<p>Is Simmons thought to be a much lower-tiered women’s college. My girls knew one girl through a friend that loved it but another left after a year (although she loved the girls and location) because she didn’t feel challenged. She is at a good state school now.
My daughter’s have limited interest in an all girl college because of their possible career interests, but love Boston and Philly and would like to to tour if we are in the area.</p>
<p>For a list of women’s colleges in the US,and Canada, visit:
[The</a> Women’s College Coalition](<a href=“http://www.womenscolleges.org/]The”>http://www.womenscolleges.org/)</p>
<p>Each of these institutions has it’s own personality and focus, and the level of “selectivity” varies from one to another. It would be possible to build your entire safety, match & reach list from this group alone if you chose to do so.</p>
<p>As for “drama”, you can get that anywhere. But, in my observation “drama” is more of a middle and HS phenomenon.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>The thing that surprised me at the women’s colleges I visited with my daughter was the constant refrain from current students that “I never thought I’d consider a women’s college.” My daughter had no intention of considering a women’s college, visited Bryn Mawr, and was smitten. She’s starting there this fall.</p>
<p>A poster named je ne sais quoi has a daughter at Smith and loves it. She went there for the reasons I thought a women’s college might be good – women in science and engineering may not get taken as seriously in predominantly male environments (like almost all science and engineering departments in coed schools).</p>
<p>My wife has several friends who went to Smith who felt that it gave them a sense of independence and capability that has stood them in good stead for the rest of their lives. I had a couple of interviews with a very poised young woman who went to Wellesley instead of Princeton and felt it was the best thing she ever did.</p>
<p>There are people for whom a women’s college is the wrong choice. A classmate of my D’s transferred out of Mount Holyoke after one year. She made good friends there, but decided she wanted a co-ed school. The reason she applied to Mt. Holyoke was because of the beautiful campus, the reason she went there was because it was the most selective school she applied to where she got in. That is NOT a good reason to go to any school. So for her, it was a poor choice from the beginning. She was not comfortable with the social scene. But that is just her.</p>
<p>ljean, agreed! Attending the most selective school to which one has been accepted only because it’s the most selective school is a poor strategy for making the decision. My kids have both chosen schools that felt right and neither attended the most selective school on their accepted list. And of course you are right that girls’ schools are not right for everyone.</p>
<p>My daughter did not have any women’s colleges on her list and then eventually applied ED to Barnard. Originally they were not on her list for 2 reasons … 1) she was not interested in smaller LACs … 2) did not want be socially isolated from guys. After a little research niether of these issue were show stoppers. Barnard has Columbia right across the street (literally). Smith has the 5-school consortium. Bryn Mawr has Haverford and Villoniva withing walking distance and others close. Etc. And in the end the smaller all women home base ended up beign a draw. My advice would be do not discount this option without visiting an option (if feasible)</p>
<p>Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, Barnard all give need based Financial aid and meet 100% of your demonstrated need. This is the time where you run your numbers through the financial aid calculators (if using the college board use both the federal and institutional methodologies).</p>
<p>Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr and Smith also give merit scholarships</p>
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<p>Mount Holyoke Leadership Awards
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<p>If you will look up post of mini and thedad (perhaps they will chime in), they both have daughters who are recent Smith grads. Poetsheart D is a recent Bryn Mawr grad. </p>
<p>Calmom, mythmom and Churchmusicmom all have daughters at Barnard.</p>
<p>perhaps they can share their experiences.</p>
<p>I don’t think Bryn Mawr offers merit scholarships. Their need based awards seem to be very generous though.</p>
<p>I agree with 3togo, visit if at all possible and do not dismiss the women’s only options out of hand.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr used to offer a leadership scholarships - similar to Mount Molyoke (my D received one when she was accepted there, but this was 5 years ago so they may no longer offer them) I was looking for it on their website, but I could not find it.</p>
<p>It is definitely worth exploring women’s colleges! They offer extraordinary educational opportunities and faculty. I only discovered them after I had been through a coeducational school system/college career but think the ones I know about (Smith, Scripps, Mills, Bryn Mawr) and do an outstanding job of preparing women for life and careers and marriage and parenthood–so definitely do not leave them off your list.</p>
<p>Definitely check out women’s colleges! I have a daughter at Smith and she loves it. I don’t think she pictured herself at a women’s college when she was in high school, but we encouraged her to read about it, visit, and apply. Fast forward to the end of her first year at Smith… Her coursework has been interesting and challenging, and the faculty has been wonderfully supportive. Although she’s only a first year, she wrote a research proposal that won grant money for the summer. She has offers to be a paid tutor and a lab assistant in the fall. She lives in a house that balances social activities with hefty study time. For her, having the strong network of housemates has been a really important factor in her academic success. Although she’s always had plenty male friends, she’s always been intense about her studies. A student at one college she looked at told her that with the skewed female to male ratio at their college, females “competed” heavily for the attentions of the males. She was really turned off by that. As the mom (and I met my husband-to-be in college!), I think that not having the extra complications males possibly bring to the situation has made it easier for her to focus on the academics she is so passionate about while developing a network of frinds for life. And she really has met students–male and female–from the other campuses. At any rate, I know she is ver happy with her women’s college choice.</p>
