Anonymous wrote:Smith has a more beautiful campus, better town college town, and better national name recognition than Davidson. Davidson is a bit odd in how southern it's felt to me. Even US News came around and ranked Smith ahead of Davidson. Honestly, unless the coed and weather factors matter a lot, I'd pick Smith (though I'm a man).

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Anonymous wrote:So are like half the women at Smith gay? That's what it sounds like. Genuinely curious.

Your critical thinking skills seems a bit weak. Exactly which posts lead you to conclude that 1300 women at Smith (half of its 2600 enrollment) are gay?

Anonymous wrote:Smith has a more beautiful campus, better town college town, and better national name recognition than Davidson. Davidson is a bit odd in how southern it's felt to me. Even US News came around and ranked Smith ahead of Davidson. Honestly, unless the coed and weather factors matter a lot, I'd pick Smith (though I'm a man).

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Anonymous wrote:I'm a Wellesley alum with many wonderful friends who are Smith alumnae. Like you, OP, I would have loved to see my DD go to my alma mater -- or to another women's college -- but she really wanted a coed school. For her, it wasn't about finding a guy to date; rather she wanted to have male classmates and platonic male friends, and she wanted to be a part of a community where men and women students would work together and support one another. She just graduated and over the past four years I've seen that she made the right choice. I offer just one small vignette to illustrate this -- DD played a varsity sport and at her last college game in the NCAA tournament there were many, many members of the men's teams out there cheering on the women's team -- exactly the experience DD had hoped to have. OP, my advice to you and your husband is to let your daughter make her choice without undue influence from her parents.

100%! OP here and daughter is not an athlete but this was the primary reason our daughter is choosing Davidson. She grew up with a brother and close friendships of both sexes and that is ultimately is what she wants to find in her college experience. As was pointed out in this morning's tour, Davidson has women's eating houses so she has still can find that sisterhood experience though certainly not to the extent she'd get at Smith. She is sad about the life opportunities she is giving up by passing on Smith and said said she wishes she could go to college twice. She and I would have been in the same reunion year and the shared experience of attending Smith would have been meaningful to both of us, but this weekend reinforced all the reasons she wanted to stay on Davidson's waitlist in the first place. Academically, both colleges are top notch with enthusiastic alumni networks to match. Everyone we've met at Davidson and in town has been super welcoming and friendly. Most importantly, daughter is happy with her decision and is now beyond excited about what lays ahead for her next 4 years.

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Anonymous wrote:I do agree with another poster who wrote that these schools are very different. Hard to imagine a person who would apply to both of these almost polar opposite schools and then have difficulty deciding between the two.

I don’t see how these schools are polar opposites. They are both small liberal arts schools not located in a city.

You need to visit. If you think that Smith College and Davidson College offer similar campus cultures, you are probably unfamiliar with both schools.

If it helps, the overlap schools for Smith College are: Barnard, Brown, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, & Wellesley.

Overlaps for Davidson College: Wash & Lee, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Rhodes, and Duke.

According to College Transitions: Davidson College overlaps are Duke, Emory,UNC, U Virginia, and Vanderbilt.

On another college website, Smith has been referred to as "the gayest place on earth" and the former president of Smith College actually conducted a formal poll of then current Smith students asking their sexual orientation due to Smith's reputation as a lesbian school. Smith College had significant issues with student on student same sex sexual assaults several years ago that may have prompted the survey (in addition to Smith's rep as a school for a particular sexual orientation).

NP. This post seems extremely narrow minded and biased. Firstly, there is lots of potential overlap between colleges across the "categories" here. My kid applied to several and considered schools across the list. The last portion with "substantial" seems to betray an ugly bias. I have no connection to Smith, but have done research on it as DD considered it.

Reread the post that you commented on. Cannot find the word "substantial" to which you refer.

Neither narrow minded nor biased--just responding to OP's question regarding her straight daughter's better choice. The response uses outside publications' findings and writings.

Before falsely accusing others of being narrow minded and biased, I think that you need to look into a mirror for the real culprit.

I meant "significant," but the sentiment is the same. Trying to flip the table on me doesn't work even though you want it to. That is such a Trump move -- juvenile and inaccurate. Nothing about typing a different but similar adjective says "narrow-minded." (Absent-minded? Yes, of course)! The issues with your post are present. The bias is there, trying to suggest that Smith is some high-risk den of same-sex sexual assault, and the fact that you attempt to lock down what is and isn't potential overlap betrays your narrow mindset and seems weirdly authority hungry. Just let the kids decide what their overlap is. No one needs you to weigh in to tell them that two schools they like are "polar opposites." If they identify cross appeal, what's it to you?

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Anonymous wrote:So are like half the women at Smith gay? That's what it sounds like. Genuinely curious.

Apparently so. From the website College Fix:

"61 percent at Wellesley and 70 percent at Smith — which are women’s colleges — identify as LGBTQ."

Not sure I would believe numbers are that high but the true % is still likely very high.

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to your daughter! My son is also hoping to come off Davidson's wait list. OP did your submit any updates/supplements beyond her email expressing continuing interest?

Anonymous wrote:A recent Smith student also corroborates the 50% figure:

"A campus-wide survey was conducted to see how many Smithies identify as queer and what area of campus they lived in, and the results were released around that time. My host and her friends were discussing it, and though my personal experience may not be representative, I can definitely attest to that number not seeming awfully high at all. Overall I believe the numbers were around 50% across the board, with the Quad identifying less than 50% and the rest of campus more than 50%. Living here, and especially living on Green Street, this is not surprising to me. Smith is known for its open queer community, but I think it’s important to remember how some Smithies who may not “publicly” (i.e. off campus/at home) identify as queer feel comfortable embracing it while here and especially in an anonymous survey might make those numbers seem high."

Anonymous wrote:So are like half the women at Smith gay? That's what it sounds like. Genuinely curious.

Anonymous wrote:So are like half the women at Smith gay? That's what it sounds like. Genuinely curious.