Hello all,
I am a BMC alum and a huge fan of women’s colleges. My daughter has been accepted to Agnes Scott, as well as many other co-ed LACs (she did not apply to Seven Sisters’ schools or Scripps because of lack of merit aid and did not want to go to school in the Northeast). She got a very nice merit award at ASC and was invited to compete for more $ at a Scholars’ Weekend (this weekend).
We have visited ASC, and loved Decatur and the Atlanta area. However, our visit was unfortunately rushed, and D did not get the full “experience” of a women’s college. I am hopeful that an overnight visit will convince her.
Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences to share about ASC? What about your experiences visiting/doing an overnight at a women’s college? Was it helpful to your decision to attend? What specifically made you decide to attend a women’s college, especially if you were not initially sure you wanted to go that route?
I know how wonderful women’s colleges are, but I find it difficult to put into words for my daughter. I’m wondering what it is that convinces other young women who may have been on the fence before visiting.
Many thanks in advance, and congratulations to all who have been accepted to so many wonderful women’s colleges!
Hi, I’m a current student at Scripps. For me, a women’s college was a detriment at first, and I was a bit concerned. However, what made me go in spite of all of it was knowing the wonderful community that women can have together. Everyone at Scripps is so kind, caring, and passionate about women’s issues - there are some things that girls just get. In our coffee shop they even sell tampons out there in the open! It was very cool.
To sum it up - I attended Scripps in spite of it being a women’s college, and now I continue to attend because it is a women’s college.
I’m from Atlanta. Although I went to Spelman (another women’s college in Atlanta), Agnes Scott was my very close second choice and I did an overnight there (also on scholar’s weekend - I got a full tuition scholarship there). Plus a lot of my friends from high school went to ASC, including my best HS friend, so I spent a lot of time on ASC"s campus.
Yes, doing an overnight made me more committed to attending a women’s college and also made me fall in love with ASC. Scholars’ Weekend was so much fun - the young ladies there were also very committed to attending women’s colleges; many of them had also been accepted to places like Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, and Smith and were weighing their options. They were all so diverse - ASC is a very diverse place, racially, socioeconomically and in other ways. They were also a lot of fun. We did some academic activities as a group but also spent some time just chatting about silly things. ASC’s campus is truly beautiful, and their residence hall rooms are really really nice and so big!
A lot of young women seem to be afraid that going to a women’s college is going to be like living in a convent. Totally not so. ASC, being in Atlanta, is close to dozens of other colleges in the area - Emory is quite close and reachable by public transit. It’s much more like being in a huge, friendly, loose sorority - or a family with a lot of sisters. There are ample opportunities to socialize with men if that’s what people want, but being in women’s classes was so amazing - fostered discussion and collaborative work without young women worrying about the influence of men, which can sometimes be dominating - and it was an environment in which all of the student leaders were women. Women’s college’s faculty also have more diversity and more women. Having black female professors was what made me want to get a PhD myself.
Other than staying overnight what also made me want to attend is 1) the beautiful campuses and much nicer residence halls, 2) visiting some classes, and 3) walking around on campus, especially on a day when something was going on. I wouldn’t say I was on the fence before visiting but I was considering co-ed colleges equally, and visiting made me put the two women’s colleges on my list far and above the other choices - including Emory and Georgia Tech. I also love my women’s college’s alumnae network! It really is like finding a long-lost sister when I meet another alumna when I’m out and about, no matter what year she graduated.
(Disclosure note: This was several years ago now. I did ASC’s Scholars’ Weekend in early January 2004, and I went to college from 2004-2008. So things have changed, but…that’s what it was for me.
BTW, Scripps does have some merit aid available.