<p>Actually, we are only determined that all of our children attend colleges where they are comfortable.
In our daughter’s own words, “I am tired of censoring myself and making my beliefs more moderate for the sake of peace.” Those are her words. </p>
<p>Barnard, Brandeis and Wesleyan are reaches with Wesleyan the toughest. Skidmore is a lower reach.<br>
Muhlenberg is a match because of scores and the fact that she is both Lutheran and Asian. New paltz is a safety. So is Goucher. American prob a high match. I think it is a fair list taking into acct scores and grades. </p>
<p>Additionally, as a future political science major, she is more politically conscious than the average student. Her first two years of high school were spent at a Roman Catholic HS, and the constant derision of the President, coupled with a rabidly “pro-life” student body, have made her long for a college where she can meet others who share her deep convictions. </p>
<p>I have asked about Trinity College. It had a reputation of being a bastion of conservative prep school grads. Does anyone have any more current information? </p>
<p>Once again, we have spoken to her about MHC. She looked into it, and it isn’t for her. She likes the location, and has said that she will visit. That is the only women’s college that she will look at, and we respect her choice.</p>
<p>I am not a huge fan of single sex education and my wife is neutral about it. </p>
<p>Between Hampshire and Hillsdale are a whole spectrum of social and politically nuanced colleges and universities. She is looking for a college where students lean to the left. </p>
<p>As with most students in this century, she prefers a co-educational college.</p>
<p>@uskoolfish, the only problem is that you made up that list (not the OP or his daughter). None of it may matter… </p>
<p>OP, I’d suggest you take your own bias out of the single sex education issue, especially since your D has agreed to visit. MHC and the other women’s colleges aren’t nunneries… and women’s college have changed a lot in the last 30 years, I think. The women at MHC are bright, academics are more serious at many co-ed colleges, partying is lighter, and those women are going places. They have very strong job placement, grad school placement, and alumni networks in the working world. MHC funds summer internships for ALL majors, which you won’t find at many other colleges. Just keep your own mind open – sounds like your daughter has opened hers a bit by agreeing to visit, don’t let your bias get in the way of allowing her to make up her own mind. MHC may be the best academic school your daughter can get admitted to – assuming that is why she is going to college, at least don’t submarine it before she even visits.</p>
<p>It isn’t my bias. Can you please STOP? She does not want it. I will NOT push my daughter to attend any college. I feel sorry for people who do that to their children.</p>
<p>She will look at it. If she doesn’t like the vibe, we will leave. </p>
<p>Our minds are open. Are yours? I am feeling a strong bias on CC FOR “well known colleges”.
I think that our daughter’s reasons for not preferring a women’s college are valid, ad shared by the majority of women today. Still, she will visit MHC. </p>
<p>Hi OP. I have two boys so can’t comment on women’s colleges but just want to mention we toured Hampshire as an afterthought. My older son was pretty adamant that he wanted a large school in a city. We parked next to a cornfield and saw where the admissions session was held - in a red barn. And I’m thinking “he’s going to hate this!” So yo u never know. He’s really loved Hampshire. It’s truly been perfect for him. We tried to expose him to all sorts all schools which in the end worked out. If you do have questions about Hampshire I’d be glad to help. </p>
<p>@intparent </p>
<p>I offered up the list as a suggestion. You commented that I did not consider test scores, and I did. That’s the only reason I posted again with how I saw the schools I suggested in terms of likelihood of getting accepted.</p>
<p>@LuxLake,</p>
<p>My D’s felt strongly about going to a co-ed school. The only exception for older D was Barnard because it is a part of Columbia.</p>
<p>I think your list is fine…because there are some attainable schools with the 26 or 27 ACT score. Many of those schools are reachy, but because of the desired safeties, that isn’t a huge issue.</p>
<p>My DD refused to look at all women’s schools as well. Every kid has their own criteria for choosing college, and there is no such thing as a silly reason. They have to live there for four years. </p>
<p>I may have read Clark U’s 30% of students living in non-campus housing as “commuter” and could totally be wrong about that. </p>
<p>Thank you Thumper. We won’t force her to attend or apply to any school that she does not want to attend. We’d rather that she attended a college such as Earlham or Wooster - which are entirely within her reach, but are not as well known outside of academic circles, than “famous” colleges - such as what’s left of the former “seven sisters” because she has rather adamantly expressed the prosaic desire to attend a co-ed school. Earlham and Wooster would be compromises on her part - not in New England, and not close to places where most of her friends attend - NE and eastern upstate NY. </p>
<p>As far as the ACT score, I am not a typical CC parent, so her scores are not engraved in my mind. It’s a 27.
