Women's colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I think the issue is that women's colleges have become become a bit obsolete for heterosexual women. We initially considered Women's colleges for dd. But after touring learned that womens colleges today admit a lot of nonbinary/lesbian students and even biological males that identify as female. Language in the women's colleges seem to avoid any gendered language due to this complexity. For me, it's odd. When I was in college, my friends at women's schools talked about strong sisterhood and female empowerment. Its not like that anymore. I think schools like barnard still appeal because of proximity to nyc, male students across the street, broader university course offerings, and easier to get into vs Columbia college.

Don't listen to haters who have no idea what women's colleges are all about. The bolded statement is just wrong. My D is at a women's college, and the girls really look out for one another. I don't think they use the word "sisterhood" these days but the ties are very strong. I could give you a million examples but just know that this poster has no idea what they are talking about!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think the issue is that women's colleges have become become a bit obsolete for heterosexual women. We initially considered Women's colleges for dd. But after touring learned that womens colleges today admit a lot of nonbinary/lesbian students and even biological males that identify as female. Language in the women's colleges seem to avoid any gendered language due to this complexity. For me, it's odd. When I was in college, my friends at women's schools talked about strong sisterhood and female empowerment. Its not like that anymore. I think schools like barnard still appeal because of proximity to nyc, male students across the street, broader university course offerings, and easier to get into vs Columbia college.

Don't listen to haters who have no idea what women's colleges are all about. The bolded statement is just wrong. My D is at a women's college, and the girls really look out for one another. I don't think they use the word "sisterhood" these days but the ties are very strong. I could give you a million examples but just know that this poster has no idea what they are talking about!

Why don’t they use the word sisterhood? Trans women identify as women, so who would they be offending?

[Anonymous]

Five sisters. Vassar went co-ed. Radcliffe joined Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This question, again. OP, please do a search. There have been some threads previously about women's schools. Not everyone is lesbian. I loved my experience at Wellesley. FWIW, all my friends were straight and they're all happily married (to men) and have kids who are now applying to college. Apply if you feel it is the right fit. Don't discount it for stupid reasons like everyone is lesbian.

There wasn't a thread covering the handful of women's colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your DD want to go to a women's college? Because that's the first question you should be asking yourself. My two DDs said no way.

+1

If that's not what they want, they will be miserable. Barnard and Scripps are more manageable though because of the nearby co-ed colleges.

Wellesley next to Bard.
Bryn Mawr next to Haverford

Loud and wrong. Wellesley is outside of Boston whereas Bard is in Upstate NY. Huge distance between them. And Bryn Mawr and Haverford have some degree of separation. The colleges I named are literally across the street from co-ed schools. Fact check yourself next time.

Not the PP, but I am a Bryn Mawr grad. You can walk to Haverford, and the bus there runs every 15 minutes. The bus to Swarthmore runs every half hour. Villanova’s off campus housing is across the street. And Philly is a short ride on Septa— I dated a guy from Penn for 2 of my 4 years at Bryn Mawr. There are plenty of guys around if you want to find them. I loved my 4 years there, and I know it’s not for everyone, but the narrative on this board that everyone is a lesbian is so wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Five sisters. Vassar went co-ed. Radcliffe joined Harvard.

The remaining schools are still referred to as Seven Sisters schools. It’s just an identifier. Like the Big 10 conference now has 18 schools but is still called the Big 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your DD want to go to a women's college? Because that's the first question you should be asking yourself. My two DDs said no way.

+1

If that's not what they want, they will be miserable. Barnard and Scripps are more manageable though because of the nearby co-ed colleges.

Wellesley next to Bard.
Bryn Mawr next to Haverford

Loud and wrong. Wellesley is outside of Boston whereas Bard is in Upstate NY. Huge distance between them. And Bryn Mawr and Haverford have some degree of separation. The colleges I named are literally across the street from co-ed schools. Fact check yourself next time.

Not the PP, but I am a Bryn Mawr grad. You can walk to Haverford, and the bus there runs every 15 minutes. The bus to Swarthmore runs every half hour. Villanova’s off campus housing is across the street. And Philly is a short ride on Septa— I dated a guy from Penn for 2 of my 4 years at Bryn Mawr. There are plenty of guys around if you want to find them. I loved my 4 years there, and I know it’s not for everyone, but the narrative on this board that everyone is a lesbian is so wrong.

