<p>I'm a senior and I applied and was accepted to four women's colleges. (Smith, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Welles)
Now that I'm narrowing down my choices, I feel as though maybe a women's college isn't the right environment for me. I'm not competitive at all (with my grades), I'm not a super-feminist, and I've never felt oppressed, for lack of a better word, in an environment with males; rather I actually feel more enthusiasm to participate in classes. I really like the studious environment of these colleges, however, I also believe there is way more to life than school. Should I discard these choices and focus on my coed schools? Thanks, everyone.</p>
<p>@iddy09 My daughter doesn’t really associate with those qualities you listed, either. (In her highschool the ones who talk in class ARE the girls!) Yet she absolutely loves the women’s college environment for other reasons. The strong sense of community, the fact that the students all seem so passionate about being there, the resources, small classes, engaged professors, welcoming and supportive atmosphere, etc. Have you visited these schools? She went to the accepted students day at Mount Holyoke and commented, “I’ve found my people!” Many other students were saying the same thing. She just felt really at home.</p>
<p>Would it be possible to do an overnight visit at these schools and others in the running?</p>
<p>Thank you so much! I’ve already done an overnight at Bryn Mawr, I visited Smith and Mt. Holyoke over the summer, and I visited Wellesley this week. I wasn’t able to overnight at those schools, and I won’t have the chance before May 1st because I’m not able to miss any more school. They are significantly far from me, unfortunately. I very much appreciate your input!</p>
<p>While they do have a studious environment, I know that at both Smith and Wellesley (maybe the others too, not sure) there’s a strong emphasis on activities outside the classroom. All of my daughter’s friends at Smith do at least one major activity outside the classroom, and many do two or three (things like a varsity or club sport, volunteering, a performing or visual art, tutoring, research, etc). That’s in addition to hanging out as friends and doing fun activities with their house. The students at Smith are collaborative rather than competitive with their class work. </p>
<p>I agree with photodad about non-school activities at women’s colleges. At MHC the students I spoke with all commented on how there is SO much to do. At the “residential life” forum there was a panel of students and a question was asked about homework and whether kids had any free time. The answer from all the panelists was basically that, while there is lots of schoolwork and kids take studying seriously, it’s not overwhelming - and that when kids are too busy, it is usually because they they’ve scheduled so much non-classroom stuff to do. Apparently there are literally hundreds of cool clubs and activities and it’s hard to choose! </p>
<p>Are you sure you can’t get permission to miss a little more school? Surely this decision is very important and you deserve as much input as you can get. Summer visits tend to be quite non-representative since the students are not there. The one thing I heard over and over and over from the visiting students and parents at the MHC weekend was, “Wow, what an amazingly welcoming and engaged community there is here!”… it’s actually really remarkable, and obviously not something you’d glean from a summer visit. You could visit Smith and MHC in one trip since they’re so close: stay overnight and sit in on a class at each school. That would definitely give you a clearer picture of “real life” at these schools. (FWIW my D found the vibe more similar at Smith and MHC, but Wellesley was a bit different. Great but in a different, more intense way.)</p>
<p>I was also extremely impressed with the professors. They seemed so genuinely excited to be teaching there, and so accessible and enthusiastic. It made me really glad my D chose the school :)</p>