs in the 60s/70s and miserable, cloudy, rain, or cool days with highs in the 40s or 50s. More of the latter early in the spring, and more of the former later in the spring. May is usually pretty good but April is a mixed bag - snow, especially in the NW suburbs, isn't too uncommon in the early part of the month. The weather is definitely going to be an adjustment. Philly's "nicest" weather is in September and October, IMO. It's not usually too rainy and there are long stretches of dry and sunny weather with pleasant temperatures. Summers can be warm to downright disgusting outside, in terms of humidity (that will be a huge difference from Central CA). Winters are often cold, mixed in with a few "mild" days with temperatures in the 50s. Again, snow will be more common northwest of Philadelphia, but it's pretty cold everywhere.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by sunsetwest

Hi all,

We are beginning the college search and Ursinus, Bryn Mawr, and Drexel come up as contenders for different reasons. I have read and gotten great insight and advice from city-data for years, so here are some questions:

1. How is the college and town relationship...is it friendly for the most part?
2. What is the town's "vibe;" that feeling of being there that only comes from being a part of the community or living near the community for a while? It's subjective of course, but is also not something that surveys or rankings can really pin down.
3. We're from the Sacramento, CA suburbs, so our kiddo is used to very different weather. Climate zones can only tell you so much when you're not living in the environment. So when do the daffodils start to bloom in Philly?
4. Anyone willing to share their experiences with the university/college on their own are welcome too!

Thanks in advance

You've got quite a mix here. Both the colleges and the communities couldn't be more different.

Colleges
Bryn Mawr - academically elite, uber-liberal, wealthy single-sex college (although associated with nearby Haverford).
Ursinus - regional small school, Greek driven social life, good small school academics.
Drexel - STEM/engineering college with career focused co-op rotations

Communities
Bryn Mawr - in the middle of the old money Main Line suburbs surrounded by lawyers living in mansions.
Collegeville (Ursinus) - middle class small town bedroom community on the fringe of the Philly suburbs.
University City (Drexel) - with Penn in one of the most vibrant neighborhood in the city in West Philly.

So, you're schools range from one of the most uber-liberal, socially awkward single sex women's schools to male-majority STEM engineering school, and you're communities range from inner city West Philly to one of the richest suburbs in the country to a small town exurb.

Interesting choices.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by NewtownBucks

Colleges
Bryn Mawr - academically elite, uber-liberal, wealthy single-sex college (although associated with nearby Haverford).
Ursinus - regional small school, Greek driven social life, good small school academics.
Drexel - STEM/engineering college with career focused co-op rotations

I may be a ranking snob, but Bryn Mawr is not academically "elite."

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

I may be a ranking snob, but Bryn Mawr is not academically "elite."

I guess it depends on where you draw the line as "elite". They are ranked #30 by US News among liberal arts schools in the country, right around Harvey Mudd, Kenyon, and Mount Holyoke, which are all known as top notch academic liberal arts schools.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges...-arts-colleges

BMC is not Harvard or Yale or Williams, but it's a very, very good academic school.

[DXBtoFL]

Originally Posted by NewtownBucks

I guess it depends on where you draw the line as "elite". They are ranked #30 by US News among liberal arts schools in the country, right around Harvey Mudd, Kenyon, and Mount Holyoke, which are all known as top notch academic liberal arts schools.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges...-arts-colleges

BMC is not Harvard or Yale or Williams, but it's a very, very good academic school.

Bryn Mawr falls into an interesting category. Back in the days when the Ivies were all men, their sisters went to the Seven Sisters. These days the cream of the crop of both genders go to the Ivies and the Seven Sisters have declined in popularity. Bryn Mawr offers an excellent faculty and academics but with a weaker student body than in past generations. Not to imply the students are dullards, hardly so, but it's a good route to a great education with easier admissions than the Ivies or other leading coed LACS. Bryn Mawr's admission rate is 38% compared to Haverford's 18% to use as an example.

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

I may be a ranking snob, but Bryn Mawr is not academically "elite."

Ranking even in the Top 30 of liberal arts colleges nationwide is certainly an elite category by any objective measure.

But DXBtoFL is right; some of this has to do with legacy. Bryn Mawr's historic grouping with the "Seven Sisters" does give it more name-brand cachet that a college ranking does necessarily not pick up.

[cjseliga]

I just attended the graduation for my first cousin once removed (my cousin's daughter) at Bryn Mawr a few weeks ago. That was the first time I was on campus, and it is a truly beautiful, but compact campus.

The architecture is really nice, if you're into that. They have a Great Hall that would remind you of Hogwarts!

Like others have mentioned, it'a along the Main Line, basically between Villanova and Haverford and there are mom and pop, local restaurants and stores, along Lancaster Ave. (US-30), the Main Line, that Bryn Mawr students can walk to or just head a little south to Ardmore and you can find even more local restaurants/stores/coffee shops.

Anyways, with regards to the graduation, they had about ~320 graduate with their bachelor's, and it felt like half the graduates were Asian, specifically Chinese, but in reality it was probably somewhere around 25% were from China or Americans of Chinese descent.

I give props to the lady reading all the Chinese names, she must of had a lot of practice and asked the student how to pronounce their name, since the way she said the name and the way it was written in the program, I would have gotten very few right!

My first cousin once removed enjoyed her time there, her boyfriend graduated from Haverford last year.