Women’s College Dilemma
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Anonymous
They have closed some departments. Heard this directly from a student when DD was applying. |
Anonymous
Yeah, I agree with this. Smith and Mount Holyoke are especially close in prestige — and Mount Holyoke has a nicer campus! |
Anonymous
Are you new to the college application process OP? Because no one should be so confident that their DD can easily get into Wellesley or Smith. Smith admits 1 in 5 last I checked, and Wellesley is even lower. My DD is VERY happy at Smith. Toured and didn't vibe with Wellesley although it's certainly a great school. She did like MHC too, but liked it less than Smith and there were concerns with the finances. She never considered Agnes Scott. I don't know much about Agnes Scott, but if a Southern LAC appeals to your daughter, I'd go with it. There is a certain vibe at Smith, and it's not for everyone. Girls self select there. In fact, I think this is true for most of the LACs. The kids who are happy there are the ones who picked right and gel with the culture. |
Anonymous
The are just different in feel. The MHC is beautiful but a bit more isolated. I think the food is better at MHC. Smith is in Northampton, so there is more to do closely. Both are part of the 5 college consortium. You can’t go wrong with either. I think your student will just identify more with one or the other. |
Anonymous
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Is this part of the recent elitism campaign? What a weird OP. How would she be throwing it all away by going to Agnes Scott or Holyoke? Both great schools. She could be an elite scholar at AS. Jolyoke has an excellent reputation and network.
Also, I don't believe the reports on Smith and Wellesley. We toured Smith and met the nicest people. Friend is at Wellesley. One of the kindest people I know. This whole thread seems like an attempt to undermine women's colleges. Again, I have to wonder if someone is getting paid to post propaganda and socially engineer the political climate here. |
Anonymous
I second this. |
Anonymous
Your comment is strange. You don’t believe someone could have a bad experience with a college just because you had a good one? OP isn’t even undermining women’s colleges, they’re trying to assert how elite Wellesley and Smith college are. Just a poor reading of the issue at hand. |
Anonymous
Well, if someone had the goal of sowing division among a populace, a pretty good place to start would be in a DC forum about a competitive process that just happens to be one of the biggest investments a family will ever make. |
Anonymous
Not strange at all. Look again. OP disses the ones her kid "likes" as unworthy of rank, than disses the others as hostile. No one said every kid would have a good experience, but the idea that some are unworthy and some unwelcoming just doesn't fit with overall reality. And, all are judged negatively for one reason or another. Would not be surprised if this were politically motivated. |
Anonymous
No you’re misunderstanding. She thinks these prestigious schools are lovely; her child doesn’t. That’s a very different thing. OP is pretty clearly enamored by the top HWCs. |
Anonymous
Disagree. Wellesley and Smith are ranked in the top 15 liberal arts colleges. Mount Holyoke is ranked 34th. |
Anonymous
| Another nod to Scripps. Check it out. |
Anonymous
| Smith alum here. From the mid 90s, so take everything I say with a grain of salt! I do think there are material differences between Smith and Mount Holyoke. Smith has more of an urban feel because of its interconnection with Northampton. My sense was also that Smith is more closely aligned with Amherst academically and so if your daughter wants to take advantage of the consortium, she’ll have a very easy time academically between those two institutions. I probably took 30% of my classes at Amherst because they were even smaller than those at Smith and were more narrow, which interested me. Truthfully, I didn’t love Smith. For me, a large coed school would have been better suited (Smith was/is small). But, Smith, was the “best school” I got into and, therefore, that’s where I was sent. In the end, what mattered most about my education there was the network. Time and time again, I’ve been able to secure employment opportunities off the grid through that direct supportive network of well-placed women. |
Anonymous
| Are the LGBTQ+ communities more pronounced at some of the schools being discussed in this thread ? Maybe that is why OP's daughter feels more comfortable at certain schools. |
Anonymous
Yes - I'm surprised we are 4 or 5 pages in and no one has brought it up yet. OP - what is your DD like personally? How liberal is she? Is she gay or open to having a gay relationship? Example - Smith is a great school but it's known for being very LGBTQ. I saw on their Field Hockey Instagram page, they have weekly discussions on DEI topics including LGBTQ and gender inclusive practices, share and use updated pronouns and names to respect individual gender identities and expressions. Now, if an athletic team is that focused on stuff like that, I can only imagine how the general population is. Would your DD be comfortable being in that type of environment full time? I'm not as familiar with Agnes Scott, but it being Southern I would imagine it isn't quite as far left. |