OK, Holyokers. What’s the deal?
Not a current student but a close relative attends and is currently a senior. Here’s her deal:
Arrived on campus after a gap year with a bf at another college several hours’ drive away. Dated him through junior year. They would travel to each other’s campus once per month each way.
Did a domestic semester away fall of senior year in a big city during which she dated several people, mostly through apps.
Now back on campus for senior spring, not planning to date much. FWIW, she said if you wanted to go out and just dance your head off on Saturday nights that the UMass parties were best, but the frat party scene at Amherst was pretty toxic.
A few years out, but my experience is you have to make the effort. The ratio of women to men in the valley is high given MHC and Smith. But, as the above poster said, I found the parties at UMass to be plentiful and found many male friends/boyfriends at UMass. The Amherst men acted like they could choose from the pick of the litter so they were not appealing to me.
We also made road trips to places like Boston, Dartmouth, Williams, Wesleyan, etc, had a great time and some of us found long term boyfriends in those places. You just have to make the effort. Also, go abroad or do the 12 college exchange junior year to see what life is like at a coed school. Best of both worlds!
All that being said, the likelihood that you meet your long term mate in college is slim so just have a good time, enjoy your girlfriends and being removed from all that stupid boy drama that usually comes with coed schools, and focus on becoming the best you can be. In choosing where to go, a big con against MHC for me was the fact that it was an all women’s college and, in hindsight, it was the absolute best place for my growth and development.