Smith vs. MHC vs. BMC vs. Wellesley vs. Barnard <1 Paragraph

College Search & Selection
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<p>Have you even looked at the Smith statistics?? MHC is 47 percent white and has 24 percent foreign students. Smith is 46 percent white and while it does have fewer foreign students, there are far more Pell Grant students…think economic diversity. Wellesley is only 41 percent white and has only 8 percent fewer foreign students than MHC. In real numbers, that is not significant.</p>

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<p>What the heck is in the coolaid you’ve been drinking? To my knowledge, you haven’t set foot on the Smith or Wellesley campuses. How would you know how friendly or brainy the students are, much less how many students would have preferred one of the top co-ed colleges or Ivies had they been admitted? Talking to your niece doesn’t count. ;)</p>

<p>I on the other hand now live in Northampton and am constantly interacting with Smith and MHC students and alumnae. I’ve also been around MHC and Smith alumnae from birth. :slight_smile: I believe I’m a far better judge of the friendliness and intelligence of the students than someone who lives on the west coast and who has visited MHC ‘once’ and never Smith. You do realize that many women attend(ed) MHC because they were denied admission at Smith? I know number of them, including my neighbor. Smith’s rejection worked out wonderfully for her though. She graduated at the top of her class and is now living with her college boyfriend who is not surprisingly an Amherst College alum. There are also women who are attending or attended Smith because they were denied admission at Wellesley and Barnard or preferred MHC but the financial aid wasn’t sufficient.</p>

<p>Additionally, a significant number of students chose Smith over a co-ed college because of the financial aid and/or location, including my wife. Smith offered her significantly more financial aid than did Cornell, Tufts, etc. I’ve had many students inform me they chose Smith because it was the ‘best college they were accepted’ Think USNWR.</p>

<p>My daughter turned down Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Hamilton, et al. because while she initially wanted a co-ed college, in the end, she decided she didn’t want to go to college “in the middle of nowhere” Had she been accepted to Dartmouth, we would not be having this conversation. Her roommate turned down Brown because she believed she would be better served at LAC. She initially was going to attend Amherst College but her overnight was a disaster. Another friend chose Smith over Amherst College because she was awarded a STRIDE. Another friend’s daughter turned down Williams because Smith and the consortium offered many more courses in her major…and on and on…</p>

<p>If your daughter decides to attend MHC, it would behoove you to tone down the rhetoric and to stop believing the false propaganda. It is of no benefit to anyone.</p>

<p>Having said that, the daughter the past president Smith college, Carol Christ, attended MHC while Carol was Smith’s pres. That you can brag about. :)</p>

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<p>Oh.</p>

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<p>It would behoove her? Or what? </p>

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<p>I said it would behoove you. You’re the one posting unsubstantiated nonsense. </p>

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<p>Is your question whether BMC students are stressed? From what I could tell, my D was stressed at times, other times not so much. BMC is a very nurturing environment and there’s a great deal of contact between students and faculty. Students can get as much or as little academic support as they want. I can’t compare it to Smith or MHC because my D didn’t visit. My D grew up in a small town in MA (not a suburb) and was not interested in staying in MA. The only women’s colleges we toured were BMC and Barnard. With respect to friendliness, my D had no problem making friends at BMC, but it’s hard for me to say whether it’s because students were friendly or because my D is very outgoing and makes friends easily. Overall, my D had a great experience at BMC–she was challenged academically and took full advantage of the Bi-co/Tri-co Consortium as well as being close to Philadelphia. The alumni network at BMC is very strong and my D has had a number of doors opened for her (professionally) because of her connection to BMC. </p>

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<p>Who cares that the past president of Smith went to MHC? In our experience that is fairly common. The president of Marlboro went to Bennington. BFD. Our daughter wants to go to a school where she could interface men. In the five college consortium, she will have her pick of men. She is not gay. And last time I checked there is nothing wrong with that. Many colleges are good for some people, and some for others. I am all about the fit.</p>

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<p>Read more slowly. :slight_smile: I said Carol’s daughter attend MHC</p>

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<p>Wow! That says a lot. I wish we had visited MHC. My daughter and I toured about 12 colleges last year, and I found Smith to be my favorite campus. I really like Northampton and how the campus is interwoven with the town. I also loved their residential setup and the modern and historical mix of academic buildings.</p>

<p>FWIW, we did see lots of guys walking around with books and back packs; presumably, students of the Five Colleges. The eight or so Smith students we spent time with were ethnically diverse, smart, engaging, funny and dare-I-say seemingly heteronormative. From what I had read on CC prior to the visit I was expecting to see women making out all over the college green. That, of course, was not the case.</p>

<p>We toured Sylvia Plath’s former residential house, and the girls did laugh when I asked if the stove had since been switched from gas to electric. So, i guess they do have some sense of humor.</p>

