i’ve applied to a bunch of schools and gotten into several, but because of finances, my choices are basically down to mount holyoke college or university of maryland. i have a full ride at umd and full tuition at mhc, so i would need to pay around 13.5k/year. my parents have about 60,000 in a savings account for my college, so we could cover either, but my parents would let me use the money for grad school if i go to umd.
i am not sure what i want to study, but probably something in stem - environmental science, comp sci, maybe physics. i know umd has more options and research, but i really like the idea of studying science in an all-women’s environment. i honestly think i would be more likely to stick with stem at mhc. in terms of non-academics, i am not into partying but interested in club sports and community service. would i be missing out on important opportunities at mhc? and would it be worth saving the 54k by attending umd?
I would go to Mt. Holyoke. If you do well, you should get fellowships to cover grad school. The chance to get that kind of educational experience for only 13.5K per year is an amazing opportunity.
I also think that an all female environment increases your chances of staying in STEM. And if you want the occasional co-ed class, you have the 5 colleges to draw from.
I don’t know about club sports at either place.
FWIW, I looked at UMCP for my own daughter and some of the descriptions of how spread out the campus is, the shortage of on-campus housing, and some mention of less-than-responsive administration gave me pause. I was hoping my daughter might give Mt Holyoke a serious look, but she prefers a co-ed environment.
I think you could have a really special educational experience at MHC. You will also get to know your professors well and that will be a benefit when you need recommendations for grad programs.
You should definitely go to University of Maryland, if you want to study STEM you should get used to having male dominated environments because that is just how most STEM jobs will be. It will prepare you better if you do want to pursue a career in STEM fields, also you will get to know if such an environment is something you like.
Another plus point would be that most STEM fields other than maybe mechanical engineering and computer science are filled with people who do go on to get masters degrees and not having a masters would be a clear disadvantage when looking for jobs.
@OHMomof2 Reading the post, OP says her parents have 60,000 in savings if she spends 54k for Mt Holyoke, it seems from the post that her parents want her education from those savings. If she goes to UMD she still has 60k instead of 6k for grad school.
There is a fairly persuasive essay by Malcolm Gladwell that discusses why students (both male and female) drop out of STEM and where the sources of discouragement are. Part of his argument addresses where you are in your cohort academically - the bigger fish in the smaller pond is likely to do better. And part of it has to do with young women dropping out of STEM because they get displaced by guys, no matter what the rhetoric is about encouraging women to pursue STEM fields. The big challenge is not women coping in a male-dominated workplace, it’s getting women trained for that workplace in the first place. The American Association of University Women has been working on retaining female interest in STEM fields and sponsor all girls’ STEM summer camps for middle schoolers because that’s when the weeding out starts.
I genuinely believe that the OP’s ambitions will be better served at Mt. Holyoke, partly because it is all female and partly because it is a smaller environment where her superb academic record will be noticed and where she will get more personalized mentoring.
I do see that point @mamaedefamilia but, if she does cope with the competition at UMD she will be a much stronger candidate for STEM jobs. That is just my 2 cents, it is ultimately up to what OP values more, the environment or the opportunities.
I have to disagree with this statement in general. It may or may not be true for the individual OP or any other individual, but in general, I don’t think that going to a co-ed university prepares students better simply because they have to get “used to it.” For some young women, growing and being educated in an environment where they don’t feel stereotype threat in STEM fields due to their gender helps them thrive; they’re surrounded by diverse scientists (their professors - professors at women’s colleges are statistically more diverse than at co-ed colleges and universities) and other female students in their field. I mean, young women can certainly grow and thrive in a co-ed large university as well! It really just depends on the person and their preferences.
Also, coping with an environment doesn’t make a person a better/stronger candidate. She could get lots of great opportunities in the field from Mount Holyoke, and she could also get them from University of Maryland.
However, I will say that UMD is well known for it’s CS department, and having $60K left over for a MS degree will be great! But it’s good to know about oneself that you might not continue in science if you go to a big university, and the extra money won’t matter if you don’t get the degree you want it for.
@Bored1997 , with all due respect – you’re wrong. Women’s schools have produced a wealth of high-achieving scientists, CEOs, attorneys and even – possibly – the first woman President. In fact,
“Graduates of women’s colleges comprise more than 20% of women in Congress, and represent 30% of a Businessweek list of rising women in corporate America… given that only 2% of American female college graduates attended women’s schools, these percentages are significant .”
