<p>It's always tricky to come up with a discussion title for these questions that require some explanation! ;-)</p>
<p>In our quest for a college that meets certain criteria; feeling of community, etc....the women's colleges seem to fit the bill. My D is not specifically looking for a women's college, but is open to it.</p>
<p>The 2 that she has learned the most about at this point are Agnes Scott and Wellesley. They have some similarities, but one of the differences highlights the question we have.</p>
<p>Agnes Scott had a lot going for it, but in looking at their event calendar last year, and in visiting the school, D felt like the majority of the clubs and events, and the overall focus of the school was all about 'woman power', and lesbian support. Even sitting in on a class, she said the discussion turned to negativity about men, and empowering women. She said the topic of the day may have just led to that, but it seemed to go along with the calendar filled with women's issues, and not much else. </p>
<p>It's the ' and not much else' that was the problem for her. </p>
<p>At Wellesley, in contrast, their calendar and the info in their mailings are full of a wide variety of events that D is very excited about; clubs that one would hope to find at any great LAC, and not primarily female focused.<br>
It's not that she doesn't want the school to support the women's issues! She just doesn't want that to feel like the main focus of the school. I hope that makes sense.</p>
<p>Right now, during the summer, we can't really review the activities calendars for the other women's colleges. Having realized that the women's colleges do fit what she is looking for in many ways, we'd like to know more about them. </p>
<p>Which women's college are most likely to offer a wide variety of events and activities on campus?</p>
<p>I think any of the five remaining Seven Sisters will have what you’re looking for, and probably most other women’s colleges as well.</p>
<p>For example, if you look at the list of events at Smith (<a href=“Smith College Student Events - Calendar”>http://25livepub.collegenet.com/calendars/scstudentevents</a>) and go to September and beyond, you’ll see the type of events you’d see at any LAC. If you look at the list of Smith clubs and organizations (<a href=“- Smith Social Network”>https://smith.collegiatelink.net/Organizations</a>) you’ll see a wide variety of groups. I don’t think you’ll find a higher proportion focusing on women-specific or gender issues than you’d find at any college. Some of the groups will have a strong interest in women’s contributions and achievements, but that’s to be expected at a women’s college. For example, the annual sci-fi/fantasy/anime/gaming convention (ConBust) put on by students celebrates the work of women in science fiction and fantasy. But the great majority of activities are going to be gender-neutral (other than the fact that the participants are women).</p>
<p>I would guess that Simmons College in Boston would not be a feminist-focused as some. Different women’s college definitely do have different cultures in that regard. Some, though, are a big mix on campus, so you can find a continuum. (How’s that for some generalizing?)</p>
<p>Thank you for asking, I “get” your question. My daughter just started her junior year in HS and I think she’d find women’s colleges a good fit for many reasons…but our first tour, at Scripps, put her off a bit. The tour and the course catalog emphasized “becoming an activist” so strongly that this kid, who has been an outspoken advocate for marriage equality, Consent issues, and body acceptance…is now looking at me like I’m nuts for suggesting women’s colleges at all. Would like to hear more about schools that offer an accepting and inclusive community WITH BALANCE of a more typical LAC experience. </p>
<p>I think this is one area where second-hand information isn’t enough–I’d tell your daughter to visit the women’s colleges that interest her and spend time talking to students as well as doing the typical visit activities. They are not all the same.</p>
<p>I agree with Bromfield2. They are definitely not all the same. We visited 5 east coast Seven Sisters and they were all distinctly different: as different from each other in some cases than a mixed bag of ce-ed schools. The things they all shared: more of a sense of the student being invested in being there, a higher degree seriousness about academics, a sense of community. Otherwise, very different vibes. </p>
<p>Also with Bromfield. Even small schools have different groups of kids with different perspectives. Flavor can also come from where the school is located. And, eg, Smith and Holyoke are part of a larger consortium, which expands academic and social opportunities. </p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is also part of a consortium with Haverford and Swarthmore. Plus, if one can’t find the course she wants in the Tri-co–there’s the option of going to UPenn.</p>