+1, from another Mawrtyr

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Scripps hardly feels like a women’s college. You have three courses with all-scripps girls and then after…your classes are coed and your dorms often have men/boyfriends in them, the dining hall is filled with men, and the culture is within the 5Cs. Not a very traditional experience.

+1. The dorms are single-sex and the few Scripps core classes are, but otherwise everything is shared with the other CCs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I think the issue is that women's colleges have become become a bit obsolete for heterosexual women. We initially considered Women's colleges for dd. But after touring learned that womens colleges today admit a lot of nonbinary/lesbian students and even biological males that identify as female. Language in the women's colleges seem to avoid any gendered language due to this complexity. For me, it's odd. When I was in college, my friends at women's schools talked about strong sisterhood and female empowerment. Its not like that anymore. I think schools like barnard still appeal because of proximity to nyc, male students across the street, broader university course offerings, and easier to get into vs Columbia college.

Well, thank you for your uninformed opinion based on, what, a tour? My DD is heterosexual and is very happy at Smith. All her closest friends at Smith appear (as best I can tell, not really asking about ppl's sexuality) to be heterosexual as well. Of course, it is a very welcoming place for LGBTQ+ students, but those are hardly the only students there. DD and her friends sometimes go to the other colleges in the area to socialize. For a while she was dating a boy at Amherst, then decided she didn't like him enough. lol.

There are many advantages to women's college, now that our family has firsthand knowledge. DD's confidence has grown so much, she is double majoring in STEM (not sure that would have happened otherwise), classes are small, she knows her profs, academics are top notch, and the community is so supportive. There are also the little things. The student activities are more geared towards things women would like, such as craft nights. Even the dining hall food seems more geared to a woman's palette. The alum network is incredibly strong, not just for Smith, but the wider Seven Sisters network too.

It is a tremendous experience, if this is what your daughter wants.

I'm so glad to hear this, thank you for sharing. I have a hetero DD who is interested in Smith and Wellesley. Glad your daughter is having a great experience!

[Anonymous]

I went to Wellesley in the 90's. I received a top-tier education, and was surrounded by incredibly smart, driven women. It was a very serious place. People were serious about themselves and their work. Incredibly strong and loyal alumni base. Women supporting women all the way. But very, very serious! If that's not your vibe, probably not the place for you. Lots of interaction with MIT - a bus every hour back and forth between the campuses, and you could take classes pretty easily there (and vice versa for MIT students at Wellesley)

[Anonymous]

My daughter is at Mount Holyoke and loves it. She is getting an amazing education and has made a close group of friends. It is absolutely the right place for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wellesley in the 90's. I received a top-tier education, and was surrounded by incredibly smart, driven women. It was a very serious place. People were serious about themselves and their work. Incredibly strong and loyal alumni base. Women supporting women all the way. But very, very serious! If that's not your vibe, probably not the place for you. Lots of interaction with MIT - a bus every hour back and forth between the campuses, and you could take classes pretty easily there (and vice versa for MIT students at Wellesley)

Women’s colleges are very different now than they were in the 90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wellesley in the 90's. I received a top-tier education, and was surrounded by incredibly smart, driven women. It was a very serious place. People were serious about themselves and their work. Incredibly strong and loyal alumni base. Women supporting women all the way. But very, very serious! If that's not your vibe, probably not the place for you. Lots of interaction with MIT - a bus every hour back and forth between the campuses, and you could take classes pretty easily there (and vice versa for MIT students at Wellesley)

Women’s colleges are very different now than they were in the 90s.

I went to a seven sisters school in the 90s and my daughter is at a different seven sisters school now. They aren’t that different from how they were in the 90s.

[Anonymous]

Women's colleges appeal to foreign families who are looking for a safe place for their daughters to attend. So it's attractive to wealthy international Muslim girls as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your DD want to go to a women's college? Because that's the first question you should be asking yourself. My two DDs said no way.

+1

If that's not what they want, they will be miserable. Barnard and Scripps are more manageable though because of the nearby co-ed colleges.

Wellesley next to Bard.
Bryn Mawr next to Haverford

I think you mean Babson rather than Bard.