<p>@hellohurricane - women’s colleges are not convents, so yes there are opportunities to interact with guys. Most women’s colleges are part of a college exchange where you can take classes at nearby colleges. So for example Smith students can take classes at Amherst, UMASS, Hampshire College, and Mt Holyoke for free, and the credits are just like Smith crets. And 3 out of 4 of those are co-ed schools. I know at Welleseley you can take courses at MIT. And then there are of course parties, extra-curricular activities involving people from other campuses, visiting singing groups, athletic competitions, etc. </p>
<p>That being said, while there is opportunity, you definitely have to work at it more at a women’s college than at a co-ed school. You really have to prioritize making male friendships. If that’s something that’s a real concern to you for college, and it’s perfectly normal and fine for it to be, definitley make sure you’re looking at co-ed schools too. You have to know your own priorities going in.</p>
<p>woman didn’t saves in co education because as we all know that all the fingers are not equal and if there is a men right so definitely women was wrong and the same case with men to so the better is to study separately and concentrate with studies.</p>
<p>D had Barnard, Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Sarah Lawrence on her horizon. Now I think she would have added Wellesley and Bryn Mawr as well.</p>
<p>She chose Barnard ED.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>Leadership opportunities. Every club head, every job is filled by a woman so she figured she would have a greater chance to fill such a position.</p>
<p>There were other draws specific to Barnard.</p>
<p>She adored her time there and was very well prepared for the law school she is attending. Some kids are struggling, but I don’t anyone struggling is a graduate of any of the above schools.</p>
<p>She has three Barnard sisters in a very small law school class, none of whom she really knew before, and so far two Columbia sisters (yes, not to start a fight, it is one University system.)</p>
<p>There’s a sense of camaraderie there as well.</p>
<p>It was the right choice for her.</p>
<p>However, she did enjoy going to London junior year to relax and pub crawl. Probably shouldn’t say that, but it’s true, and she gave herself a very balanced experience.</p>
<p>One thing I learned at my women’s college is that “supportive” and “accessible” are not always positive attributes. Yes, we do have surprisingly many science majors, but at the expense of academic rigor (compared to other departments in the college as well as co-ed colleges of similar selectivity). High PhD productivity rates? I was proud of that until I realized that many of my classmates went to graduate school because they did not feel that their liberal arts education prepared them for the job market. Interestingly enough, liberal arts majors at neighboring co-ed institutions do not seem to share those concerns, at least not to the same extend.</p>
<p>I often find myself wondering if I had received a better education at a co-ed college.</p>
<p>@SmithieandProud: Thank you for the lovely reply! Forming friendship or just generally having non-academic interactions with the opposite sex is actually a very real priority for me! Sounds kind of weird, I know, but that’s just because you haven’t seen my sorry excuse for a social life. I’m definitely applying to coed colleges; I just want to decide whether to apply to women’s colleges. @mythmom: Thank you for the perspective. I love the sense of camaraderie that you have described, and I’ll be sure to take a more in-depth look at Barnard. @b@r!um: That’s exactly what I am worried about! I just feel like I need the competition to give me an extra push. If you don’t mind my asking, which college did you attend?</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> Still on the fence about applying to women’s colleges…</p>
<p>Kenzie is right. If you can, you must visit the colleges you are interested in. Getting a feel for the campus will really help guide your decision. FWIW, Mount Holyoke was so beautiful, and their dorms were so cozy (fireplaces, grand pianos, milk and cookies every night), I couldn’t say no!</p>
<p>but you won’t get to hear a male’s side of the discussion. I’m not saying all men think alike or that women don’t think as well as men, but I am saying that you will be missing out on a perspective.</p>
<p>This caters to two flawed assumptions:</p>
<p>1) that there is a “male” perspective (as opposed to a “female” perspective, instead of many different perspectives) and
2) that women at women’s colleges will never get to interact with males during the duration of their time at their college.</p>
<p>Women’s colleges don’t exist in vacuums. They are part of the “real world” and that world includes men. Most women’s colleges have cross-registration agreements with men’s or co-ed colleges and so women who attend those colleges take classes with men when they choose to and also participate in social events at those colleges. I went to Spelman College and we shared a campus (more or less) with Morehouse College (a men’s college) and Clark Atlanta University (a co-ed university). There were lots of men and trust me, we never lacked the “male” perspective if there was one.</p>
<p>There’s also evidence that women speak up less at co-ed colleges, so technically people at co-ed colleges may be missing out on many women’s perspectives.</p>