Whatever. One point. Not sure if I see any percentage in making up a score when I am trying to obtain advice.</p>
<p>We’d like to trim down the “reach” schools, and add some matches.</p>
<p>Please do not add women’s colleges. We have been over that.</p>
<p>What about Beloit? If anyone as been there that would be helpful. </p>
<p>My wife is a Clark Grad. She estimates that about 1/4 of the upperclassmen decided to move off campus back a generation ago. These are not “commuter students”. They are not local. Nor are they non traditional. They are juniors and seniors who are tired of living on campus. Nothing unusual about that.</p>
<p>South Main is OK according to my wife, when it is North of Main St. towards the campus.</p>
<p>Most returning students are funneled into COPACE - the night school. It is for continuing and returning students. DW remembers literally one student who was a resident of Worcester. </p>
<p>We know some Beloit grads, and they loved it. It’s not huge, but has a nice comfortable feel to it.</p>
<p>Would she consider Wittenberg? Or Hiram? Or Denison?</p>
<p>Have you looked into Skidmore?</p>
<p>Several of my favorite people in the whole world went to Beloit. They are super smart, and successful. Of the younger generation I know there–it attracts a lot of very bright, quirky and impassioned kids. It’s in a good location almost equidistant between Madison and Chicago (about an hour and a half to each).</p>
<p>I think Clark would be a good fit and she’s got a good chance of getting in.</p>
<p>You said she’s going to look at one women’s college, but between Smith and Mt Holyoke - this girl has Smith written all over her. </p>
<p>I think that Smith is more competitive than MHC and would be a reach anyway. Since she is not very interested in women’s colleges to begin with, and has only agreed to visit one, or two, I’m not sure why I should add Smith into a list that we are already trying to pare down. </p>
<p>I am stunned by the insistence of so many people on this forum that our daughter look into women’s colleges when she has adamantly expressed her reasons for preferring a co-educational college. </p>
<p>She wants New England, but will take Ohio or other Midwestern colleges as a compromise if she is not accepted to a NE college. She is also focusing on colleges that take a holistic admissions approach.</p>
<p>Why push something that she clearly does not want?</p>
<p>We think Wooster, Earlham, Bennington, Muhlenberg, Wittenburg and a few others are not reach schools. </p>
<p>She is also open to somewhat less liberal schools such as Ohio Wesleyan, and Trinity. </p>
<p>Clark and Beloit do not seem to extreme reaches, either.</p>
<p>The college feature that she is MOST turned off to, is the prospect of a women’s college. </p>
<p>We may be the only posters on CC who also want her to enjoy a social life. We are less concerned with impressing grandparents with famous colleges, than we are with finding a college where she will learn and flourish.</p>
<p>Smith College was visited by my wife’s sister. Our niece and her daughter are not homophobic in the least. In fact, they live in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. They felt that Smith was heavily Gay. So, yes, they are liberal, but our daughter is interested in men.</p>
<p>We will look at the colleges in the Pioneer Valley, but we don’t think that she will be interested. </p>
<p>The stats for Smith seem similar to many other New England reach schools that many of you have discouraged us from. </p>
<p>So CC members - what is up with the push for our daughter to attend a women’s college?</p>
<p>Relax. It’s a public message board. You can say thank you and quietly disregard any suggestions that don’t work for you. No need to admonish people who don’t follow your directions. Take the suggestions that interest you and ignore the rest. </p>
<p>IDK, why do you rant about the women’s college suggestions and yet ignore the other suggestions that have been given to you? I’d take brantly’s advice and say thanks to anyone who takes the time to share a suggestion and do with that suggestion what you will. </p>
<p>You’ve state that the most important thing to your daughter is leadership and politics. That’s why Smith is being mentioned because, for 100% sure, the head of the student body is a woman. At most co-ed schools, the leadership positions are often men, and while I don’t have the statistics to support it at hand, I’d bet most leadership positions in student government are still held by men. At Smith, the students are in charge and the students are women. It couldn’t be more different than the catholic high school your daughter applied to if it tried. </p>
<p>I agree with your daughter that she shouldn’t go if she doesn’t like it and you should not try to change her mind or expose her to another way of thinking because being a liberal in search of leadership positions, we wouldn’t want her to be open to other options or ideas. Liberals don’t like to consider the other side. People here are just pointing out she’s missing an opportunity but if she’s okay with that, she should stick to her guns and never consider a woman’s college.</p>
<p>Alabama is suggested here on a daily basis. It would not be the right school for my Chinese (rather conservative) daughter for many reasons, even though academically it probably would have been a good fit. The big Pro-bama parents always point out that there is very little racial discrimination at Bama. To them, that’s true but to my Chinese child, it’s not if she feels excluded. She wanted to join a sorority and her chances at Bama would be less than 5% (if she were black, less than 1%) of getting into a national sorority, even the one she’s a legacy to. That may seem a petty reason not to go to a school that would have offered her a good education at a low price, but it wasn’t worth it to her, or me, to make it work if she was going to have to fight for every last thing she wanted at a school. She had other options and she found a school where race really isn’t an issue. And they gave her a better deal than Alabama. And she got into the sorority she wanted.</p>
<p>Goucher was suggested (a former women’s college so women still have a greater role in governance). The Wash DC schools were suggested. I think your daughter will be able to express her liberal views at any college, but is she looking for a whole bunch of people to agree with her or is she looking for a challenging environment where she’ll have to fight for her positions, to think through her initial, perhaps childish, views of world peace and abortion? Georgetown is Catholic, but it’s not going to be the same as her high school. I’d say most people would label it ‘liberal’ but you aren’t going to find an abortion clinic on campus.</p>