Please Tell Me About Agnes Scott College

<p>My wife and daughter just visited Agnes Scott College after several college visits and daughter is enamored. I know little about it. What can you tell me about it?</p>

<p>Daughter and I loved Agnes Scott. She was looking at it for their 3/2 engineering program with Georgia Tech. In the end she decided to attend a college with regular engineering program instead of doing a dual degree 3/2 program.
I thought the library was one of the nicest we had seen - cozy, perfect place to study.
The college is near the MARTA line and Decatur has much to offer.
I think there is very little activity on this board because ASC is a small college.
Good luck to your daughter.</p>

<p>Thanks Bonnie!</p>

<p>I have attempted to post but it’s not working. This is a test.</p>

<p>OK, for the third time I am going to try this. My daughter is a second year and loves Agnes. She gave up acceptances as Mt. Holyoke and Wellesley to attend Agnes and has never looked back. The academics are fantastic and even though my daughter came from a difficult college prep boarding school she has found the class work at Agnes to be demanding. My daughter felt that some students were not prepared for the level of academics at ASC and thinks that is why most students leave. The teachers are accessible and the atmosphere in the classroom seems to be one of collaboration not “cut throat”. The self scheduled exams during finals week really helped reduce stress. My daughter has gotten to know several of her profs very well and even babysat and house sat a few times as a first year. There is lots to do out of the classroom and there are many events on campus including big name speakers and concerts. They have movie nights on the green, crafty events, food events, you name it. There is lots of class bonding and Black Cat week in the fall was amazing and fun for my daughter and her friends. Decatur is a great little town with lots of great restaurants and shops. My daughter used Marta to get to the airport and around town if she needed to. I think it is common for people to wonder about boys. My daughter and her friends all have had boyfriends during the course of the year. There is a strong connection with Georgia Tech and the ASC women go to games and parties at GT. My daughter is not really into the party scene but still had a very fun and interesting social life with boys and girls. I can say that I think most of the women at Agnes are not at college to search for a husband. They are interested in getting an education and having lots of life experiences and if guys are involved great but if not it isn’t the end of the world and they still have a wonderful time. I think I can sum up with an experience my daughter had this summer. She came out of her room and said, “I love my school”. I chuckled and asked why. She said she had called the office of the academic dean to set up a time to discuss a double major. Turns out the dean herself answered. She immediately acknowleded my daughter with enthusiam and asked her all about her summer. My daughter felt sure that the woman knew exactly who she was talking to. The dean then proceeded to spend 20 minutes helping my daughter chart a course to achieve her academic dream. She not only discussed course work but options for extra activities in order to streghthen her resume in the area my daughter is interested in. I was amazed and am quite sure most schools do not offer this level of personalized and prompt service! So, as you can see, our family loves Agnes. I would be happy to try to answer any other questions you have and feel free to send a private message if you’d like. Good luck to your daughter and your family. Remember to let your daughter go with her gut when it comes down to the final choice. I think, in a way, I wanted to have my daughter choose Wellesley because people know that school and it is more impressive to say your child goes there. I knew deep down that Agnes was a better fit for my daughter and obviously so did she. Now I can say, it was the right choice and we have not been disappointed.</p>

<p>Clarification…when I said in the above “that is why most students leave” I didn’t mean that literally! Most students stay! The ones that choose to transfer are the ones I was referring to. My daughter feels that most of the students who choose not to return do so for academic reasons. As opposed to say social reasons or that sort of thing. Sorry for the lack of clarity on that!!</p>

<p>I agree with everything “girlsmom” said. My daughter is a first year at Agnes Scott this fall. Although I knew that it would probably be a good fit for her, I am pleasantly surprised at just how wonderful this school is turning out to be. </p>

<p>I noticed a difference right away when, during the honor pledging ceremony, the President of the college told the girls to “look to their right and then to their left…” I thought I knew where this was going - at a competitive, cut-throat school the next sentence would have been " one or both of these ladies will no longer be here next fall " but that was not the case at Agnes Scott. The president went on to say , " I want you to ask yourselves ‘what can I learn from this person?’ " </p>

