<p>I received an information booklet on MHC yesterday, and my mother is encouraging me to open up to the notion of women's colleges. I've been in a public school my whole life, and have no idea what it's like to be surrounded exclusively by girls. On the other hand, I don't have a social life as it is, so I wouldn't mind much (that isn't a pity fisher, it's a fact...I'm a reclusive bookworm). Plus, 3/4 of the students in my AP classes are girls.</p>
<p>I don't even know what to ask on here. I just don't know anything about what going to Mt. Holyoke would be like. I was considering applying to Amherst, but I didn't like the campus much. It's okay, but not stellar like MHC. If anyone has any input, I would be very grateful.</p>
<p>BTW, it was so funny when I first saw "MHC." I was like, major histocompatability complex college? What? I love Biology.</p>
<p>Not to hijack the thread here but you might want to raise the same question over in the Smith forum. Smith is about 20 minutes from Amherst, located in Northampton. Virtually every Smith student I've ever talked to at length has said something like, "I never intended to go to a women's college."</p>
<p>Hmm well I am also a person whos going from studying in co-ed throughout to an exclusive girls college.
Well I dont know how bad it is going to be because an all girls campus will have a lot of their own stuf in hand to do.
So I dont think it should be a big problem.</p>
<p>I always went to public school, but I'm going to Mt. Holyoke in a couple of weeks. On the other hand, I went to girl scout camp every summer for 8 years (including spending 6 weeks on an island of all females) and I've been working at a girl scout camp for the last two years.</p>
<p>I do like guys, but I very strongly believe that an all-women environment is a perfect place to foster teamwork and leadership, and to break stereotypes about what women can and can't do. I plan someday to work in the (male-dominated) field of computer science, so I want my college experience to be more unique and special to me.</p>
<p>If you are a reclusive bookworm and think MHC's campus is "stellar", I think you would be happy there and would find many opportunities to be less reclusive--though meeting men requires diligence, self-confidence and commitment to the task, intelligent, rewarding female friendships are easy to come by, as are plenty of very rewarding books. But if you prefer reclusiveness, no one will think less of you and you will fit in just fine.</p>
<p>I <3 Emily Dickinson! She was actually a very nice lady, made cookies for the neighborhood kids and lowered them down from the window in a basket. I am pretty darn reclusive, haven't gone outside my house except for doctor/therapy appointments all summer :) But we're trying to conquer that. Maybe somewhere that forces me to be more social would be better.</p>
<p>As Emily Dickinson said, "the soul selects her own society...." before you make a final decision on a college perhaps a dorm overnight would be a good idea?</p>
<p>My daughter will attend MHC this fall. She went to a coed, public HS and her closest friends have been male. In addition, she always had a boyfriend since starting HS. I consequently was suprised that she even would apply to a women's college. </p>
<p>My daughter was in a particularly tough IB class where several students quit. What remained were 7 female students. They picked up very quickly on the difference in learning styles and how much better/faster they learned without any boys in the class. (Remember, this was an IB class so the young men in the class were good students.) THAT was the motivating factor in applying to MHC.
After researching several women's colleges (including a lot of time spent "talking" to other undergrads via LiveJournal), she fell in love with MHC and found it to be the most supportive learning community. She's also not too concerned about linking up with men, givin the five college consortium and proximity of Amherst and UMass.</p>
<p>As a parent, I found my dealings with Admissions, Financial Aid and some of the other administrative offices to be the most cordial and helpful. Phone calls were always returned, questions answered and everyone was very cordial. I did NOT find this to be the case at several other top 20 LACs and Universities where my daughter applied -- including my two alma maters (undergrad and for Phd program). (The latter surprised me since I've been writing checks to them for several years!)</p>
<p>I'm a rising senior who is considering MHC. I'm not sure yet if it is "the one" for me but I hope to visit this fall.</p>
<p>I agree with boxmaker. I sent an email to the adminstration office asking a question about freshman grades. Not only did they reply the next day, they sent me another email a few weeks later telling me about an alumni close by.</p>
<p>John Irving used to teach at MHC! I love him. He's my favorite author. I just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany last week. The ending was better than Harry Potter 6. Sniff!</p>
<p>I'm considering MHC but I don't know much about the academics. I've heard of course that they're wonderful but I haven't gotten a sense of how motivated and excited the students are. Are they apathetic or do they really love their classes, professors etc?? Thanks for helping!</p>
<p>Obviously it differs from class to class and professor to professor, but I would say that MHC students want to be excited about academics and respond well when professors and classmates are stimulating-- admissions procedures almost guarantee that they are highly motivated. This may become more obvious in junior and senior years when people are into their majors rather than slogging thorugh distribution requirements. The profs also really care about teaching and knowing students personally--not just research for their own glorification.</p>
<p>I am an MHC alumna and attended Commencement this year (May 2006) to see my two mentees in the class of 2006 graduate. I noticed one of my professors in the faculty section. Since I graduated in the Class of 1970, you can count on the fact that he has been teaching at Mount Holyoke for about forty years. As the seniors crossed the stage, he searched the list, looking for the next one of his students who would appear and smiled broadly in satisfaction as each one accepted her diploma. I guess for him it doesn't get old. Indeed, I know it doesn't because I chatted with him about it recently and told him I have forgiven him for giving me a C in my senior year! (He's known as a particularly tough grader but one who writes more commentary on your papers than you typed to begin with!). We both laughed. I recalled for him how much I appreciated the time he took explaining one on one where I had fallen short in grasping political theory in class the first time around. I managed to get into a top ten law school despite that grade and got better grades there than at MHC but the education I received at MHC was superb and I remained close to one of my professors until she passed away a few years ago.</p>