Hillsdale or Mt. Holyoke?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Hillsdale College
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<p>One of my triplets applied to Mt. Holyoke because she'd heard it was a "good" college and the application was free, and to Hillsdale because I encouraged her to do so. We are waiting to hear about the financial aid package for each and are trying to figure out how to scrounge the funding to go on a last-minute college tour. </p>

<p>The reason it's all so disorganized is that my girls had planned to go to community college and then transfer to a four-year university as everyone in my family has done for three generations. As acceptances and financial aid packages began arriving, however, we realized that it might be feasible for them to attend university as freshmen. If it's true that more funding is available for freshmen than juniors, then it might even be cost-effective to do so. It's a thought, anyway.
At this point my D is still pondering the CC/transfer option, or possibly going to Mt. Holyoke, Hillsdale, or even Pt. Loma Nazarene, which is not far from where we live.
(It's bizarre collection of schools, I know.)</p>

<p>I think she is tempted to go to Mt. Holyoke by the relative status, and by the physical beauty. However, she is a pretty conservative person, and I think she would fit in much better at Hillsdale. She is a strong student with no clue as to what her major will be-- she likes politics and English, and is good at math and science. </p>

<p>I know this is a vague question about a strange situation, but by any chance does anyone have any comments about her situation? Thank you!</p>

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<p>A quick browse of Mt. Holyoke’s website, this caught my eye:</p>

<hr>

<p>Queer Identities in the Catholic Community</p>

<h2>On April 15 at 7 pm, experience and share as Catholics and people of other faiths discuss the issues surrounding being gay and lesbian in faith communities. People of all faiths, or none, and sexual orientations are welcome to join in our dialogue. Dwight 101. </h2>

<p>… I’m willing to bet this “dialogue” will be a series of monologues. A dialogue would be open to opinions that many “open-minded” institutions classify as “hate speech.” </p>

<p>Meanwhile, over at wikipedia:</p>

<hr>

<h2>The Princeton Review rates Mount Holyoke fifth among its “Top 20 Gay Friendly Colleges”. However, some students and alumnae feel that acceptance of transgender students at Mount Holyoke violates the women’s college charter.</h2>

<p>If your daughter is “pretty conservative,” it strikes me that she is likely to have a lot of tests throughout her education at such an institution. Wherever one stands on homosexuality, one thing is certain: hell hath no fury like a bunch of gay college students taking every opportunity to inject sexuality into an issue (be it politics, English, math, science, etc.). </p>

<p>Such identity politics (for any number of groups) seems to have boiled over into a minor Cultural Revolution on many college campuses: at the end of the day, there’s nothing to learn because all the authors of old were [racists, bigots, sexists, neo-colonials, male, white, American, etc.]. </p>

<p>Wherever your daughter ends up, I hope she aims for somewhere that still believes 18-22 year olds have more to learn than to teach.</p>

<p>(End rant.)</p>

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<p>Mt Holyoke’s STATUS and PHYSICAL BEAUTY. Take a Hillsdale tour, and check out their publication, “Imprimus.” Check out the HIllsdale students and compare them to MH’s students. </p>

<p>CHECK OUT THE COST TO ATTEND!</p>

<p>Mount H: $51K+
Hillsdale: $28K</p>

<p>No contest</p>

4

<p>I have recruited undergrad and grad students at colleges across the country for years, including the ivies and some of the most popular colleges here on college confidential. </p>

<p>I’ve found that Hillsdale students are experiencing the upper echelon of academic environments. Status pales in comparison to the incredible opportunity of attending classes at Hillsdale. Each time I sit in on a class, I find myself wishing I could go to school there now.</p>

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<p>Still thinking…thinking…for another 48 hours…</p>

<p>I so wish we had the time and money to visit Hillsdale. I love what I’ve read about it. It looks like they actually teach critical thinking there. Imagine that! </p>

<p>I would go there in a split second (if it were free and in SoCal :slight_smile: </p>

<p>We haven’t heard from Hillsdale’s financial aid department yet. The other two colleges that our D is thinking about right now have offered pretty amazing packages (like, almost free for PLNU and under $5000 for MHC). Unfortunately, the funding matters a lot. </p>

<p>I’ve been trying to find some evidence of conservative/Christian life at Mount Holyoke. I was kind of excited when I saw the College Republican club, until I noticed that the “events” section was from 2003. The Intervarsity club apparently ended in 2006. I would like my D to have the strength of conviction to emerge unscathed from a college like that, but being a minority of one might be too much. </p>

<p>One of the triplets did decide to go to Pepperdine, who also offered excellent funding and is only two hours from home. No huge culture shock. The other one is still pondering Pt. Loma and Westmont (just south of Santa Barbara, still culturally familiar and not too far from home, with good scholarships, but maybe not enough). She’s also considering living at home for a year or two going to a community college. </p>

<p>Sorry, off topic, I’m just spinning right now. </p>

<p>Thanks for the comments. I like the Hillsdale parents a lot, too.</p>

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<p>chauchat,</p>

<p>Any decision yet? If the decision is based on financial aid, please let your admissions counselor know. They know how important it is and will try to get you the info quickly.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>Yes, Mom is right. If it is coming down to money, call Hillsdale. They’ll find a way!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>*completely off topic:</p>

<p>We’ve got Momoftwins here, mom of triplets here, and I’ve got a pair of college aged twins. Lots of Moms of Multiples here!</p>

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<p>It is funny about the abundance of multiples here. I noticed that as well in the homeschool community (that, and people with huge numbers of kids). </p>