Both schools are affordable so IMO it comes down to personal preference. The two schools represent two very fine institutions that will give you very different experiences. One is not better or worse than the other, but they are certainly different. I would try to attend accepted students day at both schools and see if one stands out to you as being a better fit. If after accepted students day they are still even in your mind, I’d go for UMD as the less expensive option.
It looks like you are leaning toward MHC, so go there. It has a solid track record for graduating women in the sciences, and for getting them into good grad schools if that is their longer range goal. None of the state flagships can come close to that kind of record for women in science. Remember, if you are headed to grad school in STEM, you should be able to find a program that is fully funded so spending most of your college fund on MHC is not a bad choice to make.
Since you mention CS and physics as possible majors…
For Mount Holyoke, its native advanced CS offerings are not particularly complete; https://www.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/registrar/bulletin/docs/dept_comsc.pdf does not show any advanced courses in topics like operating systems, networks, security and cryptography. However, cross registration with University of Massachusetts - Amherst may help.
Advanced level physics offerings appear to be the bare minimum expected for a physics major at Mount Holyoke, according to https://www.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/registrar/bulletin/docs/dept_phys.pdf (note: only one semester of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics; these are often two semester sequences at other schools). Cross registration may help if you want to take advanced level physics electives.
Mount Holyoke and the three other LACs do have some career center sharing agreement with University of Massachusetts - Amherst, based on https://www.umass.edu/careers/employers .
What do you mean by “grad school”?
Most strong PhD programs are fully funded. The program covers your tuition plus a stipend (maybe $20K+/year for living expenses).
In my opinion, as long as you can afford it, MoHo is worth $13.5K/y more than UMCP (especially for a STEM student who is comfortable with the idea of a women’s college.)
Maybe so, if you’re only comparing MoHo itself with UMCP.
But don’t overlook all the resources MoHo offers through the 5 college consortium.
If you were my D I would encourage you to spend the $ saved to go to MoHo for these reasons (which others have mentioned as well):
small school, smaller classes, better attention, especially at undergrad level - this makes a big diff.
excellent female STEM focus
5C resources to draw on for research/internships
STEM PhD programs are nearly always funded - if you want to go beyond undergrad, I'd suggest going that route (rather than a tuition-based masters)
if you do go to a tuition-based masters you might get a good scholarship making tuition quite affordable or without much debt (with my D, now a freshmen in engineering, the goal was to graduate with a BSc with as little debt as possible and take on debt in grad school if necessary - the pay off will more than cover it; it's not like going into debt with a masters in French Lit). In your case you'll still graduate without debt.
MHC. Attending there for such a price is a bargain, and research has shown that women’s colleges are more supportive of women in stem (the problem is well-known and any help you get will be welcome - especially since the alumna network will want to make sure you can stick to it.)
BTW: There are amazing opportunities for research in physics (nanotechnology in particular) and for specific classes, the 5C system is excellent.
And yes, any graduate degree worth having will be funded for a female in STEM fields, so don’t worry about grad school now, worry about doing the best you can at the undergraduate level.
All the studies suggest that a rigorous all female environment as undergrad does wonders where eliminating the cumulative effects of misogyny, etc. are concerned. The damage is repaired, and coping skills are inculcated. This is very important if you are heading for graduate school, where the roughness factor for women in STEM is high.
Thank you so much for the advice so far! This thread has been super helpful. I am currently leaning toward MHC though I will be visiting both schools before deciding.
Re: grad school, I am not sure about what I want to do - I am hoping to work in a sort of sciencey field but probably not doing research for my whole life. Most likely, an applied field - something like improving access to public health or sustainability. Are there the same kinds of fellowships or free programs for grad school that is not pure STEM research? Or is it better to pursue a degree like that and then apply it to an environment outside of a lab? I have the perception that a science PhD would be doing pure science without the applied focus I’m hoping for, but I’m not sure if that’s correct.
I say this because I worked in a medical research lab this summer and while I enjoyed it and want to pursue research in college, the experience helped me realize that I eventually want to do something more obviously applied to real life than what I was doing. (Though of course that could have been because high schoolers tend not to be making huge discoveries.)
I just know very little about grad school in the sciences (my parents did law and education programs) so I don’t want to assume the finances will work out if it’s really more iffy.