tell me about your experiences with all women's colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked closely at women's colleges. I liked the idea, but after we researched, we decided against that direction. Imo, there are two types of students: activist lesbian and introverted girls who are often from traditional families (and many international families in this group). The only womens college my daughter considered was barnard- because of job opportunities and bc there are boys to date at columbia/grad school, but she didn't like the activist vibe at Barnard. She chose a different school which is a better fit for her academically and socially. Of note, if interested humanities or social sciences, be sure to check the curriculum, course offerings, areas of faculty research, to understand their ideological preferences. It's eye opening.

Not my experience at all. For many other students at BMC, it was the only women's college that they applied to--the rest were regular co-ed SLACs. I looked at schools that had specific programs and chose Bryn Mawr because it had the program I wanted and was in a better location that the other two colleges that also offered that program; being a women's college was basically neutral to me (mainly because I expected to--and did--take advantage of cross-registration with Haverford, although BMC itself retains the identity of a women's college).

Yes, there were plenty of lesbians there, interestingly some of my gay classmates are now married to men and some of my straight classmates are now married to women. I grew up near/with a parent who worked at a college, so I knew plenty about what goes on and I would definitely choose lesbians over frat parties, drunk guys pulling the fire alarms at 2 am, men peeing in the stairwells, and everything else that goes with throwing hundreds of teenage guys into an unsupervised living space together.

[Anonymous]

IME as a Wellesley alum, estimates of the number of students who were then or are now engaged in lesbian activities are way overblown. When I hear these claims from people who have never attended -- or even visited -- a woman's college, I always wonder just how anemic their sex lives are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, in what sense do you think it will not push her enough? Social or academic? If academic, I would not worry at all. They are all strong colleges. Socially, there are opportunities but they are different. For my daughter, it was excellent. All of the leaders are women so it’s natural to go for leadership opportunities as a woman. My kid was a stem kid, being in the lab was normal and natural and it was comfortable, with no guys talking down to her.

No, everyone is not a lesbian! My daughter is not, nor are her closest friends. Are there more lesbians that a coed school? Yes, but what difference does that make if you are not interested in dating them anyway? There are opportunities to socialize with other local coed schools. My daughter went to Smith and she and her friends went to parties and took classes at UMass.

Overall, for her it was a great match and a formative experience. She is in an excellent grad program now at a majority male stem school and is doing great. She has a ton of confidence in her abilities and is comfortable with herself. I honestly could not have asked for more from an undergrad program.

Her only complaints were the food and the weather, so not bad.

OP here. I'm not worried about academics at all. Just worried that socially she will be around a bunch of people who think very similarly to her, and she will follow her natural tendency to be a bit high strung. (Sorry, I don't mean to fall into stereotypes...)

My daughter is at Smith. She loves it. She's a STEM major and is speaking up in class and seems more empowered, all things I attribute to a women's school. Also, the classes are all small and the profs know each student. She's getting an incredible education. As for people thinking all the same, that hasn't been her experience. It is true there are probably no conservatives at all on campus, but she said there's still a surprising amount of variation in viewpoints anyways. Even though she's very liberal in general, she's more moderate for a Smithie.

She likes the food. The weather was a bit tough to handle mid winter but it was a gorgeous fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of these institutions are no longer all women OP. Are you OK with that, or seeking an environment that is limited to female persons only?

The OP asked for all women's colleges, of which there are several.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked closely at women's colleges. I liked the idea, but after we researched, we decided against that direction. Imo, there are two types of students: activist lesbian and introverted girls who are often from traditional families (and many international families in this group). The only womens college my daughter considered was barnard- because of job opportunities and bc there are boys to date at columbia/grad school, but she didn't like the activist vibe at Barnard. She chose a different school which is a better fit for her academically and socially. Of note, if interested humanities or social sciences, be sure to check the curriculum, course offerings, areas of faculty research, to understand their ideological preferences. It's eye opening.

Your opinion is totally off. My D is neither lesbian nor introverted, and the school isn't at all limited to those types. In fact, the students seem very outspoken. And while it's very LGBTQ friendly, it's hardly all lesbians.

signed,

a mother of a student at an all women's college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We looked closely at women's colleges. I liked the idea, but after we researched, we decided against that direction. Imo, there are two types of students: activist lesbian and introverted girls who are often from traditional families (and many international families in this group). The only womens college my daughter considered was barnard- because of job opportunities and bc there are boys to date at columbia/grad school, but she didn't like the activist vibe at Barnard. She chose a different school which is a better fit for her academically and socially. Of note, if interested humanities or social sciences, be sure to check the curriculum, course offerings, areas of faculty research, to understand their ideological preferences. It's eye opening.

Thank you for this. The smart ass responses are so unhelpful

Don't listen to someone whose only experience is visiting and who formed an uninformed opinion based on .... who knows what.

[Anonymous]

I’m a parent of a current student at Wellesley, and I know my DD’s friends pretty well. None of them are lesbians, though she did have a roommate who is. But honestly, all of these girls—no matter their sexual orientation—are super kind, driven, and ambitious. A lot of them take classes at MIT and date guys from MIT, Harvard, and other schools around Boston. I don’t really get why those short posts seem so focused on lesbians—it’s kind of weird. Feels like they might even be coming from the same person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent of a current student at Wellesley, and I know my DD’s friends pretty well. None of them are lesbians, though she did have a roommate who is. But honestly, all of these girls—no matter their sexual orientation—are super kind, driven, and ambitious. A lot of them take classes at MIT and date guys from MIT, Harvard, and other schools around Boston. I don’t really get why those short posts seem so focused on lesbians—it’s kind of weird. Feels like they might even be coming from the same person.

It is the same person. I may request the thread to get locked because it’s disgusting.