Women’s College Dilemma

[Anonymous]

Mount Holyoke is an exceptional school with a fabulous alum network. It's a bit of a sleeper which maybe why the admissions rate is a touch higher than Smith, and it's rural - it has a niche.

Agnes Scott is not in the same league.

[Anonymous]

Why not apply EA to Agnes Scott? Sounds like it's a likely adjit and ED is unnecessary.

Also agree with others about the superfluous drama. AS is a great school.

[Anonymous]

Avoid Mount Holyoke at all costs unless you are okay with your college age daughter changes sexes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keep an open mind about Agnes Scott, OP. It’s pretty great.

(Pssst….Bryn Mawr is terrific, too).

Was coming here to add this about Bryn Mawr.

[Anonymous]

What about Simmons in Boston?

[Anonymous]

Or Bryn Mawr?

There’s are going to be people she likes and dislikes at every school….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Agree fully and I'm glad you said it first. My sister went there and really regretted it for this reason. She graduated and never looked back and gives no money.

Also you have the hideous traffic out there, poor air quality, difficulty of getting in and out via airport (don't do LAX!), you need a car, etc. and worst of all - The Scrippsies are looked down upon by the students at the other colleges. It is easier, after all, to get in there. I know several women who failed to get into Pomona or Claremont-McKenna so were stuck at Scripps and took classes out of Scripps when they could but it wasn't what they wanted at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Mount Holyoke at all costs unless you are okay with your college age daughter changes sexes.

Huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Mount Holyoke at all costs unless you are okay with your college age daughter changes sexes.

-1. 20yr old women don’t casually “change sexes.” It’s just not a thing.
For the record, my niece went to Mount Holyoke and had a great experience, both academically and socially. And she is still a straight woman.

[Anonymous]

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

My spouse graduated from Mt. Holyoke and has not but great things to say about it. She’s been exceptionally successful in her career, and all of the women I’ve met from there have been very impressive as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to send a child there.

[Anonymous]

My daughter chose MHC over Smith and Wellesley and has been more than happy with that decision. The academics have been strong and mentoring/teaching/research opportunities exceptional. She's made use of the 5-college exchange as well. Wellesley is above the other two in prestige, but MHC and Smith are comparable and the choice depends on your student's feel of the campus and culture. Smith is far less isolated.

[Anonymous]

In my family, we are evenly divided between MHC and Smith ( as in half of us went to one and the other half the other). They’re both great and not that different, other than personality wise, MHC was a better fit for me, and Smith was a better fit for them…and other than being more open-minded, our genders didn’t change.

[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.

You say this as though it is a bad thing to respect people.

[Anonymous]

Support your child.

[Anonymous]

I've had two friends in my field who taught at Agnes Scott. They are _very_ smart people, and in a niche discipline that costs money to run. The fact that AS prioritizes that is a plus to my mind. And the most recent manifestation of their curriculum and career prep is impressive.