Bryn Mawr College
- Campus Housing

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Bryn Mawr College - Campus Housing - Campus Housing - College ProwlerCollege Prowler4.24

Campus Housing

Quick Stats

On-Campus Housing Available? Yes
Campus Housing Capacity 1,247
Average Housing Costs $7,100
Freshmen Required to Live on Campus? Yes
Undergrads Living On Campus 95%
Number of Dormitories 13
Best Dorms
  • Merion
  • Pembroke West and East
  • Rhoads North and South
  • Rockefeller
Worst Dorms Erdman

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

For better or worse, everyone from rambunctious freshmen to thesis-writing seniors lives in one of Bryn Mawr’s dorms. Occasionally, this creates abrasive situations, but far more often, this amalgamation leads to an atmosphere of beneficial social mingling and a strong, united community. Freshmen who do not specify a preference for a single room or a language hall could wind up in any dorm, with none of the results being too disastrous. Rock is the most spectacular dorm visually. Its location, beauty, spacious rooms, and reputation for being a fun place to live make Pembroke a favorite among upperclassmen and freshmen alike. Erdman’s cave-like architecture emphasizes concrete and empty spaces, but this dorm does provide the most extensive food selection and single rooms for everyone.

As upperclassmen, students are assigned a random number for room draw. The many singles in dorms like Rock, Rhoads, and the Pembrokes fill up fast, though dorm preferences tend to depend on the class. The rest of the singles follow for the lower-numbered students. Some students aim for a dorm with window seats and lovely architecture, while others want the dorm with the best parties on campus. Regardless of their final choice, almost every student who wants a single can get one, and everyone winds up in a living arrangement that makes them feel at home.

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Bryn Mawr Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Campus Housing at Bryn Mawr College

slee07

Chemistry '13

4.6
A

BMC Campus Housin

Frosh are mostly housed with 1 or more room mates depending on residential life's evaluation and if the student herself specified certain living conditions. Rooms are typically very comfortable and huge. After freshman year, most upperclasswomen are able to live in single rooms. Each dorm has their own unique personality. If you're looking for peace and quiet, Rhoads or Haffner would be a great fit. If you like spending time with new customs people and are into the whole community environment, then either Pems/Rockefeller/Radnor/Denbigh would be a great fit. There's free laundry for everyone!

A student's social life is whatever she makes of it. If you're looking to meet new people then you would have to take the initiative to join groups on campus or in the bico/trico. If you're looking for a more party kind of atmosphere, there are parties every weekend in the trico and bico and upenn. There are campus groups that may interest you that meet on a weekly basis. There is always something to do on campus.

Apr 16, 2012

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Campus Housing at Bryn Mawr College

AshleyVNHahn

Political Science and Government '14

4.2
A-

Beautiful Dorms, Lively and Supportive Community

Living on campus is wonderful! The dorms are beautiful, the staff at the college is very friendly, helpful, and I love the supportive atmosphere with transitions.

Apr 10, 2012

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Campus Housing at Bryn Mawr College

confusedpyrrhonist

Language Studies and Linguistics '14

4.6
A

Dorms Like Palaces -- Seriously

Our dorms are gorgeous, inside and out. They really do look like castles. People say Erdman (one of the newest dorms) is one of the worst options, but it's only because it fits in differently with the campus aesthetic -- it's more of a foreboding fortress than a pleasant castle. On the inside, though, the rooms are big and well-furnished, the walls don't let sound through (in the rooms -- the halls echo madly), and you can access the dining hall without having to go outside. It can be isolating, though, as many of the rooms are singles and the layout is not so intuitive. For me, the worst options are Brecon (because it's super far away from the rest of campus, including 80 stairs practically straight downhill and 80 straight uphill) and Haffner. Haffner also doesn't fit in so much with the aesthetic, but it also tends to be isolating. It's divided into three towers (French, German, and Spanish), which are technically supposed to be "language halls" where people learning languages can speak them with others in the dorm, but actually are just normal dorms. Most of the people living in a given tower have never taken the language in their lives. All the rooms are singles, which is a plus, but again, it can be isolating, especially because the walls are thin enough to preclude any sort of noise above a normal speaking level. There is a dining hall in the same building though, and the common rooms are gorgeous. All of the other dorms on campus are beautiful, each with its positive and negative quirks, of course. There are designated freshman rooms in each dorm. It's mostly luck of the draw for this; some rooms have window seats, some have fireplaces, some are suites, and some have huge closets. Some are bigger than others; my freshman year, my roommate and I were in a double that was half the size of some of the other doubles (although we did have a fireplace). But there are no real bad deals. You take a really extensive survey (seriously -- extensive) way before registration where you put down all (and I mean ALL) of your preferences for housing (neat/messy, sleeping with/without music, guests/no guests, sleep with window open/shut, ok/not ok with borrowing things, morning/evening person, do work in/out of room...etc.) If you vist campus and find a dorm you really like, you can write that on your survey and if they can (no promises) ResLife will try to put you there.

