Hollins or Sweet Briar?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My daughter is trying to narrow down her list of schools. So far it's William and Mary, Centre, Sewanee, Mary Washington, Sweet Briar, and Hollins. </p>

<p>Recently we visited Sweet Briar, which she just loved it. (She said that between Sweet Briar and William and Mary, she would go for Sweet Briar.) She thought the campus was beautiful, she thought that the girls there were nice, and overall, she just liked the environment. She said it was a place where she would fit in well. However, her father and I are a little concerned.</p>

<p>A lot of people have told us that Sweet Briar has a reputation as a school where girls go to get their M.R.S. degrees. Whether this is true or not, I do not know (we are not from Virginia, although we currently live there), I don't care. But my daughter is very smart and ambitious and I'm not to keen on the idea of people thinking she went to college to snap up a man. </p>

<p>After doing further research on the matter, my daughter's English teacher, a Hollins grad, told me to get our daughter to look there. Evidently, Hollins is where the "smart girls go." </p>

<p>Then my daughter asked some of her friends from the area, and they all said that the boys from Virginia's private colleges will only date the Sweet Briar girls because Hollins girls are weird and ugly, and really they're only good for sex. </p>

<p>My daughter is distraught. She does not want people to think she is after her MRS degree, but she would like to date in college and doesn't want boys to avoid her because of where she goes to school. </p>

<p>So my first question is, are these stereotypes true? Are the girls at Sweet Briar really all gold diggers? Are the girls at Hollins really a bunch of freaks? </p>

<p>My second question is, where would my daughter fit in better?</p>

<p>She is, like I said, very bright and ambitious. She does very well in humanities, and says she wants to major in English Literature or French and go on to grad school for journalism. She is not very athletic, though she enjoys tennis, sailing and bike riding. She dabbles in theater and music. She enjoys reading just about anything. She is very perky and lively, always cheerful, very involved in her community. She hates pretension but loves culture. She is not too concerned with fashion, she dresses well, it is just very preppy and simple. She likes boys but it's not the only thing she thinks about. (She says that she wants to date in college, but she does not expect to get married at 21, so it's not crucial that she find "the one" in those four years.) She is very mainstream, but most people tell us that she is more "tuned-in" than your average 16 year old girl. My best friend says that my daughter is like Shelley Long's character in Cheers. </p>

<p>She says that she likes Sweet Briar, but I am just concerned that she would find the lack of culture there boring. Help me help her!</p>

2

<p>Dear DaughterGrad11,</p>

<p>As two of the currently enrolled students at Sweet Briar, we would like to clear some things up for you. First of all, we would like to point out that neither of us are obtaining our MRS degrees. We are Government and International Affairs majors, one of the fastest growing departments on campus. We have many friends who are majoring in the humanities as well as in the sciences. According to the description of your daughter, it seems as if she would fit in very well with the many ambitious and smart women who attend. </p>

<p>Sweet Briar is a well respected school across the Commonwealth and the country. We both have been in situations when we tell people that we go to SBC, they are usually very impressed and speak highly of the institution. We all have great strengths and pursue our interests with support of the faculty and staff. There are many research and study opportunities with fellow students and professors. Both the Modern Languages and English departments have great professors with learning taking place in and out of the classroom. </p>

<p>No matter what school your daughter attends, there will be negative and positive reactions. We firmly believe that the quality of the educational experience that your daughter receives will outweigh the reactions of others. Our unrivaled alumnae network is a great testament to the education that is received by Sweet Briar students. They are continually active in the Sweet Briar community for many years after they graduate. </p>

<p>We hope that this will help clear up any concerns or questions that you have about SBC. Please continue to look into the school more. Many faculty, staff, and students maintain blogs for the school and there are constant updates of the goings-on on campus. Keep SBC on your list for consideration and we would like for you all to visit again.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Sarah '11 and Lena '11</p>

3

<p>Hi there! I joined so I could reply to your post :slight_smile: I’m a student at Sweet Briar and thought I’d try to answer some of your questions.</p>

<p>Sweet Briar girls are typically “hated on” by college students from around the area with stereotypes such as what you listed here, but they aren’t really valid. Every college has some girls who are just there to meet guys, so I wouldn’t just apply that one to SBC. A lot of my friends don’t even date really just because they aren’t really interested in doing so. But there are also plenty of opportunities for her to meet guys (Winter Mixer in the Spring Semester, HSC or VMI football games, etc). And the girls, while there may be a few in the midst, are not gold diggers (some even come from their own fortunes, so there’s no need for them to be).</p>

