Hi everyone, I’m an international student from Bangladesh and I was recently accepted to Mount Holyoke College and Dickinson College, both of which are on top of my list. I’d appreciate any insight you guys can offer me to help choose which one to enroll in!
I’m a prospective Economics/ Mathematics major. I will probably be travelling to New York and Boston (where my sister lives) quite often. I’m studious but I don’t want a super competitive environment, and I’m looking for lots of diversity and a close knit community where I can be safe and at home.
The obvious difference is that MHC is a women’s college while Dickinson is co-ed, but that’s not a significant factor for me- I’m okay with either. My sister is an MHC alumna and I’ve visited the beautiful campus, so I can surely say that I will be happy there. On the other hand, I’ve never visited Dickinson’s campus and don’t have an opportunity to do so anytime soon since I live in Bangladesh. I get the idea that Dickinson’s surrounding area may be a bit more exciting than MHC’s, which is a little secluded and quiet, but I can’t be sure. For the financial factor, Dickinson offered me more aid than MHC, but I’ve appealed for more to MHC and am feeling optimistic about the outcome. The other major factor affecting my decision is that my parents are leaning more towards Dickinson because they think I should try something different as my sister is a Mount Holyoke graduate, and I find myself agreeing with them to an extent.
The decision is a hard one and I can really use your input. Please leave any thoughts/opinions!
“Exciting” is not a word I’d use to describe Carlisle (or south central Pennsylvania in general).
I would think the Amherst/Pioneer Valley area is more exciting for a college student. Travel to Boston would be much easier from Mt. Holyoke.
Compared to other selective LACs, Dickinson has a relatively high percentage of students in fraternities and sororities. International business/marketing is one of its most popular majors. MoHo does not have sororities or business majors. From 2006-2015, Mt. Holyoke alumni earned more than 2x as many doctorates as Dickinson alumni (according to National Science Foundation data here: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/webcaspar/index.jsp?subHeader=WebCASPARHome). If these facts are any indication, Mt. Holyoke students may tend to be a bit more intellectual than Dickinson students.
Congratulation on your acceptances! I’m biased as my daughter will be going to Dickinson.
I would say if you think you will be traveling to NY & Boston often, then MH makes more sense.
The Dickinson fraternities/sororities I think is a non-issue, they are minor and some are just service oriented. As far as doctorates after graduation, I don’t think that is a reliable predictor of intellectualism on a campus. My husband has a PhD, I have an MA, he’s no more of an intellectual than I am 
and I earn more
Carlisle is not particulary exciting, but it is an actual real town and the campus is in the town. It’s one of the reasons my daughter loved it. She didn’t want to be inside a secluded bubble (college is enough of a bubble already) but wanted a SLAC where she can walk to get a bite to eat or cup of coffee. Mostly though, wanted a non-competitive yet challenging and academically minded environment. She’s currently at a super hyper-competitive high school and while she earned excellent grades she feels she wants nothing to do with that particular mindset for college.
I think you should choose the school you feel deep down you will be most successful at. Successful both academically and socially. Both are excellent choices to have.
Good Luck!!!
My oldest daughter is a current Dickinson student and my other daughter will also be attending, but has deferred her admission as she recently won the CBYX scholarship to study in Germany as a Gap year student. I have visited the campus quite a few times and I love that the school is within the town. This makes it easy for a student to walk to the creperie, the local taqueria, a nice independent bookstore, etc… Some liberal arts schools we visited were located up in a hill (Denison and Connecticut College come to mind) and my daughter felt that it would be incovenient to have to wait for a school shuttle to leave campus. I have found Dickinson"s campus to be very pretty, but it is nice to be able to have the option to walk into town with ease.
As far as academics, my daughter has been very pleased. There is enough rigor without feeling overwhelming. The professors have all been very approachable.
During all the school breaks, Dickinson offers shuttles to both the Boston and New York areas. My daughter has a roommate from Maine and she takes the shuttle to Boston and her parents pick her up there. There is also transportation to the train station in Harrisburg where you can catch a train.
The number of international students at Dickinson is around 11% .There is an active international atudent club called WIND (We Introduce Nations to Dickinson) in which my daughter participates. She is a first generation immigrant and loves being around people from different countries. The club hosts multiple fun events throughout the year that are open to anyone who chooses to participate.
I never visited Mt. Holyoke because my daughter was not interested in women’s colleges. I have heard it is a great school. Should you choose Dickinson, though, I believe you would also have a wonderful experience. It is definitely a close knit community.
Carlisle is definitely not more exciting then the Pioneer Valley. Getting to Boston will take a little over one hour from MHC. Dickinson would require a much longer trip to get to Boston. Both schools are safe and have good reputations. I understand the thinking of charting your own course and to that end Dickinson looks exciting. I am also a realist who thinks that in times of transition it doesn’t hurt to have someone you can rely on for good advice to help navigate the situation. It doesn’t mean that you have to go the same way, you could build on the experience of others and perhaps expand your horizons to include classes at Williams or any of the other schools connected to MHO. Whatever you decide I wish you good luck!
It depends on how you define “surrounding area”. If you mean the surrounding area as reachable by foot, then yes, there is more at Dickinson. Dickinson is located in the center of a friendly small town, with a fair number of services within walking distance. At MHC, there is a small shopping center across the street and not much else.
If you mean the surrounding area as reachable by bus, then there is more at MHC. There is very good local bus service which connects MHC to lively college towns nearby, like Amherst and Northampton. You can take classes at UMass, Amherst, Smith or Hampshire if you like (not Williams as per the previous post though, that’s much too far). If you want to visit a major city, then bus service from MHC to Boston is probably faster than a bus from Dickinson to Philadelphia. If you need to get from Carlisle to Boston, it will probably take all day, especially if you don’t have a car.
Dickinson is very internationally focused, so I think you would feel comfortable in that sense. My D will also be attending Dickinson in the fall. The campus is quite pretty and very well-maintained, but having visited many schools with my 3 kids, I wouldn’t say Dickinson’s campus is stunning or anything; it’s nice. D considered MHC, but while she was not concerned about the fact it was all-girls, she was put off by her perception of the prominence of gender politics in campus life and tales of regular protests. She appreciated the calmer, middle America feel of western PA.
I realize that the OP must have already decided, but posted for the sake of others doing research on these schools.
Thank you to everyone who commented! I will be attending Dickinson College this Fall.
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Congratulations and enjoy!
Congratulations on your decision to attend Dickinson!
If you get involved with the international student group (WIND) I am sure you will probably meet both of my daughters next school year. My oldest (incoming Junior) will be studying in Dickinson’s Bologna, Italy and Yaoundé, Cameroon programs for the entire year and my youngest has deferred her admission in order to participate in the CBYX scholarship to Germany.
Another club my daughter enjoyed participating in is the Global Gastronomy club. They meet to cook foods from different countries. As a college student who doesn"t like free food, right?
@idiomas Thank you! I will definitely be joining WIND and will look into the Global Gastronomy club. I look forward to meeting them next year!
Congratulations! My daughter and I loved Dickinson. You made a great choice.