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Bryn Mawr College
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Inside Scoop

Quick Stats

School Slang
  • Anass: The Greek cheer, used for anything from encouraging a freshmen to sing during Hell Week to celebrating graduation. Only seniors can start the cheer, but all students can join it.
  • Back Smokers: The study rooms in Merion, Denbigh, and Erdman.
  • Blue Bus: The buses that take you to Haverford.
  • Bryn Mawr time: All classes actually start 10 minutes after the posted time, so students can get to back-to-back classes.
  • C-Sem: College Seminar.
  • Customs: The orientation program for freshmen.
  • Death Center: Where you go when you need medical attention.
  • Eastie Beastie: The little bugs that occasionally pop up around campus.
  • Erd: A dorm.
  • HA: Hall advisor; what other colleges refer to as an RA.
  • J-Mac: The president of the College.
  • The Mawr: Our school.
  • Mawrters: What we call ourselves.
  • Pem Arch: The space between Pem West and Pem East. A common meeting place, not to be confused with Rock Arch.
  • The Pit: One of Erdman’s living rooms.
  • PSB: The Science Building.
  • R100: The cheap train that will get you to Philly eventually.
  • R5: The expensive train that will get you to Philly in 20 minutes.
  • Rhoads Beach: The area close to Rhoads and around Lake Vickers.
  • Senior Row: A tunnel of trees on Merion Green where the May Day hoop race takes place.
  • Specs: Prospective students.
  • Supes: The women who train and supervise freshmen in the dining halls.
  • Tea: The all-purpose word for a hall get-together or a gathering with people with common interests. Example: Hilari-Tea
  • Tea Pantries: Where you heat water for tea or store your leftovers.
  • Traditions Mistresses: The women who organize the traditions. This is an elected position.
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
  • It is so easy to over commit. Know how much sleep deprivation you can handle.
  • Mawrters have a hand in running the school through SGA.
  • The etiquette of not discussing grades can be a shock.
  • This is not a coed school, but that does not mean we don’t have boys on campus.
  • This is not a party school, but that does not mean we don’t have fun.
  • You will spend a good chunk of your time here studying.
  • You won’t get into every limited-enrollment class every time.
Tips to Succeed
  • Appreciate the little things—the note your HA leaves by your door on your birthday, and your laundry that someone else has folded.
  • Don’t stress about room draw; all of the dorms have their advantages.
  • Find professors you love and then take all of their classes.
  • Go to problem sessions, and get a tutor if you need help with an introductory class.
  • If you have the slightest inclination to travel, consider study abroad.
  • Make friends outside of your Customs group freshman year.
  • Participate in Traditions.
  • Stay on the activities listserv.
  • Support student productions and go to sports games.
  • Take plenty of trips to Philly.
  • Take the swim test during Customs Week.
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Bryn Mawr Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Inside Scoop at Bryn Mawr College

jcpj

'12

Art History

4.2
A-

BMC Insider

Bryn Mawr is a beautiful school filled with quirky students. We also have big school traditions that everyone on campus gets excited about. It is nice because they always come at he right time when stress levels are high and students need some time to relax and be in the community. We are also a small school, so having these events really solidifies our experience and sense of community.

Dec 28, 2010

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Inside Scoop at Bryn Mawr College

mkec89

'11

Russian and Eastern European Languages and Literature

4.6
A

May Day

This campus-wide holiday is a fun break before the craziness of finals. Its characterized by laying in fields among Cherry Blossom petals, wearing white dresses, hanging with friends, and breaking the bonds of the patriarchy.

Jul 23, 2010

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Page 1 of 1

Facts

Traditions
  • Athena: Students present gifts to the statue of Athena in return for good luck and wisdom. Upperclassmen must also seek her forgiveness if they set foot on the senior steps or walk down senior row. You can find Athena in the corner of Thomas Great Hall.
  • Free Boxes: Each dorm has a box or space for students to deposit clothes or anything else that they want to get rid of. It is a common practice for students to go “free box shopping” by going through these boxes and taking out anything they would like. The boxes overflow at the end of each semester as students are clearing out their belongings and packing for home.
  • Garden Party: Each senior chooses a garden party girl to host her garden party, a reception for the family and friends held the day BEFORE graduation.
  • Hell Week: Taking place just between the start of second semester and spring break, this major tradition provides a welcome break for freshmen and upperclassmen. Freshmen pair up with sophomore “hellers” who prepare a list of fun, wacky tasks for the freshmen to do during the week. Freshmen also choose sympathetic juniors who shower them with treats as the tasks are performed. This tradition, though seemingly intimidating to some, is intended to strengthen bonds between the classes.
  • Lantern Night: Freshmen, dresses in black robes, march into the cloisters to be presented with lanterns in their class color. The upperclassmen, also dressed in robes, sing to the freshmen… (Delete all references to “bath robes,” which must have been a typo in last edition)
  • May Day Gifts: Seniors honor friends in the other classes by leaving a gift at their door the night before May Day. Seniors can give a gift of their own or continue a tradition of a gift that was passed down to them in a previous year.
  • Parade Night: The first tradition of the year, Parade Night, occurs in the evening after the first day of classes. Freshmen storm through the Arch, and sophomores drench them with water. Once they pass the sophomores, the freshmen are rewarded by the juniors who give them candy. The tradition is concluded with the year’s first step sing.
  • Self-Scheduled Exams: When you are finished studying, students get their exams in Thomas Great Hall and complete them in a classroom in Taylor or Park before returning it to a student proctor.
  • Taylor Bell: When they have finished the last bit of written work and turned in the last exam, seniors race up the steps of Taylor to ring the bell at the top of belfry. The bell is heavy and sometimes takes a few students to pull, but its sound can be heard across campus throughout finals week.
  • The Wish Issue of the College News: The feminist newspaper on campus sets up a table each spring and encourages students to vent about what they wish would happen at Bryn Mawr and in the world.
Urban Legends
  • If you kiss your sweetheart on the Moon Bench at the end of Senior Row, you will break up.
  • If your lantern goes out first on Lantern Night, you will get married first, and if it goes out last, you will be the first to get your PhD.
  • M. Carey Thomas haunts the Cloisters.
  • The squirrels are plotting to take over campus.
  • You can get from Merion to Taylor to Thomas underground in what used to be the servant’s tunnels.

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