<p>I also wouldn’t say Hollins is where the smart girls go (though I’ve never met someone who went to Hollins) because SBC has a ton of intelligent ladies. Nearly every single person I’ve encountered at SBC has an awesome work ethic, and we all bust our butts to make the grade. The academics are challenging no matter which department you major in, but the professors are generally very accommodating and encourage their students to ask for help if they need it. The classes are generally small (some English classes have as few as 8 students!) and encourage discussion amongst the students. I’ve taken several English classes, and I enjoyed each one of them!</p>

<p>As for how you described your daughter, she sounds like an awesome addition to the Sweet Briar community! As I said before, many girls here are intelligent, and they’re also very bright and creative! I’m not an athletic person either, but if she ever decided she wanted to do something (such as canoe on the lake or go on a white-water rafting trip) she could at SBC through the Sweet Briar Outdoor Program. The theater and music programs are awesome as well (I’m in Paint & Patches, the theater tap club), and ask students to put their best feet forward. SBC girls, since we don’t have guys to impress during the day, typically go to class in sweats and t-shirts or gym clothes (but there are those warm days where we like to wear dresses!). And as far as involvement in the community, it’s very very easy to get involved at SBC as there is a club for nearly every interest she could have (acquiring a campus job is also easy to do)</p>

<p>As I said, your daughter sounds like an amazing addition to our community! I for one have never really encountered a lack of culture as many girls at SBC come from different parts of the country (it’s really interesting to hear about life in California compared to life in North Carolina or Georgia!)</p>

<p>Also, my cousin (she’s married to an NC representative) took a look at the website and said she didn’t think I would have a problem getting a job after I graduated because SBC is what she considers a female Ivy League!</p>

<p>If you have any other questions/concerns, feel free to ask! Good luck with your decision! :slight_smile:
-Brooke '12</p>

4

<p>As a student at William & Mary I can tell you honestly that there is no more respected institution of higher education in the commonwealth than W&M. We are the premier academic university, and there could be no more valuable name of the top of your daughter’s diploma than “The College of William & Mary” coming out of Virginia.</p>

<p>We are a school that is constantly growing and bettering itself. Our graduates are Rhodes Scholars, U.S. Presidents, Oscar winners, and Super Bowl champion coaches, just to name a few. </p>

<p>Please have her take a harder look to see all that we have to offer and please feel free to have her email me if she has any questions. <a href=“mailto:Jking@email.wm.edu”>Jking@email.wm.edu</a></p>

5

<p>I was always under the impression that Sweet Briar was for serious equestrians, and the school had a heavy contingent of women who rode horses fairly competitively and were attracted for those facilities. </p>

<p>If that comment didn’t give it away, I know very little about either college other than having been turned off as an 18 year old by the pink and green color scheme of the Sweet Briar website and the concept of tap clubs. Based on the comments above it sounds like the people that actually go there really like it, so there must be something to that. </p>

<p>Bottom line is, you need to encourage you D to think about other things besides where she will find dates/serious relationships. She has her entire life and what will probably be a great career to look for Mr. Right, that shouldn’t be driving her decisions about college at this stage. Of course she wants to have a normal active social life, but at any college what will really matter is how much SHE puts into it. Whatever she prioritizes, whether it be classes or dating, those are the things that are going to go the best. Whatever grand sweeping statements people are telling her about a college will probably end up to be nothing but empty stereotypes. I’m sure there are some “freaks” at Hollins, I’m sure there are some “gold diggers” at Sweet Briar, just like there are some lesbians at Smith. I’ve yet to experience a college anywhere the fully lives out its stereotypes. Again, it will matter what she’s looking for and what she wants to get out of the experience. What she puts in is what she’ll get out. </p>

<p>I put a lot of store by gut reaction in the college process. When something is right, you know it. Many people at my alma mater, Smith College, tell the same story about why the chose Smith. They always say “the minute I stepped on campus, I knew this is where I was supposed to be.” If she has that feeling about Sweet Briar, then she should follow it and see where it leads.</p>

6

<p>Hi! I thought I’d add a couple comments to this conversation to address some of the other specific issues you mentioned about your daughter.</p>

