Lucy Dellera '28

My school search started by looking at the QuestBridge Scholarship, a scholarship for low-income students to get a full ride to elite colleges and universities.

While I ended up not applying to QuestBridge, it helped me find partner institutions with strong commitments to financial aid. The closest one of these partner institutions to my house was Swarthmore, and when I visited I fell in love with the liberal arts atmosphere. I also adored the location—being close to Philadelphia while still having access to so much nature was hugely important to me.

The whole college application process, especially for competitive institutions, was completely foreign to me. I did lots of research and eventually realized that applying Early Decision significantly improved your chances of getting into a competitive school. I figured that, in the worst-case scenario, I would get denied and have my personal essay done early to send to other schools.

So there I was, set to apply Early Decision to Swarthmore.

But then, I had a particularly hard day in one of my science classes. I felt like, as a woman, my voice wasn't respected and my questions weren't being taken seriously. I came home crying to my mom and remember saying, "I want to be able to go to a place like Swarthmore, but if this is my experience now in a rural Pennsylvania high school class, how will I learn how to stand up for myself in an elite institution?"

She immediately responded with, "Have you looked into Bryn Mawr?"

She explained that it was a women's college, also in the Philly suburbs, and I practically ran to Google. I hadn't even known that women's colleges existed, and it was like night and day. Suddenly, I couldn't understand why I was considering any other school. To me, that's exactly what Early Decision is for.

"Having all of the college searching and application writing done by November allowed me to focus on being a senior in high school."

Every new thing I found just seemed more and more "Lucy", from the academics to the traditions and clubs. 

I felt confident that if I could make it in, I would feel at home, and so I looked at the financial aid calculator and submitted my Early Decision application the next day.

Once I applied, it was like a huge weight was off my shoulders. Even though I wouldn't find out I got into Bryn Mawr until two months later, having all of the college searching and application writing done by November allowed me to focus on being a senior in high school.

This was very helpful in my academic work, where I could spend more time studying in my AP classes that prepared me for my work at Bryn Mawr—but it was also great socially. I had so much more time and mental energy for my extracurriculars and was able to enjoy spending time and deepening relationships with the friends I had grown up with. I am still good friends with a lot of people from my high school, and don't know if I would've been able to maintain those relationships had it not been for applying Early Decision.

Being at Bryn Mawr has been everything I hoped for and then some. 

I am continuously inspired by women, whether they be faculty or other students. I have become so much more confident in myself and my abilities to not just survive but thrive in academia.

My education has also been well rounded—in addition to the intense coursework, I have gotten to travel all over to see the concepts I was learning about in action.

I would say that if you feel like you would feel at home at Bryn Mawr, you should absolutely apply Early Decision! The admissions counselors are very good at their jobs, and if you get in, it is because they are confident you will thrive here.