<p>Also, women’s college students read newspapers and watch the news. There are men on television.</p>
<p>If I had to do it all over I would certainly attend a women’s college again (maybe a different one for variety!) At a women’s college, there are female role models at all levels - the president is usually a female, the provost, administrators, many professors, and student leaders on campus. You learn self-efficacy and motivation by watching these female leaders. “If she got there,” you may reason, “so can I!” That kind of efficacy doesn’t necessarily come as easily on a co-ed campus where, let’s face it, the majority of those positions are dominated by men. (There have only been three female Ivy League presidents.) It was the role modeling by my female faculty that inspired me to go on and get a PhD and to aim high for positions.</p>
<p>This will also sound corny but I feel like women’s colleges (or at least my women’s college) taught me intrinsic motivation. Although I still look to role models being at Spelman taught me to look inside myself for strength and reinforcement. This is immensely helpful in graduate school, where no one is standing around to praise you like in high school.</p>
<p>kenzie1992: I will not have the opportunity to visit, since I live in China (transnational flights are expensive!), so I can only rely on the web for information. I would love to visit, but it’s just not possible under the circumstances…</p>
<p>The desire for a gendered perspective is the same as the desire for a multicultural perspective. It’s a flawed assumption to suppose that diversity of perspective cannot be generalized along categorical lines, even though these generalizations will inevitably break down if applied on an individual level (which becomes stereotype).</p>
<p>An entirely different matter, though, from whether women’s colleges do lack a “male” perspective. That would vary greatly on the particular women’s college and proximity/interaction with coed environments, male faculty, etc.</p>
Interesting. I had the opposite reaction to a predominantly female faculty and administration. Since many departments prefer to hire female applicants whenever possible, the few male professors we do have are really outstanding and make the average female professor look pale in comparison. </p>
<p>That almost deterred me from pursuing a PhD. I was afraid that I will always lag behind my male colleagues and only get a job because of affirmative action.</p>
<p>Historically, compared to similarly ranked co-ed colleges, graduates from women’s colleges were more likely to earn a Ph.D. As a group, women at single sex schools are more focused on academics and are more outspoken in the classroom-even when their classes include male students. Consider why a women would opt for a women’s college and you can predict these things. As you may expect, a small proportion are opting out of the co-ed climate to avoid men, the rest (majority) are looking for: an environment that supports high achievement for women, women focused on achievement as their classmates, an academic atmosphere that focuses on scholarship and not partying, classes with lively discussions to which their female colleagues contribute, and an expectation of academic success for women. I am unaware of a single sex versus co-ed discrepancy in the gender configuration of the faculty or administration, nor a difference in teacher quality of male versus female across the two types of schools. Obviously women who choose women’s colleges are less interested in the party heartily atmosphere that some (not the majority) students embrace.</p>
<p>Many of my favorite professors at Mount Holyoke were male. Women’s colleges are not convents. And the guys pour in on the weekends for parties, and the women attend college parties at co-ed schools, too. I promise that there are plenty of opportunities to interact with men at a women’s college. </p>
<p>Women’s colleges are not for everyone. If you think you might like it, try it for a year and transfer if it isn’t working for you. Or stay and take your junior year at a co-ed school. Or take classes at the other colleges nearby (assuming that your chosen college has a consortium agreement with neighboring schools, which is probably does). There are lots of ways to tailor your college experience to your needs.</p>
<p>@ HelloHurricane, if you’re still on the fence about women’s colleges, I would suggest Scripps College in Claremont. (I don’t know if Scripps has come up earlier- I didn’t read all 4 pages) Essentially, you get the accessibility, support, community and all the perks of a women’s college, but since we’re neighbors with Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer and Claremont McKenna, we have the larger social network (and class options) of a medium-sized University. “Best of both worlds” is something you hear a lot in the Admissions office here.</p>
For starters: all presidents of the remaining single-sex Seven Sister schools are female. The percentage of female math faculty at a few small colleges:</p>
<p>I realize that this is a very limited sample size, but I don’t think that we can dismiss the possibility that the gender distribution of faculty and the administration might look different at women’s colleges.</p>
Sounds kind of weird, I know, but that’s just because you haven’t seen my sorry excuse for a social life. I’m definitely applying to coed colleges; I just want to decide whether to apply to women’s colleges.