<p>Money is a huge consideration for us. My daughter is very excited about Mount Holyoke (and Amherst, where she will be relieved to be around men). None of us did enough research, including college visits, so she doesn’t have a real feel for Hillsdale.
She actually would be OK with going to community college where there is a pretty little satellite campus within a few miles of our house with an honors program that feeds into Berkeley/UCLA/UCSD, and presumably a lot of other colleges, including Hillsdale. I guess that’s what will happen if MHC is just too ridiculously bigoted. That could certainly happen. </p>

<p>I’ll still hang around this forum, though. Nothing is written in stone for her, or daughter #4.</p>

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<p>Hi there. Mom of senior at Mount Holyoke here. Perhaps I can be of help. First, though, I am trying to understand the use of the word “bigoted”…it certainly doesn’t reflect my daughter’s experience there. Please feel free to PM me or write any questions on this board. I’m happy to field anything…and if I do not have the answer, I’ll contact my daughter or look for a resource for you.</p>

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<p>If you want something with more of a New England feel with a Christian college community, there is a Nazarene college in Massachusetts. It’s closer to Boston, not in western Mass., but it’s called Eastern Nazarene College (it’s a lot like PLNU, but more of a liberal arts college, slightly more socially conservative, and represents a lot more diversity).</p>

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<p>Any decision yet? My son will be a freshman at Hillsdale this fall and he is SO excited! He’s just drooling over the course catalog, wondering which classes he’ll have in the fall. </p>

<p>A couple things we’ve discovered that you might want to consider:</p>

<p>First, if your daughter is truly undecided, it might not hurt to spend a year at the community college near your home while she gets her bearings, rather than rushing into a decision. My son, who had been homeschooled his whole life, spent his senior year taking dual credit classes at our local (public) university. It was a good experience for him in many ways. Most important, it gave him a firm resolve to attend a school where he would receive a GREAT education. After years of a challenging homeschool curriculum he was in a dumbed-down, low expectation environment and he was bored and unchallenged (Sponge Bob in freshman English and check-marks on the papers instead of real grades!!). In other words, it helped him see clearly what he did not want!</p>

<p>If she does decide to go that route, keep in mind the schools she may attend for her second year and consider which classes will transfer to those schools. For example, don’t bother taking freshman English if she’s planning to attend Hillsdale, because it can’t be used in place of the core English credits. </p>

<p>Also, regarding Hillsdale, we have noticed an interesting phenomenon in conservative circles recently. Just saying you are planning to attend Hillsdale is like a great, big respect magnet! My son worked on a couple congressional campaigns this spring, working as the youth coordinator for one. His candidate found that whenever he mentioned in a speech that his youth coordinator is one of his former students who plans to go to Hillsdale in the fall, he would receive enthusiastic applause from the crowds! And when my son would meet people (other candidates, campaign managers, etc.) & they would hear that he’s going to Hillsdale, the response would usually be something like, “Oh, Hillsdale, congratulations! That’s a wonderful school. Very impressive!” </p>

<p>Just a couple things to think about from our personal experiences! : )</p>

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<p>Caroljean,</p>

<p>Welcome to the Hillsdale family. I’ll bet your son finds the challenge he’s looking for at Hillsdale.</p>

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<p>I am certain he will be challenged! He is so looking forward to having great teachers!</p>

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<p>Congratulations Caroljean on becoming a Hillsdale Charger Parent! And to your son, too. Hillsdale is an amazing school. My D absolutely LOVES it there and my son, 09 grad, loved every minute of his time at the 'dale.</p>

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<p>Caroljean,
It sounds like your son is in the right place! Congratulations.
I would so enjoy it if my D were signing up for Hillsdale-style courses! </p>

<p>D 2 was able to sign up for a Great Books course at Pepperdine which sounds wonderful, but they choose courses for their freshmen, so she is only allowed to sign up for the one seminar class so far. </p>

<p>D3 is going to community college and is signing up for her classes in accordance to a list given her by Westmont. They have been quite accommodating. She plans to attend in the fall of 2011. </p>

<p>D1 is planning to go to Mount Holyoke this fall. She is guardedly excited. The campus is so beautiful, and it has an excellent academic reputation. It’s an adventure for her. She does hope to find some fellow students who share some of her beliefs and values, maybe to have a core group of girls with whom she can feel accepted and comfortable.
It’s great to meet a “diverse” group of people, but one would hope for actual diversity of thought. Some report that alternative views (in this case, relative conservatism and Christianity) are “tolerated.”
We hope so. We’ll see. </p>

<p>etienne–love that name! A pastor from our church had been a president at Eastern.
It hadn’t been on our list, but it’s a thought.</p>

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<p>Good luck at Mt Holyoke! </p>

<p>Please report back and let us know how less-than-liberal thinking is actually tolerated among the faculty and among the students.</p>

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<p>I’m a graduate of MHC and I’m glad to hear your D will be attending! MHC is definitely a liberal school when compared to Hillsdale, but I’m sure she will find friends that share her values. The academic reputation of MHC, particularly within academia if your D is looking to go to graduate school after MHC, is phenomenal. If your D happens to be interested in the sciences, she will get research opportunities as early as a first year student that are unlike almost any other institution.</p>

<p>I personal felt that people at MHC pretty much found some type of common ground on which to get along, regardless of faith or sexual orientation. The bond of “sisterhood” combined with the fact that you know you’re with a brilliant group of women who are dedicated to pursuing their academic passions for me was stronger than anything else.</p>

<p>Best of luck to your D!</p>