The Seven (now five) Sisters -- question

Parents Forum
101

<p>Barnard's history is a little different. The prez of Columbia want Col. to go coed in 1890's but Board nixed it so Barnard came to be. Its mission was always to train women for the professions, and it was a commuter school at first.</p>

<p>So Barnard doesn't have the "first lady" syndrome at all. It turned out doctors, lawyers, judges, writers, etc.</p>

<p>As it has become more residential and the other schools have provided pre-professional training their environments have become more similar.</p>

<p>Because of Columbia and NYC Barnard is NOT an all-female environment. Men are everywhere except in dorms.</p>

<p>I think Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, both Smithies, show the change women's colleges underwent.</p>

<p>Schools have representative figures that I think represent the spirit of the school.</p>

<p>Barnard: Margaret Mead, Zora Neale Hurston in the past; today Twyla Tharp, Cynthia Nixon, Judith Kaye (NYS Chief Justice ) and Jhumpa Lahiri</p>

<p>Smith: Already spoken for.</p>

<p>Wellesley: Hillary</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr: Katharine Hepburn</p>

<p>Vassar: Meryl Streep</p>

<p>Mt. Holyoke: Wendy Wasserstein.</p>

<p>I apologize in advance for the top heavy Barnard list. Just know more about it.</p>

<p>All these schools should be celebrated.</p>

102

<p>Link to an article about Smith and Radcliffe graduates from the 1960s. Midlife</a> educational, career, and family outcomes of women educated at two single-sex colleges | Sex Roles: A Journal of Research | Find Articles at BNET.com</p>

<p>Re post 101: Since Radcliffe was left out, how about these as representative graduates: Helen Keller, Margaret Atwood, Benazir Bhutto, Stockard Channing, Carol Gilligan, Ellen Goodman, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gertrude Stein and Barbara Tuchman.</p>

103

<p>This was from the first page but:
[quote]
they would be expected to memorize the content as well as understand it.

[/quote]
..as of now, I can't tell the difference...?</p>

104

<p>Thanks mathmom. Didn't mean to slight Radcliffe grads. Just left them off because not a seven sister school anymore.</p>

105

<p>radcliffe and sarah lawrence were in "the notebook"</p>

106

<p>
[quote]
Barnard is NOT an all-female environment. Men are everywhere except in dorms.

[/quote]
Well, Barnard is still a strongly female-dominated, feminist atmosphere, and classes at Barnard tend to be mostly women... so even though it is not really an all-female environment, it is not quite a full coed academic environment either. Definitely a unique academic environment that probably cannot be slotted into any other category. </p>

<p>I actually think that a much more significant point of demarcation between Barnard/ all the rest is the urban setting -- and the same would apply to comparing Columbia to the other Ivies. There just is a different atmosphere when a college "campus" consists of a few blocks in the heart of a major metropolitan city as compared to traditional suburban or rural campuses, which often have the "feel" of being a world unto themselves. I think it has a significant impact on everyday college life and the student's experience of college -- probably far more significant than the gender balance inside of classrooms.</p>

107

<p>For Wellesley add Madame Chiang Kai Shek; first female Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; Journalists Diane Sawyier, Cokie Roberts, Linda Wertheimer, and Lynn Sher; writers Judith Martin (aka Miss Manners), Nora Ephron, and various others. On the actress front, there's Ali McGraw, if you want to call her an actress. Certainly Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn have her beat! :)</p>

108

<p>Narcissa: Sorry, but I don't understand your question.</p>

109

<p>Citrusbelt, I wouldn't say that PhD production rates are to be discounted, but rather that this particular means of ranking is flawed. Look at political science, for example. Tougaloo College - a small LAC which USNews puts in the fourth tier, and whose matriculants average 20 on the ACT (and 20% of whom were not in the top 50% of their high school class) is ranked 7th. Claremont McKenna, an excellent, extremely selective, top 10 LAC which focuses on political science and economics (and is part of the Claremont consortium along with Harvey Mudd) is unranked. If you had an extremely bright kid who was interested in political science, which would you choose? (I wouldn't expect to see CMC ranked in this study, as the focus of the school is not the production of graduates headed for a terminal PhD degree.)</p>

110

<p>To other seven sisters: Yes, great for the updates. Didn't mean to slight anyone.</p>

<p>And Smith has Sylvia Plath, but Mt. Holyoke had Emily Dickinson! (She didn't graduate.)</p>

111

<p>For Vassar add Lisa Kudrow, Mary McCarthy, and Jane Fonda, who did not graduate.</p>

<p>Lucy Burns: American suffragist and women's rights advocate; close friend of Alice Paul. Together, they formed the National Woman's Party.</p>

<p>Mary Ingraham Bunting: According to Wikipedia, she was an influential American college president; Time profiled her as the magazine's November 3, 1961, cover story. She became Radcliffe College's fifth president in 1960 and was responsible for fully integrating women into Harvard University.</p>

112

<p>There's no doubt that all of the Seven Sisters offered an incredible education and those that remain continue to do so today. (Okay, so some lucky young men now benefit from Vassar's education too. ;))</p>

113

<p>I don't know why, it's totally irrational, but I refused to apply to any all-female schools, and even avoided those which used to be all-female if possible. Weird, isn't it?</p>

114

<p>
[quote]
Certainly Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn have her beat!

[/quote]
Meryl Streep Went to Vassar (already mentioned above). Class of 1971. Other Vassar alums include:</p>

<p>Mary McCarthy
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Jay Severin
Lisa Kudrow
Bernadine Healey
and attendees who didn't graduate (besides Jackie Kennedy Onassis) include:
Jane Fonda
Ann Hathaway
Katherine Graham</p>

<p><em>edit</em> oops, didn't see you already mentioned some of these folks, twinmom.</p>

<p>BTW, we knew radio talk show host Jay Severin as Jimmy Severino!</p>

115

<p>
[quote]
Didn't mean to slight Radcliffe grads. Just left them off because not a seven sister school anymore.

[/quote]
If Vassar still gets to be a seven sister, I think the Radcliffe Institute should count. :)</p>

116

<p>Absolutely!</p>

117

<p>^^D has told me that around Harvard campus there are a few old-timers that still refer to female Harvard students as "Cliffies."</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>Lisa Simpson dreams of attending a Seven Sisters school when she goes to college, but last I heard she had not yet made up her mind which one.</p>

118

<p>"it became apparent they considered psychology a science, which really worried me."</p>

<p>This is troubling less for the hard sciences than it is for psychology. When a school with distribution requirements counts psychology as a natural science, everyone with the "ew, science, yucky" mindset signs up for psychology as the perceived soft option. Serious psychology devotees are outnumbered by kids who don't care about psychology AND hate math. This doesn't make for a good experience.</p>

119

<p>Smith has no distribution requirements, and hasn't since 1970.</p>

120

<p>mathmom: Only by way of explanation, not condemnation. Of course they should count! She excusing my slip.</p>