<p>My daughter is at Wellesley and loves it. She also got into Scripps, Bryn Mawr, and Mount Holyoke, but turned them down because she felt that W was more of a classic liberal arts school. </p>
<p>D just started at Bryn Mawr. Initially, she was looking for a small co-ed liberal arts school, but as we began our visits, we included several of the Seven Sisters. It really is true that by visiting a college you come away with a perception that you can use to assess your likeliness to succeed and fit in. D chose a women’s college because she wanted to be herself and not worry about the dating distractions and overt competitiveness that comes with testosterone-laden dormmates/classmates. Plus, she can easily add men to the mix with classes or parties at Haverford which is 1 mile or a charter bus (every 20 mins) away. D cares about women’s rights, the environment and other social issues, but does not necessarily want them to be in-your-face at school. She felt like the climate at BMC was more of “be yourself and that’s cool” versus, “be yourself and let’s champion a cause”. </p>
<p>Hello! I am applying to Simmons this year and understand where your daughter is coming from when it comes to ‘women’s issues’. As a girl who is cautious about the same things as your daughter, Simmons seems to be a perfect fit. It is in the heart of Boston and is surrounds by coed colleges! It also very career focused and has a graduate program for men. I’d check it out! :)</p>
<p>W’s convocation was last week, and Pres Bottomly made the (appropriate) comments about W being a women’s college and supporting women’s education and so forth. Well, never fail with Wellesley, there’s always the uber-politically correct humorless ones who chastised the president because “we’re not all women here at Wellesley” (because of the presence of a few transgender students). Now, I don’t have a problem with transgender students, and if someone genuinely needs to transition female-to-male, it’s not as though I think they should be kicked off campus or anything, but you know something? It’s a women’s college. It’s entirely appropriate to refer to the students as women (or, heaven forbid, girls) and to talk about the place as having a mission to support the growth and development and leadership potential of women. W would be just about perfect if some people would just take a breath and chill from their perennial “offended” stance!</p>
<p>A good rule of thumb with women’s colleges is, the more prestigious and well-endowed the college, the more appeal it will have for the broad population of college applicants. You see this clearly with Smith vs Wellesley. Wellesley is more well-ranked, and you get more of the typical high-achieving, competitive, ambitious students there; Smith holds great appeal for highly desirable applicants as well, but since it’s not so well ranked and in the boonies, you get a much more vocal social justice minority operating on campus.</p>
<p>But fortunately, the new president seems undaunted by it.</p>
<p>Although I don’t know anyone who attends Wellesley, we used to live relatively close and went there often for museum exhibits, the greenhouse (nice place to visit during the winter for a small dose of the tropics), to swim in the lake when it was still allowed a few years back, and just to walk around as it’s a beautiful, green campus.</p>
<p>The atmosphere was that of a ‘normal’ college campus which just happened to be almost all women - a little quieter and less litter, but comparable. We visited Smith a few times for similar reasons and it did seem more self-consciously feminist, although we should remember I’m talking about small data points for both schools.</p>
<p>Interestingly, my DD, who is very practical and not at all into ‘causes’, surprised us by saying she’s considering both Wellesley and Smith for college because of the educational quality and small class sizes, even though she won’t apply to several other excellent LAC’s because they’re ‘too small’. (I can’t figure it out and I’m not even going to try; she has many male friends so it’s not as if she doesn’t like guys). She’s very interested in Scripps also - the nice weather is certainly an attraction - but I hope it’s not always as ‘activist’ as described above, </p>
<p>@vienneselights - You’re grasping at straws there with your comparison. They’re both top-20 schools and Smith has a slightly higher overall endowment than Wellesley (Smith has the 5th highest endowment of any liberal arts college). They’re simply different schools with different characters. Students have a broad range of interests at Smith and social justice is one of many (and the high achieving students as likely to be involved in social justice issues as in other activities). </p>