<p>I was a French and International Affairs major, and I think both programs were really wonderful. We have a great program called Junior Year in France (JYF) that is run by SBC and has a reputation as one of the oldest and most prestigious study abroad programs in France. Students can study for a summer, semester, or a full year, and take classes at La Sorbonne–the highest ranked university on the continent. The program is full immersion so most students live in host homes and then take their classes at the French university, and the best part about it is that spending a year on the program is often even less expensive than a year at Sweet Briar. SBC students pay the same tuition as they normally would, but are eligible for additional scholarships for the JYF program. I absolutely loved my semester there and would have stayed the whole year if I could, and the experience has absolutely opened up job opportunities to me as an alum.</p>

<p>Secondly, I thought I’d mention a few things about the Honors program. From what I understand, it is very unique and demanding for a school that does not have its own Honors College (which most small schools do not). The program is four years and includes lots of seminars and variants that can be tailored to fit within each student’s major and interests. In addition to taking an honors course each semester, students can pursue the Honors thesis program. It’s amazing! Each girl chooses a topic within her major and then has three semesters of independent research to work toward her thesis, which is 50-70 pages and submitted to a full defense with the student’s committee. This makes Honors students excellent candidates for grad school and we regularly have students admitted directly into PhD programs right after graduation.</p>

<p>I don’t know lots about Hollins, though all of the girls I ever met there were very nice. But do feel like I can say that Sweet Briar can give Hollins and almost any college in the country a run for their money in terms of academic rigor–it’s just up the the student to take advantage of all the opportunities available to her.</p>

<p>And finally, someone mentioned this above but I’d like to reiterate how happy students are at Sweet Briar. Everyone genuinely loves the school, and the sense of community is amazing. The professors are incredibly friendly and helpful, the administration is honest and committed, and all of the students across all the various stereotypes seem to come together in a way that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you and your daughter in her search, and I hope we’ll see her at Sweet Briar this fall!</p>

7

<p>This is a fascinating thread! I have a young cousin (a very unpretentious, sweet girl) and Sweet Briar is her “dream school.” She is an equestrian so the conception of the school as having a lot of women who love horses is probably the most true of all these statements :).</p>

<p>When my mother, a grad from a VA flagship, heard that the girl was interested in Sweet Briar, she blurted out, “Don’t send her there! That’s just where girls go to get their Mrs. degree.” </p>

<p><em>head desk</em> Why in the world would a girl go to a WOMEN’S college to get her Mrs. degree?! If she was looking to meet a man, you’d think she’d go somewhere, with, you know, more men - such as a state flagship. I believe the stereotype is a relic from an older generation when women’s colleges were more prolific and popular. Nowadays, a high school grad would be loathe to go to a women’s college to “meet a man”. So, even not being familiar with Sweet Briar, I know that the “stereotype” about it is founded on pretty illogical assumptions. </p>

<p>I don’t really think UVa or W&M are more “academic,” in reality, and the well thought out and written posts by the students who have already commented seem to prove that. But the perception of a lot of people who are hiring in the area is important, and it does seem to be a rather widespread perception…even if it is a MISperception. Personally I would just go with W&M, as both are quite similar (small, liberal arts focus, etc.). But if Sweet Briar is really speaking to her, then that is where she should go. She will be most successful - get more involved, reach out for better internship opportunities - at a school she loves and is comfortable at, and THAT will shine through on her resume. Don’t get too hung up on “reputations” and just consider where your D will get the best grades and get most involved. That’s what matters in the end, not the name on the degree.</p>

8

<p>Hello,
I live down the road from Hollins, and all I can add is that I haven’t heard good things about their 1.) graduate programs and 2.) writing program (one person I heard this from was someone in their graduate writing program…). Since she’ll be in English, I don’t think that Hollins would be the best place for this. That’s just my opinion though. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I agree. I never thought of it as an especially “good” school…(Roanoke College is worse, though, I think.)</p>

9

<p>Actually, fancyheader, Hollins is known for their writing programs.</p>

10

<p>I heard that too (ironically)…but that their writing program had its heyday (obviously, I don’t attend, so this is all hearsay).</p>

11

<p>SBC has a strong English department and a respected Creative Writing program taught by published authors who are also devoted to their students (No TAs at the school). For the past 2 years, they have hosted a creative writing conference attended by students and faculty from many colleges/universities in Va. I’d encourage interested students to check it out. Though small and rural, the number of serious students taking advantage of a strong education here is significant.</p>

12

<p>My daughter was recently accepted to Sweet Briar, and one thing I know for sure is that there can be no nicer, more ingratiating admissions counselors than I have encountered here.</p>