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[quote=Anonymous]We considered a couple women's schools for our daughter. She is an ally (as far as I know)-there was a brief "I might be bi" time, but she was like 14 and has dated only males since then and never mentioned it again.

She wasn't a top student and could have benefited from the small environment at many of these schools are able to provide some more individual attention.

We considered Sweet Briar and Hollins here in VA, Meredith in NC and Cedar Crest in PA.

Unfortunately, Sweet Briar and Hollins did not have both the programs she was interested in, which made them no gos. She DID apply to Randolph, a former all women's school that went co-ed and is in a consortium with Sweet Briar and Lynchburg U. It has about 600 students - so small, BUT, it was such a cute little school with the Take2 system for classes and VERY affordable with merit money and additional scholarships PLUS VTAG money.

We didn't wind up pursuing Cedar Crest because we couldn't figure out how to make it as affordable as other schools, but it is part of a consortium with a few other local PA schools and is right down the street from Muhlenberg, which is larger and co-ed.

The one we did actually visit and she had planned to apply to (their deadline was just later than several others and she already had yesses from a couple other schools she liked better) was Meredith in NC. I was the one who convinced her to give it a shot. She was apprehensive about all women, but I told her to trust her mom and keep an open mind. It had both the programs she was interested in (including a brand new building housing classrooms for one of them) and was right down the street from NC State in Raleigh. It has a lovely campus, incredibly kind and welcoming students and staff, yet very easy access to the surrounding area for entertainment/dating. Everyone from the admissions office to the cafeteria staff just sang the praises of the place and were like "oh, this is a great place - we all take care of each other here" My daughter was considering a performing art as either a major or minor, so she got to take a couple classes and all the other students were so excited to have her in class and all were happy to answer her questions. They also all said hi when they saw her around campus later in the day. Meredith is in a consortium with a couple other colleges, but most importantly was NC State. We were told that a couple young ladies who were Meredith dancers were actually allowed to be on the NC State Dance team by just taking one class per semester there. I really liked that while the college was its own little oasis, they weren't secluded/rural and you could have as big or as small a social life as you might want. It actually was a decent size for an all women's school - I think it was 1500 students. While my daughter didn't wind up applying in the end, she and I both really enjoyed our visit and she had no complaints about all women after actually seeing the place and area.

We never really considered one other school in GA - Brenau. Post-Dobbs, GA was just a no go for our family. That said, without those considerations, it was another women's school that could have been a nice fit because of the programs available there and the reputation of the performing arts there.

She wound up at a rather small co-ed school in MA. The student body is maybe 1200 students, but it was in an adorable small town that was on a commuter train line to Boston. It had a strong performing arts community and also had incredible ties in the other field she was interested in (including a really cool partnership with the Kraft organization)

Sorry, didn't mean to write a book! If it is of any interest for your daughter, I think a lot of the women's colleges have a lot to offer. I looke back and realize I should have given them a little more thought. I really just thought "ugh, I don't want to go to an all girls school" I wish my mom had intervened and given me a little of the perspective I have now about some of the amenities near some of these campuses and the advantages of certain programs and all of that. I wound up at a good co-ed school in the end, so it isn't like I made a bad choice. I just wish I would have looked more closely at Smith, who was very heavily attempting to recruit me. I remember looking at the brochures and just thinking how pretty it was. I do think the Five Colleges is a very cool consortium-just expands options so much. Oh well - the path not taken, right?[/quote]

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