<p>Smith is also not a humorless place, as the students have a strong streak of irreverence. This can be seen in the homemade costumes they wear to convocation at the beginning of the year, the crazy hats they wear on Rally Day, and student groups like Crapapella (an a capella group for students who can’t sing but still want to perform; you can find them on YouTube).</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree - that comparison is kind of silly. Smith and Wellesley are both very highly-ranked women’s colleges. Other examples are Mount Holyoke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, and Scripps; they’re all in the top among LACs in general, but they range as far as emphasis on women’s studies and women’s empowerment (Barnard is probably more towards the Smith end, with Scripps more towards the Wellesley end, and Bryn Mawr and MHC somewhere in between).</p>
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<p>Why would this be baffling? Many young women at women’s colleges have many male friends and ‘like guys’. It’s a college, not a convent. I’m not trying to be funny, but I get the sense from talking to a lot of young women who are interested in women’s college that they think they’re going to be isolated from young men for four years. That’s very unlikely - potentially impossible, depending on where the college is located (all of the top women’s colleges I listed above are either in consortia with co-ed colleges OR they are located in large cities or college towns that are nearby a bunch of other co-ed universities).</p>
<p>I third the advice to visit, because some schools with an in-your-face reputation aren’t necessarily the way people perceive them. I went to a women’s college that has a reputation in its city for 1) being in-your-face about feminist issues and 2) having a stuck-up student body. I found that neither is true, and I’m not really sure where the perception comes from - except for the the fact that large groups of women who pay attention to women’s issues will often easily acquire the label of being in-your-face/militant, regardless of what they are actually like. Perhaps #2 comes from the fact that the school’s administration does like to build the student body up by telling them they have a great responsibility to give back and be leaders, but this is a school where about 100% of the student body is from at least one disadvantaged group and over 70% are eligible for Pell grants, so…</p>
Hi @shobomom. I know this thread is a little old, but wanted to respond. My D was accepted to Agnes Scott with excellent merit aid, and it is one of her top choices right now. She did not apply to Seven Sisters’ schools, mostly because of lack of merit aid and weather in the Northeast (we live in the Southwest).
My impression of ASC was much different, though based on a brief visit. Overall, I am quite certain women’s colleges in the South are much less activist, politically correct, and “in your face” feminist-type schools. I went to Bryn Mawr, and absolutely loved it. But the current climate there, including issues with race and sexual orientation, seems to me much, much more charged than at ASC. I don’t think the calendar of events really tells the whole story. I was initially very disappointed that D was not applying to the Seven Sisters, but I think there is an element of political tension at those Northeastern women’s colleges that is not nearly as pronounced at ASC.
Also, while most all Seven Sisters’ colleges are quite diverse, ASC seems to be the most diverse of all. This is a school where students do not just talk about diversity, they live it. 40% of students are not white, and a much larger proportion are African American than at Seven Sisters’ schools. Look up the Confederate Flag incident recently at BMC. I just don’t see this happening at ASC.
That said, Wellesley and all the Seven Sisters are so, so wonderful. Be prepared, however, for some very serious political activism, not only on women’s issues, but also with respect to race/ethnic diversity and sexual orientation.
What are your daughter’s top choices now? Can’t believe decision time is coming up so soon! Good luck to your D!
Hi, @4kids4colleges, I am glad you posted. I am sure some who are looking at ASC will be glad to find it! When we toured, I really liked ASC, but D decided pretty quickly it wasn’t for her. The same with Bryn Mawr. Oh my goodness I loved that visit, but she found it "too laid back " lol I think she just likes a certain atmosphere. She did just recently get a Likely letter from Wellesley, the only women’s college she ended up applying to.
She loves so much about it, but I think she is wavering, in favor of places that are a bit closer to home, and offer a broader range of experiences (bigger universities).
I think you will find a group of students with a strong feminist streak at any women’s college, honestly. My D is a Mudder, but she loves spending time at Scripps because of that. And while Smith is a great school, it does have a reputation as pushing this harder and more “in your face” than most other women’s colleges. Not saying Smith doesn’t have many, many other qualities that make it an excellent school, but this is a component of the Smith experience.
What about Sweet Briar? I don’t get the faintest whiff of feminism from their mailings, honestly. And I do think Mt. Holyoke has less of this vibe than Smith.