<p>Do check out Barnard! My d is graduating from there in a couple of weeks and the experiences she has had there have, I am convinced, changed her life! It sounds oh-so-cliche’, but Barnard truly does provide all the great things about women’s colleges with all the great benefits of being affiliated with a first-class University (Columbia) and having direct access to classes and resources of that University. Also, there are most definitely boys around… :)</p>
<p>Onr of the other factors not mentioned yet is that women’s colleges tend to be self-selective, which means that they accept a higher ratio of students than other colleges of the same academic standing, because boys can’t apply and many girls are reticent to go to a single-sex school.</p>
<p>As shawbridge mentioned, my daughter is an enthusiastic first-year at Smith College. I echo all the previous positive comments about women’s colleges and will only add these.</p>
<p>First, Smith and Mount Holyoke are part of the five college consortium. Students from all five colleges can cross-register for classes. The other three colleges in the consortium have male students so there are men around, both in class and at social events. My daughter doesn’t miss or even notice the absence of men. Conversely, if there are men in class or elsewhere, it’s no big deal. Plenty of women have boyfriends who visit, etc. </p>
<p>Second, my daughter’s best financial aid/scholarship/grant package was from Smith. I know that is not a universal experience. Smith would not have been affordable for us without generous aid. </p>
<p>Lastly, my daughter has found her true intellectual home at Smith. Women’s colleges are not for everyone but if they are right for you, they offer unique opportunities and learning environment.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, PM me. I will try to answer and/or ask my daughter. She would be happy to help, too.</p>
<p>My D didn’t think she’d be interested in a women’s college, but after a visit to Haverford, we decided to tour Bryn Mawr since it was so close. We had a great tour guide at Bryn Mawr (which always helps) and my D left with a very positive impression and decided to visit several other women’s colleges. D is now in her second year at Bryn Mawr, and she loves it. She’s benefitted from excellent academic programs and supportive faculty members who are accessible to students. She is very involved in drama and Customs (an EC). She’s taken three courses through the tri-co at Haverford and Swarthmore and next year is taking a course at Penn. It’s pretty easy to register for a course at any of the three colleges and there is a bus that goes regularly between Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swat. There are times when she loves being in a women’s college and other times when she feels isolated; overall, however, her experience has been a positive one. I would encourage high school girls to explore the women’s colleges and not simply rule them out because they are single-sex schools.</p>
<p>Women’s colleges are great! I’m a Wellesley alum (2008) and I maintain that dealing with stereotypes from others about the women’s schools is a bigger hassle than attending a school without men. I’m one of those “in-spite of” folks; I visited Wellesley and fell in love. The schools have lots of great opportunities, and put a huge emphasis in their advertising about what people can do and learn there.</p>
<p>My d’s best friend from hs goes to Wellesley. She plays ultimate frisbee and wears jeans. She’s had fabulous opportunities there. This summer she got a grant from Wellesley for an internship with a non-profit, and in the fall she’s going overseas. She cross-registered at MIT for a math class, so it’s possible to take classes with guys if you find you miss that. You just have to get used to using your bus time for catching up on reading, problem sets, etc., as it’s a 50 minute ride (or thereabouts) each way.</p>
<p>I’m a recent Scripps College graduate, and I definitely did not initially envision myself attending a women’s college. A lot of my classmates said they’d felt the same way. I’d happened to be in Southern California visiting Occidental and Pitzer, and I decided to throw in a visit to Scripps since it was right next door. I fell in love with the school, and it immediately became my top choice. I loved my time at Scripps and definitely feel I made the right choice for my undergraduate education. (I would not consider Mills a better choice than Scripps, by the way, although it could be a safety school. It is in the bay area, but it doesn’t have the same selectivity, academic rigor, and claremont college cross-registration and socialization opportunities as Scripps.)</p>
<p>At Scripps I really felt like I had the benefits of a same-sex school with a co-ed atmosphere. I loved our beautiful, well kept single sex dorms, and I really empowered because all of our on-campus leadership positions were filled by women. I definitely had the opportunity to make close friendships with other women and felt like there was a diverse group of us on campus. I also had males in most of my classes (except for a few Scripps-only classes, like core, writing 50, and senior seminar), had male friends, and interacted with male students in classes, at the dining hall, and at activities and parties at the 5 campuses. Most Scrippsies I knew dated a guy from one of the other 5Cs at some point. Also it’s completely fine to have men in the dorms as long as they don’t wander the halls without you.</p>
<p>I wish more female high schoolers would consider all women’s colleges - they don’t know what they’re missing! I got a great education in an environment that empowered women and don’t feel like my social life suffered for it.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the responses!!
Its so reassuring to know that so many women in my situation have gone through the system and loved it!
Please keep me updated</p>