Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania | Admissions Phone: 610-526-5152
E-mail: admissions@brynmawr.edu | Website: www.brynmawr.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 34%
Admission Rate - Men: Not Offered
Admission Rate - Women: 34%
EA Admission Rate: Not Offered
ED Admission Rate: 53%
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -6%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): 0%
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 36%
Transfer Admission Rate: 15%
# Offered Wait List: 450
# Accepted Wait List: 244
# Admitted Wait List: 0
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 660-730
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 640-770
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 28-33
Testing Policy: Test Optional
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: Yes
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 59%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 91%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 99%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 1,360
% Part-Time: 1%
% Male: 0%
% Female: 100%
% Out-of-State: 85%
% Fraternity: Not Offered
% Sorority: Not Offered
% On-Campus (Freshman): 100%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 91%
% African-American: 6%
% Asian: 13%
% Hispanic: 10%
% White: 39%
% Other: 6%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 6%
% International: 22%
% Low-Income: 16%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 9:1
% of Classes Under 20: 71%
% of Classes Under 40: 95%
% Full-Time Faculty: 81%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 97%
Top Programs
Biology
English
Growth and Structure of Cities
History of Art
Mathematics
Physics
Psychology
Retention Rate: 92%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 79%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 87%
Curricular Flexibility: Somewhat Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $53,180
Out-of-State Tuition: $53,180
Room & Board: $17,100
Required Fees: $1,260
Books & Supplies: $1,000
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $43,903
Avg. % of Need Met: 100%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: $15,759
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 27%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $25,682
% of Students Borrowing: 51%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. FDIC
2. Moody’s Corporation
3. Philadelphia Museum of Art
4. Vanguard
5. Northwestern Mutual
Notable Internships
1. Whitney Museum of Art
2. JetBlue
3. Citi
Top Industries
1. Education
2. Business
3. Healthcare
4. Social Services
5. Media
Top Employers
1. Penn Medicine
2. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
3. Vanguard
4. Accenture
5. Google
Where Alumni Work
1. Philadelphia
2. New York City
3. Washington, DC
4. Boston
5. San Francisco
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $54,600
EOP (Early Career): $47,400
PayScale (Mid-Career): $95,300
RANKINGS
Forbes: 111
Money: 370
U.S. News: 27 (T), Liberal Arts Colleges
Wall Street Journal/THE: 53
Washington Monthly: 14, Liberal Arts Colleges
Inside the Classroom
Eleven miles west of Philadelphia and situated on the swanky Main Line rests an immaculate, 135-acre campus that serves as the educational home to more than 1,300 brilliant, politically active, and fiercely independent young women. Bryn Mawr College, still an all-female institution, used to serve as the sister school to Haverford College, which was all male until the late 1970s. The two schools still retain a degree of partnership. In fact, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore (collectively known as the Tri-Co) all run on the same academic calendar so students can take courses at all three schools. Additionally, Bryn Mawr undergraduates can opt to take up to two courses at Penn each semester. There are more than 3,000 cross-registrations exercised each year.
On the home campus, undergraduates can choose from thirty-six majors and forty-six minors. A phenomenal 31 percent of the student body earns degrees in the natural sciences or mathematics, a figure four times the national average for women. However, as a true liberal arts school, all students must take courses in each of Bryn Mawr’s four “approaches”: critical interpretation, cross-cultural analysis, inquiry into the past, and scientific investigation. Additional courses in quantitative reasoning and a full year studying one of ten foreign languages round out the mandated coursework. The college does point out that “within this structure, variety abounds,” noting that students averse to the hard sciences can fulfill their scientific investigation requirement through the likes of anthropology or psychology.
A 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio leads to small class sizes with 71 percent of sections having fewer than twenty students, and 23 percent of sections enrolling nine students or fewer. This type of academic setting leads to close mentoring from professors. Over 500 undergraduates collaborate on research and independent projects with faculty each year. Those electing to study abroad have more than seventy programs to choose from and, in recent years, students have spent a semester in thirty countries across six continents.
This elite liberal arts school offers a number of excellent academic programs that receive national recognition from employers and graduate schools. By volume, the most popular majors are mathematics, psychology, sociology, English, and biology. Nationally competitive fellowship/scholarship programs also look favorably upon Bryn Mawr alumni. Recent graduates have been successful in procuring Boren, Fulbright, and Watson Fellowships.
Outside the Classroom
Bryn Mawr’s breathtakingly beautiful and historic campus is where 100 percent of freshmen and 91 percent of the overall student body reside. Sororities are not permitted at Bryn Mawr as the college prefers participation in the 150 nonexclusive student organizations presently active. Clubs in music/performing arts and community service are among the most popular. Student government is also strong as elected members are dedicated to carrying out the institution’s Honor Code. This is a tradition-rich school with events such as Parade Night, Lantern Night, and May Day all taken seriously by the student population. The Owls participate in twelve NCAA Division III sports, and casual athletic participation is always an option as the school boasts a 50,000-square-foot gymnasium, Olympic-size swimming pool, and outdoor tennis courts. While there is plenty to do on campus, nearby Haverford College, Swarthmore, and Villanova University provide Bryn Mawr undergrads with additional social scenes to explore. The college’s proximity to Philadelphia means that restaurants, concerts, sporting events, museums, and theater are only a short drive away.
