<p>Based on what my daughter tells us that she wants in a school:
* nicely designed green grounds with trees
* people serious about their studies,
* no drinking , or more precisely, instead of drinking occupying a lot of the social time, the 'lively art of conversation' and other such ( innocent) socializing.
* but not (too) religious
* snowy in the winter
* not absurdly selective
* accessible profs
* discussion oriented classes
* no greek system</p>
<p>Through Princeton Review, and other sources, I keep coming to Mt Holyhoke that seems to satisfy quite nicely these tough criteria (highly ranked in most beautiful campus, students study a lot, intellectual conversations, 'stone cold sober' etc). </p>
<p>But then I discovered that MHC is an all girls school. D said that this is 'too unbalanced' - in some kind of negative way. She also heard that there is (inordinate) same sex (lesbian) behavior at all girl colleges.</p>
<p>Can MHC people put us straight -- I mean clarify --what the student social life is like at MHC? Sorry about the (un PC) concern about the lesbian thing. Just a question due to ignorance.</p>
<p>and, here is a nuts and bolts--I mean another straight-- question: how is M F dating and going out done at MHC? Is it about as normal as a mixed school? Where do the MHC girls find the boys? Or is MHC sort of like a academic monastery bowing before the Ivory tower god with the 'goyls' (this latter might be ok with us, I think).</p>
<p>We are from the Chicago area and are doubly naive about MHC.</p>
<p>If your daughter is uncomfortable around lesbians and where to "find the boys" is an important consideration in her college choice then Mt. Holyoke, and any other women's college for that matter , is probably not the best fit for her.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently a junior at MHC, and she is very happy there. However, between her class work, crew team, and her teaching assistant job, she is lucky if she finds time to eat. So meeting men is not to high on her priority list. </p>
<p>She was not set on attending a womens college but Mt. Holyoke had everything she was looking for, and the lesbian population is a non-issue to her.</p>
<pre><code> Have you checked out Wheaton College? It is also in MA, and was founded by Mary Lyons , who also founded Mt. Holyoke. Is was at one time a womens college, but is no longer.
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<p>The Wheaton College that we know is the one in our backyard in Illinois and we thought it a bit too 'religious' as well too close to home. Is the Wheaton, MA, also religiously affiliated?</p>
<p>Is there any chance your daughter would have the chance to visit MHC for an overnight? Her perceived issues with a women's college would either be confirmed...or she might find these issues are "non-issues" when she's in her "ideal" environment.</p>
<p>My daughter attends an all women's college (not MHC). The lesbian issue is also a non-issue for her. She has always had a boyfriend, though some of the relationships have been long distance. She like this, because as another poster said, she is really too busy with work to tend a relationship.</p>
<p>Most of her friends at co-ed schools are not dating much either. This generation has a different time table.</p>
<p>Mount Holyoke is beautiful, but you do have to feel comfortable in an all women's environment, at least for dorms. My D always got along much better with guys than with women, and I am thrilled that she is finally getting the kind of friendships with women she has always wanted.</p>
<p>I second Wheaton as a good choice and throw Bryn Mawr into the mix; the paths that lead between Bryn Mawr and Haverford as less than a mile long if you go the back way. These two schools together comprise one, larger school.</p>
<p>My D is at Barnard, but it certainly can not compete with Mt. Holyoke's 1000 acres. (D, however, fell in love with it, and finds her 4 acres the most beautiful 4 acres in the world.)</p>