The Pros and Cons of an all women’s college?

more expensive? – same price as other private colleges, with the same advantage of lots and lots of scholarships and grants (I’m paying less to go there than I would to go instate).

Pros:

– They focus on women’s leadership. Here, your role models and your peers are all women. You are surrounded by women doing amazing things all the time. It gives you a really strong sense of community with women (and you don’t even have to be a feminist for that).

– It gives you a perspective on gender relations. You don’t really realize how you relate to guys and women until you’re in a women-only environment for awhile and then you step out.

– The education is geared for women. Every class – from history to biology – reminds you in some way that as a woman you have had as much of a place in this world as the guys that have been running it for so long.

– The community. Every women’s college I’ve encountered has a really tight knit community. I would defend someone and have their back just because they’re a Hollins girl, even if I had never met them or didn’t really like them. If a Hollins girl came into town and needed a place to stay, I’d give them one.

– According to research, women who go to a women’s college are more likely to be happy with their education and more likely to go on to graduate school.

– You get to choose when to involve guys in your life. Sick of guys and the dating scene? Stay on campus for awhile. Want to check out some boys and hit up the scene? Walk across the street to the bar/coffee shop/whatever. Whatever your choice is, you can be confident in the fact that you can wander around campus in your pjs and messy hair – and no one will care because they’re dressed the same way.

Cons:

– Most women’s colleges are small schools and sometimes a small school can feel like a fish bowl. This is helped by picking one in or near a large city.

– Overdosing on estrogen. This can be helped by having some guy friends off campus.

===

I would HIGHLY recommend a women’s college. I did not apply to my school because it was a women’s college, I did not care either way. However, now that I am here I can’t imagine going to a co-ed school. I love the bonds I have formed with my college friends, I love the leadership opportunities, I love the network that really works for you. I also love the fact that because I am surrounded by so many women doing great things – I am not only aware of the fact that I’m female rather than another cog in the system, but I am proud of being a woman and I am proud of my fellow women and the things they can do.

the colleges are highly competitive, and so are the women who attend. They are (for the most part) top notch students, highly self-directed, and can be seen as being ‘pushy’ (when the same is seen in men, it is a positive attribute?). There are plenty of opportunities to meet men, date men, and contrary to the myth, they are not ‘gay havens’. There may be a slightly more gays on campus than at a coed, but most of the women are str8. There is a certain self-reliance that these women develop, and the alumnae associations are very strong. The downside is that the students may have to deal with the myths and stigmas.

Women’s colleges are pretty much all small, private colleges, so they run about the standard cost of a private liberal arts college, but no more than a coed one.

Women’s colleges are very, very interesting entities. I know, I go to one. There are all sorts of pros and cons, and a lot of them depend on which women’s college you’re looking at. Some have long-standing traditions of very liberal feminism, while others are viewed as mere finishing schools. (Mine is seen as a finishing school, but has an AMAZING chemistry department, and I’m getting a personalized education the likes of which aren’t often seen outside of grad school).

So, some positive aspects:

– All-female leadership. It’s not something seen at other colleges, but at a women’s college, everything is run and organized by women, no male chauvinists to get in the way.

– A hardcore community. I don’t know how it is at other women’s colleges, but at Sweet Briar, where I am, we’re a seriously tight-knit community. Everyone knows everyone, at least by face, and there are so many fantastic traditions and crazy things that are uniquely ‘Sweet Briar Things’, which even alums come back to join in for.

-It doesn’t matter what you look like. Finals week, there is absolutely no worrying about your looks, or that you haven’t showered since you started studying two weeks ago. There’s no one to impress (Or distract you, you can ship your male distraction off to his school when you need to focus)

– It’s amazing what the professors can get away with, when the audience is one sex. The profs either play up to it, or sometimes seem to feel the need to assert their manliness (“I don”t know about Antonio Banderas, but that viking women was incredibly attractive”)

– On my campus, at least, we all feel really safe. When I’m wandering back to my dorm at 3AM when the library closes, I don’t worry about getting mugged or raped or carried off (I do worry about the ghosts, though). People leave their laptops around campus for days and they’ll still be there when you get back. Now, granted, Sweet Briar has a very, very, hardcore honor code which pervades every aspect of life, but we SBC women hold ourselves up to it. This is nice becasue all of our finals are self-scheduled, and most exams in classes are taken without a proctor. It’s really nice.

Cons? Well, there are some downsides.

– Situation: It’s the second week of the month, and your entire hall is hormonal. Result: Everyone is mad at everyone. Solution: Move into the library.

– There aren’t boys around all the time, which is a bummer, but they can be found, if you put some effort into it.

– Most women’s colleges are small. This isn’t a problem, unless you really don’t want to be a big fish in a small pond. The upside of this is that your profs really care about how you do, and you get a one-on-one education that’s well worth the money spent.

-No football. I’m a Penn State fan, myself, and I really wish we had a football team.

Should you go to one? I’d recommend it. I love my college, it’s amazing, and the experience is one of a lifetime. Don’t let the whole ‘no boys’ thing get you down, it’s really not that bad.

… just make sure you take lots of chocolate and Midol. 😀

Less distractions. It’s been proven all female or all male schools lead to an improvement in studying and grade, but mostly in the Secondary Schools.

Most students in college know what they are there for.

how sad, I can’t think of any con, maybe because I realize that formal education for girls and women is still in its infancy, compared to the thousands and thousands of years of ‘male only’ education beforehand

Well, for a lesbian, an all-female college would present certain distinct advantages.

less access to the male “brain”