Is Russell Sage College on your list? I’m in my second year at RSC!

Truth be told, a women’s school DOES have its ups and downs. Your friends are absolutely correct that there is less contact with men. I have never felt this was a problem, but I was acquainted with a few women who transferred to attend classes with men their age.

RSC is not 100% female despite being a women’s college–we do have a few male theatre majors! Seriously, though, if anyone here needs male companionship, the
male-dominated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is but a few blocks away.

What sets our curriculum apart from co-ed schools (and even our sister school in Albany) are the general education classes that focus on women’s rights and the state of women in the world. There were definitely parts of the required freshman classes I disliked, but in retrospect they were excellent courses. The equivalent class at a co-ed school would only be offered as part of a women’s studies curriculum.

I like the all-female environment. Male students tend to receive more attention than female students (studies have shown this). For me it is nicer to learn in an environment where that competition is eliminated. I am happy as long as I don’t think about the tuition costs for attending a private school–hello student loans!

The other college I got accepted into two years ago was Bay Path College, another women’s school. It elicited negative responses from friends and family that both my options were all-female schools. Don’t let it discourage you, though, because your life and education will be just as complete as they would be if you attended a co-ed school!

I just graduated from Chatham University, an all-women’s college in Pennsylvania. I loved the people I met there, and I definitely learned a lot about social dynamics and became prouder than ever to consider myself a feminist during my time there.

Not a school I would recommend to anyone, though, because it’s an organizational disaster. Smith had been my first choice, but I was rejected.

I think it is interesting how a lot of women’s colleges do have to go co-ed because of financial issues. At Chatham, the graduate school is co-ed, and I have heard that some undergrad departments are also slowly drawing in male students.

I think what really helped me was that Chatham is in the middle of a huge city, so even though it was really easy to get sucked into the so-called “Chatham bubble”, in two minutes you could be off campus with a bustling public transport system and a huge city full of people and opportunities to explore.

I go to Mount Holyoke College (if you’re considering it, you should keep looking into it because it is fabulous) and I was definitely one of those people who thought that I would not end up at a woman’s college. But now that I’m there, I couldn’t be happier that it’s where I ended up. It truly is an incredibly valuable experience.

An all-women’s college allows women to gain the confidence and expectation that they can do anything, because at the school they are the ones doing EVERYTHING. When you get out into the real world there is no mental block about certain jobs or activities being for men only because you are constantly encouraged and given opportunities without consideration to gender. All of my classes have included a perspective into women’s roles in the respective subjects, which has been fascinating because it is a side that is generally ignored. It is incredibly empowering to be surrounded by women who are achieving and doing incredible things with their lives and who completely understand where you are coming from because they too are women.

If you want to meet guys, there are ways to find guys. And certainly an all women’s college is not the experience for everyone. But if you are the least bit interested, it can be invaluable.