Career Services
The Career Services Department at Bryn Mawr is housed within the Leadership, Innovation, and Liberal Arts Center (LILAC). The office is staffed by seven professionals who specialize in areas like career counseling, pre-law advising, and employer relations. With a 189:1 student-to-advisor ratio, Bryn Mawr rates well above average compared to other colleges featured in this guide. That provides undergraduates with ample opportunity to work closely with a career counselor on resume development, internship hunting, and networking.
In terms of employer relations, rather than hosting their own events the college tends to rely more on partnerships with other Seven Sisters schools and the Tri-College Consortium (TCC) with Haverford and Swarthmore. The Fall Policy & Government Career Fair is held at the University of Pennsylvania and is open to members of the TCC. Spring events held at Haverford College include the Tri-College STEM Recruiting Day and the Philadelphia Career Connection that attracts forty employers. Students can find internship and job opportunities online through Handshake or via the Selective Liberal Arts Consortium that can facilitate off-campus interviews. Bryn Mawr has a low student-to-counselor ratio and has an excellent track record for helping its students gain acceptance into top graduate schools. However, its alumni salary figures lag behind its peers, and its on-campus recruiting opportunities are somewhat limited.
Professional Outcomes
One year after receiving their diplomas, 57 percent of Bryn Mawr graduates have found employment, a robust 29 percent have already entered graduate school, and 5 percent are still in the job-hunting phase. Among those who are employed, the five most popular fields are business, education, health/medicine, science, and communications/media. With graduating classes of under 400 students there are no massive numbers of alumni clustered in particular companies as is the case at many larger institutions. Most of the organizations employing the greatest number of alumni are universities and hospital systems although Google, Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, and Vanguard do employ a fair number of Bryn Mawr graduates. Median salaries by age thirty-four are on the low side by elite college standards, in part due to the heavy concentration of students pursing lengthy graduate programs. The median salary figure at the start of midcareer is $47k, significantly lower than other highly selective Pennsylvania liberal arts schools like Franklin & Marshall, Haverford, and Swarthmore, which all sport median income figures of $56k and above.
Of those pursuing further education, 63 percent were in master’s programs, 10 percent in medical school, 2 percent in law school, and 13 percent were already working on their PhD. Again, due to the minuscule class sizes, it’s rare that multiple graduates flock to particular institutions for graduate school. However, to get a sense of the prestigious programs accepting Bryn Mawr alumni one can simply examine the higher education destinations of members of the Class of 2017. Those included a PhD in applied physics at Rice University, a PhD in machine learning at Carnegie Mellon, and a PhD in chemistry at Princeton. Other 2017 graduates were pursuing advanced degrees at Columbia, Tufts, Yale, University of Chicago, the London School of Economics, and UVA School of Medicine.
Admission
Bryn Mawr accepts 34 percent of those who apply, making it more selective than Mount Holyoke, comparable to Smith, and a touch less selective than Barnard and Wellesley. Freshmen at Bryn Mawr possessed middle-50 percent SAT scores of 1300-1500 and 28-33 on the ACT. A healthy 59 percent finished in the top 10 percent of their high school class; 91 percent were in the top quarter. In terms of class rank/GPA, the average accepted applicant looks similar to those from five years ago. Yet, the SAT scores of admitted applicants has risen rather dramatically. In 2013, the middle-SAT range for the freshman class was 1190-1420.
The admissions office places the greatest emphasis on the rigor of an applicant’s high school curriculum and recommendation letters. Grades, essays, extracurricular activities, and character/personal qualities are next. While Bryn Mawr is a test-optional school, 61 percent submitted SAT results, and 34 percent submitted ACT scores, so tests do still play a role in shaping the overall admissions picture. Early decision is the right choice for those who have the school atop their college list. Bryn Mawr fills 45 percent of its freshman class in the early round and accepts 53 percent of those who apply.
A highly selective destination point for high-achieving young women, this member of the Seven-Sisters Colleges is tougher to get into than its acceptance rate would imply. Known as a supportive, collaborative, and academically excellent school, Bryn Mawr draws brilliant and accomplished applicants from around the globe. An impressive resume is needed, and applying early can give you an edge.
Worth Your Money?
Despite a list price above $73,000, Bryn Mawr is generous with aid, leading to graduates who possess lower-than-average debt. Unusual for a school of its ilk, 27 percent of current students receive an annual merit award averaging $16k in value. A healthy 53 percent of students are found eligible for need-based aid, and 100 percent of their demonstrated need is met by the college. The average annual value of these grants is close to $44,000, helping to make Bryn Mawr more accessible to those of varying socioeconomic backgrounds.