Mar 07, 2012

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User rating for Bryn Mawr College - Campus Housing is 4.6 out of 5 based on 19 user reviews.

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate campus housing on the following subjects

Facts

Room Types
  • Doubles
  • Quads
  • Singles
  • Suites
  • Triples
Bed Types
  • Cots available
  • Twin extra-long
What You Get
  • Bed
  • Bookshelf
  • Closet
  • Desk and chair
  • Dresser
  • Fireplace (some rooms)
  • Lamp
  • Mirror
  • Window seat (some rooms)

Available for Rent

There is nothing available for rent on campus.

Cleaning Service

Yes, in public areas.

Did You Know?
  • Two dorms are said to be haunted. Merion has a friendly ghost named Lilian, who has been known to turn off a TV and be sighted in the room she inhabited as a student. Some students claim to have seen a male ghost wearing a military uniform in the halls of Pembroke West.
  • Pembroke West is also famous for being the college home of Katharine Hepburn when she attended Bryn Mawr in the late '20s. Her room is on the first floor.
  • Architecturally set apart from more traditional castle-like dorms, Louis Khan designed Erdman Hall to resemble a modern Scottish castle. Students' level of appreciation varies, but the building has won international awards for its design.
  • On Dorm Dress-up Day during Hell Week, the freshmen in each dorm dress up to match their dorm's theme. Rhoads residence dress like rodents, Erdman residents dress as nerds, Merion residents are ghosts, and Breconits are Catholic school girls, as Brecon used to be part of a Catholic school.

DormitoriesWhat's This?

Batten House
Floors: 2
Number of Occupants: 13
Bathrooms: Two shared by the house
Residents: Upperclassmen
Room Types: Singles
Special Features: Kitchen, living room, breakfast nook, terrace, laundry, basement

Brecon Hall
Floors: 4
Number of Occupants: 82
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Singles, doubles
Special Features: Game room (air-hockey and pool tables), living room, tea pantries, Kosher kitchen, laundry

Denbigh Hall
Floors: 3
Number of Occupants: 109
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen doubles and triples, upperclass singles, doubles, and triples
Special Features: Back smoker, living room, tea pantries, laundry, language lab in basement

Erdman Hall
Floors: 3
Number of Occupants: 153
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen singles, upperclass singles, and suites
Special Features: Living room, the Pit, back smoker, tea pantries, laundry, Women’s Center Library, dining hall

Haffner Hall
Floors: 3
Number of Occupants: 78
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Singles
Special Features: Living room, courtyard, foreign language hall, audio-visual resource room, library, dining hall

Merion Hall
Floors: 4
Number of Occupants: 97
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen singles, doubles, and quads, upperclass singles and doubles
Special Features: TV room, living room, back smoker, tea pantries, laundry

Pembroke East
Floors: 5
Number of Occupants: 131
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen singles, doubles, triples, and quads, upperclass singles, doubles, and suites
Special Features: TV room, living room, tea pantries, laundry, dance studio, attic study room

Pembroke West
Floors: 3
Number of Occupants: 107
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen singles, doubles, triples, and quads, upperclass singles, doubles, and suites
Special Features: TV room, living room, tea pantries, laundry rooms, dance studio

Perry House
Floors: 2
Number of Occupants: 7
Bathrooms: Bathrooms centrally located; double has a private bathroom
Residents: Upperclassmen
Room Types: Singles and one double
Special Features: TV room, kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry

Radnor Hall
Floors: 4
Number of Occupants: 71
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen doubles and one quad, upperclass singles and one double
Special Features: Storage, large entry room, living room, TV rooms/study lounges

Rhoads North
Floors: 5
Number of Occupants: 106
Bathrooms: Shared by floor
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen doubles and triples, upperclass singles, doubles, and triples
Special Features: Two TV rooms, living rooms, laundry, tea pantries

Rhoads South
Floors: 3
Number of Occupants: 71
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen doubles and triples, upperclass singles, doubles, and triples
Special Features: Two TV rooms, living rooms, laundry, tea pantries

Rockefeller Hall
Floors: 3
Number of Occupants: 158
Bathrooms: Shared by hall
Residents: Freshmen and Upperclassmen
Room Types: Freshmen singles and doubles, upperclass singles, doubles, one triple, and one suite
Special Features: TV room, extra-wide stair cases, living rooms, laundry, tea pantries

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Most Recent Student Author View all

Name
Kaitlin Menza
Hometown
New Brunswick, NJ
Major
Sociology

College Prowler is seeking talented student authors to assist with writing and updating the College Prowler guides to their schools. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain experience and tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college.

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