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<p>Oh, so it is the daughter of the president of Smith College who attended MHC. That’s nice, but who cares. Some people like Smith and others like MHC. They are both part of the five college consortium and are both excellent schools.</p>

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The admission officers and administration thought it was impressive. ;)</p>

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<p>@LuxLake, if you just stuck with this: “Some people like Smith and others like MHC. They are both part of the five college consortium and are both excellent schools.” there would be less friction related to your posts. I appreciate your observations of your tour of MHC but find your negative comments about your niece and other schools off putting.</p>

<p>Really, these are all excellent schools and our daughters are fortunate to have these opportunities. I hope they all have good choices in the spring and wind up where they belong.</p>

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<p>Look I didn’t write the “War and Peace” of CC posts. Of course Smith is a good school. It is not for most women though. Neither is Wellesley. </p>

<p>MHC appeals to young women who ordinarily would not think of a women’s college.</p>

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<p>LuxLake, do not be deterred by what others say–you are entitled to your opinion, and the opinions of others are just that–opinions. No one deserves to be put down.</p>

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<p>I agree. Thank you, MADad. </p>

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<p>(Responding to post 51, “MHC appeals to young women who ordinarily would not think of a women’s college.”)</p>

<p>That’s a non sequitur. </p>

<p>I’m sure that MHC appeals to many… but it is physically more isolated than the other women’s campuses, meaning that it’s it little bit harder and more inconvenient to get off campus-- and also a little bit harder and more inconvenient for male students from other schools to get onto the campus. (As far as I know, they all have cross-registration agreements with other schools that allow males to attend classes). </p>

<p>So what’s special about that campus for the student who isn’t thinking of a women’s college? Is the argument that somehow a less LBGT-aware environment somehow makes the campus a more acceptable environment for heterosexual women? (It seems that a lot of the posts are focused on how in-your-face the LBGT community seems to be). </p>

<p>I’m pretty sure that the least feminine-dominated of the women’s colleges is Barnard, because of the urban location and tight partnership with Columbia. For example, an article this week in the NY Times about Wellesley (but focusing heavily on Smith & MHC as well)-- <a href=“When Women Become Men at Wellesley - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/magazine/when-women-become-men-at-wellesley-college.html&lt;/a&gt; – repeatedly references the idea that women will occupy leadership roles in student organizations as one of of the advantages of the women-only environment. But with very few exceptions, Barnard student activities are shared with Columbia… so that “girls run everything” thing just isn’t part of the Barnard experience. </p>

<p>I’d also assume that MHC is an excellent college for many, but I think it’s dishonest to argue that it is because of some sort of broad scale cultural difference that makes it qualitatively different from the others. There may be differences in academic expectations at the various colleges (I don’t really know), but I think it’s both shallow and wrong to entertain broad stereotypes about the students who attend. They all draw a diverse group of women with varied interests and personalities – some of whom are there because they are attracted to the idea of a women’s college, and some of who consider that to be a drawback they are willing to live with because of the other qualities of the college that are attractive to them. </p>

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<p>It’s not a non sequitur. It was my observation when visiting, and the fact was discussed, among students, prospective students and parents. We did not encounter one student who had applied only to women’s colleges, although I am sure that there are some.</p>

<p>The opportunities, both academic and social, offered by the Five College Consortium, are appealing to many applicants, my D included. On regular days a bus leaves every 20 minutes. </p>

<p>As to MHC’s campus and seclusion, we did not see it that way at all. The campus is hardly rural, and buildings are located on both sides of the street… Our student tour guide informed us that several establishments across the street take MHC card swipes. </p>

<p>The most secluded of the five colleges geographically is Smith. It’s also the one that for reasons already discussed, does not interest my D. </p>

<p>Our D wants to go to college outside of NYC. We are former residents of NYC and it’s suburbs, so the novelty of living in NY is lost to her. </p>

<p>The real non sequitur here is the link to the NYTimes article about trasgendered students. ?</p>

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<p>@LuxLake‌ #20
Consider Wesleyan. Liberal arts, well known for its writing programs, small student body, co-ed, 30 minutes from Hartford, CT. If you are in the New England area, they have an Open House in the very near future.
If you only interested in women’s colleges, you may want to consider your geographic reach to include the south and west parts of the country.</p>

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<p>I think Wesleyan would be a perfect fit for my daughter. He first 2 years of HS were weak. She has a rather remarkable upward trend and she is taking challenging courses. But, I am fairly sure that she wouldn’t have a shot at Wesleyan.
Too bad because it is her type of place. </p>

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<p>As to geography, we already have a son at Marlboro in Vermont. We are hoping that they will be in the same general direction. She fell in love with New England when we took him to college. Actually, we all did.</p>

<p>She is applying to Earlham, though. We live in eastern Ohio.</p>

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<p>Eckerd in FL is also on The List. She will visit after the holidays. </p>