Women’s College Dilemma

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

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.

No, I saw that. But, that is just what fooled you into thinking it wasn't a diss. Look again. Something negative about every women's college.

[Anonymous]

Smith is very gay, Wellesley too, but a little less so. My DD is straight but has many close gay friends who go to these schools and are happy, but after spending a weekend at Smith she said she would've felt left out there. She also didn't like Wellesley - it seemed very intense when we toured.

She did apply to Bryn Mawr and Scripps, where she felt more comfortable. We didn't tour MHC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

If Mount Holyoke isn’t as LBGTQ-friendly and centric as Smith now it is very close. The majority of the students identify as LBGTQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smith is very gay, Wellesley too, but a little less so. My DD is straight but has many close gay friends who go to these schools and are happy, but after spending a weekend at Smith she said she would've felt left out there. She also didn't like Wellesley - it seemed very intense when we toured.

She did apply to Bryn Mawr and Scripps, where she felt more comfortable. We didn't tour MHC.

If she’s not comfortable about gay women, keep her outta scripps. I love scripps, but there’s literally a term for straight girls who either spend all their time trying to get with cmc guys or end up transferring to CMC, because they don’t like the lesbian culture.

Scripps is awesome, but intolerant women will not enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Did not visit Agnes Scott, but we visited Bryn Mawr, Smith, Wellesley, and Mount Holyoke. Daughter ended up EDing at Bryn Mawr and loves it but she also loved Smith. Just wanted to be closer to a big city. MHC is in the middle of nowhere. Just something to consider. We got vibes of where fun goes to die at Wellesley, although honestly it’s not like BMC is some big party school. Wellesley and Smith are higher in the rankings but you can get merit aid at MHC (and Bryn Mawr—my daughter did even though we did ED). I think the northeast schools have a lot of similarities and it’s so hard to tell from one visit. Visits can be influenced by so many things. Smith is nice because of the open curriculum. One thing to check is what the intended major is and how many classes are offered. My daughter has a major with very limited classes, and it’s made registration difficult. For us, MHC would be a real pain to get back and forth. Same with Smith. All of the schools (didn’t see Agnes Scott) are pretty. Some other things to consider is that theoretically you can take classes at the consortium in MA but I don’t think it’s that easy. I kind of wish my kid would have applied to Wellesley because I’m a snob (kidding not kidding). It’s the most prestigious. But I’m not at all sorry about the 35,000 a year we’re saving—assuming she got in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know nothing about Agnes Scott, but Mt. Holyoke is not significantly different from Smith or Wellesley in prestige.

Yeah, I agree with this. Smith and Mount Holyoke are especially close in prestige — and Mount Holyoke has a nicer campus!

MHC is known as the fallback for girls who can't get into Smith.

Smith's campus is far better, hands down. Plus it has Northampton, while MHC is in the middle of nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know nothing about Agnes Scott, but Mt. Holyoke is not significantly different from Smith or Wellesley in prestige.

Yeah, I agree with this. Smith and Mount Holyoke are especially close in prestige — and Mount Holyoke has a nicer campus!

MHC is known as the fallback for girls who can't get into Smith.

Smith's campus is far better, hands down. Plus it has Northampton, while MHC is in the middle of nowhere.

+1

[Anonymous]

I went to smith and loved it, but I went to law school with an Agnes Scott alum and she was awesome. Very smart, good people skills. It gave me a good impression of the school. Op, if your daughter likes it and would be happy there, it seems like a good option! It's time to let your kid make her own choices. You can be clear about how much you will contribute and what your boundaries are, and she can decide from there.

[Anonymous]

No one is talking about Barnard?

Why?

[Anonymous]

MHC bills itself as a "gender inclusive, historically women's college." They also celebrate pronoun day and are extremely inclusive and accepting of whatever labels people choose for themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MHC bills itself as a "gender inclusive, historically women's college." They also celebrate pronoun day and are extremely inclusive and accepting of whatever labels people choose for themselves.

Is this supposed to be a negative?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found the 2023 financial report. it looks okay to my untrained eyes. What should I look at in it to understand where the issues lie?

https://offices.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/financial/docs/Financial-Statement-Summary-FY23.pdf

They have closed some departments. Heard this directly from a student when DD was applying.

Russian and German, due to low enrollment. And I think tennis was affected this year, somehow. (DD's not an athlete, so I didn't pay much attention.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MHC bills itself as a "gender inclusive, historically women's college." They also celebrate pronoun day and are extremely inclusive and accepting of whatever labels people choose for themselves.

Is this supposed to be a negative?

Nope, just a fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is talking about Barnard?

Why?

Why would they? Op never brought it up and there’s other women’s colleges to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found the 2023 financial report. it looks okay to my untrained eyes. What should I look at in it to understand where the issues lie?

https://offices.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/financial/docs/Financial-Statement-Summary-FY23.pdf

They have closed some departments. Heard this directly from a student when DD was applying.

Russian and German, due to low enrollment. And I think tennis was affected this year, somehow. (DD's not an athlete, so I didn't pay much attention.)

The story about cutting the tennis program is pretty sad:

https://www.gazettenet.com/Mount-Holyoke-College-s-decision-to-cut-tennis-program-really-shocking-according-to-players-55347919