<p>I thought to myself, “what a refreshing change in attitude”. All the young ladies at Agnes Scott are academically talented. Instead of creating an environment where they end up back stabbing each other to get ahead, Agnes Scott seems to be fostering an environment where they are lifting each other up - up the academic and professional ladder. </p>

<p>Socially, they try very hard to keep the ladies busy the first couple of weeks of school - tons of orientation activities. All first year students have to choose a first year seminar - a 4 credit hour course on a topic they are interested in (for instance “Latin America and the US Boarder”). They meet with their group for this course even before “class” starts (those in dorms are placed on a hall all together based on their first year course) - they have discussions and go on outings together. Also, during orientation, they learn all about the school, register for classes, learn about traditions, choose outings to places like a foot ball game at GA TECH or a visit to the GA Aquarium. There is so much to do I think it keeps the students from getting home-sick. </p>

<p>Classes: My daughter has a full load - the Craft of Writing class (a freshman English that is required of all students) is very demanding ( a heavy work load ). Two of the other classes are quite manageable (not as heavy a work load, but exceedingly thought provoking and very enjoyable for my daughter), the fourth class is an advanced language class - very difficult; so much so that she immediatly sought out study partners and tutoring.</p>

<p>Over all, I think that the work at Agnes Scott is very challanging - but it is not meant to "weed out weak freshmen…excuse me, “first years” as they do at larger universities. The classes and the professors really want the students to - not just get a good grade, but actually learn and grow. I’m confident that my tuition money is well spent there - my daughter WILL have a great education when she finishes. </p>

<p>Some tips: A calander with enough space to put all due assignments is an absolute must in order to do well. Encourage your daughter to carefully go though each syllabus and put every assignment /paper/readings on that calander and review it daily so she doesn’t miss anything. Agnes Scott is big on essays, papers and oral presentations - she should expect a lot of those. </p>

<p>Many of the classes have tutors ASSIGNED to them. I was plesantly surprised by this. The Craft of Writing class has a tutor who comes to all classes so she knows what is going on and when the students have questions or need help, they can go to her for extra help. (professors are also available and encourage visits to their offices) My daughter’s advanced language class did not have an assigned tutor, but there is a language tutoring office with published office hours and she is going on a regular basis there to help her get though this difficult course. ALL FREE. </p>

<p>My daugher also has a job on campus. At first this was a little overwhelming because her workload is heavy, but it is working out very well. If you are not eligable for “work study” sometimes other “jobs” are available - just call the financial aid office and ask to speak with the director (have your daughter call and ask).</p>

<p>A little known secret - Career Planning can arrange for a mentor for the student. This is usually done for older students (who already know their career path and know what they want from a mentor) but if a younger student really wants one early - they might can arrange something . Agnes Scott has a large and supportive alumni network. </p>

<p>If your daughter is planning on majoring in math, science, or a technology they also have the GEMS program - see their website for more details, but these students spend the summer prior to first year at Agnes Scott on campus taking early classes, learning about research and more. </p>

<p>Agnes Scott has special partnerships with other schools and businesses . For instance, the CDC has about 5 -7 internships that are only open to Agnes Scott students. This is huge since CDC interships are very competitive. </p>

<p>I could go on and on. Clearly, I’m very pro Agnes Scott, but this school, which I thought was going to be “really good” has actually turned out to be “fantastic”. </p>

<p>The only type of student that may not like it would be one more interested in dating and partying than school. If they are also fueled by cut-throat competition they might not know what to do with themselves here. From what I can tell - Agnes Scott sisters don’t compete with each other - they compete with themselves to be the best they can be.</p>

<p>Agree with everyone here. I am also a first-year student (however because of my AP credits I was able to exempt the FYS, the English class and some other distributional requirements). I do love the fact that Agnes Scott is not cut throat competitive and the girls are very nice (of course there will be cliques but if you can avoid them, it’s good).</p>

<p>However I am very surprised at the course load. Maybe it’s because of my classes that I choose and I’m starting with my getting my distributional requirements out of the way. Hopefully next semester the load will pick up as I will be taking a few more paper orientated classes, but I’m not complaining. The dorms are large, the food is GREAT, the teachers are awesome and Decatur is a really nice place. Even though Agnes is was not my first choice, I know I’m still going to enjoy the school. :-)</p>