Here's my experience:

I didn't even consider a woman's college because I was afraid I'd not get the same socialization (which I definitely wanted in college, too) as co-ed schools.

My first school, freshman year, was co-ed 50-50. I was miserable. From the calculus class where the men loudly scoffed at the notion of me being any good at math, then quietly asking for help with homework, to the silencing of women's voices both inside and outside of classes, it really sucked.

Then I transferred to another school. It was still co-ed, but for whatever reason, my age group lacked men and it was 75% women in my graduating class. And in my major, there was just one man in my classes. I can't tell you how freeing this was for me. I no longer felt the need to be silent, lest I show I might be smarter than some guy. I found my voice and professors noticed and took me and my ideas seriously. It was wonderful.

I have problems with gender segregation when it is done to prevent the other gender from specific advancements and networking. I don't think that this is the purpose of women's colleges. They help women grow into their own voices when they may be too self-conscious to do so in mixed company.

I think that the option needs to be there. I went to an all girls public high school and it did wonders for me as far as teaching me that I had worth beyond the opinion of others. I came out still perfectly capable of interacting with males, and went to a coed university armed with the knowledge that I was a capable human being and with the ability to speak up and be seen.

You should only go to a single sex school if that is what you want and need, and for many women, it is what they want and need. The option should be there for those women who are not as secure as you are in their worth and abilities as women.

The thing is, IMHO, the truly "strong women" are not cloistered in segregated schools; they are out in the fight daily disproving chauvinistic beliefs. Going to an all-female school or one that institutionally or practically discriminates against men isn't an option that's going to prepare you for the reality you'll face once you get out into the post-college world of having to work for a living, instead it prevents you from learning how to cope with the kind of soul-crushing bullshit that is going to be inevitable.

Not only are you short-changing yourself, you're losing an opportunity to advance the struggle by working with and educating your male peers.

Also if I were going to hire a person for my company I would have to really consider any prospective employee's ability to work well in a fully integrated office as part of what they have to offer. Academics is only a fraction of what we learn at college.

My spouse and sister with went to women's schools. My sister's shared a campus with a co-ed school, though, and for her is was really not a different experience. My spouse attended a women's school with a long history and a leafy, rural campus that really is an all-women environment. She loved it and she believes that she would have been much less focused academically at that age if she had had men in her classes and around campus with her all the time. She really believes that she found her voice and strength in an environment where men are not there to suck all the air out of classroom discussion and take over all the campus organization, and where the faculty are women mentoring women.

If my daughter wanted to attend her mother's alma mater, I would be very supportive, though I won't push it.

Logrus,

going to a sex-segregated school doesn't mean you never see a member of the opposite sex ever. There are plenty of opportunities for socialization both before, during and after college and/or high school. Not everyone is emotionally or mentally in a position to fight tooth and nail every step of the way to be seen as a person of equal mental capability and worth as their peers who only happen to have a penis.

Dori: social interaction in a non-competitive environment will not prepare you for a competitive environment, just like completely non-social (business, academic) interaction won't prepare you for social interaction.

I'm not saying "go to an integrated school or don't go to school", but the OP made it clear that she is coming from an integrated environment where she has been doing well, she did not indicate that being around males or the prospect of being around males is troublesome.

Also, I would think that of people who feel the need for segregation as many benefit from it as are held back by it. Modern therapy techniques often indicate confronting the source of an anxiety in order to overcome it.

Also the idea that one poster posited that modern campus activity is dominated by males, that classrooms are the same is completely foreign to my own experience. You can usually do a demographic search of public/state schools which indicate the gender makeup of the institution. My own university Portland State is predominantly female and over 35.

Logrus,
Modern therapy is not accessible to everyone, and a change in environment can have the same effect while still having other benefits, like a decent education. Also, taking the time to learn that you are capable of being valued does not equal anxiety, and being able to be in an academic setting without the additional worry of being treated like crap because you happen to be one gender of the other can increase productivity and confidence. The desire to be treated like a person does not mean one needs therapy.

The gendered classroom dynamics have not been your experience because it is quite likely that you are male, and there fore would not notice if the women in the class are being silenced so that you can be deferred to.

Schools are also not the only competitive environment available to college students. Internships, jobs, general everyday life has many other opportunities for different kinds of interaction.

Like I said, going to a single sex school does not mean that you are cloistered away from members of the opposite sex in any place besides the classroom. These interactions can be sought in many different places, including many that are more useful and more applicable than a classroom.

I pointed out that the OP should do whatever it is that she feels she needs. If she has been doing fine in a coed setting and wants to stay in it, then she should. However, this option does not work for everyone, and alternative choices should be available. Judging everyone who makes this choice with the set of assumptions that you seem to have is ignorant at best.

Dori: My penis does not control the gender population of my school or it's administrative/faculty makeup any more than it prevents me from being a fair observer. However because you feel I'm in opposition to your point of view you feel the need to imply a bias. Who is using their gender and power to silence whom here?

Your obvious gender bias means that no one with a "Y" chromosome can engage you in conversation so long as they feel differently than you so I'm done.

social interaction in a non-competitive environment will not prepare you for a competitive environment,

What makes you think that women aren't competitive with one another? I've played women's soccer, and trust me, we are.

In fact, women are much less competitive (IME) in integrated environments because males are always deferred to, anyway, so why bother trying? As I learned that what I said mattered and grew into my voice in a predominately female academic environment, I am way less likely to back down when faced with disagreement, from either males or females. Gaining confidence in oneself in a single-gender environment makes one more competitive and able to stand up for one's beliefs, not less.

I actually went to a women's college -- Bryn Mawr -- and, far from feeling unprepared to compete in the "male world" I found it really helped me define my voice, not just as a woman, but as a human being. I left college with a hell of a lot more confidence than when I came in, because I was able to hold my own with the tough academics and many brilliant women (and men!) surrounding me. And my college was far from a cloister, mainly because we had opportunities to take classes (even a degree) at three coed universities. So the male competition was there. And ElleStar is absolutely right -- women are every bit as competitive as men are.
Do NOT let people like Logrus freak you out. Any smart employer will hire a person who will be an asset. Besides, do you really want to work for some douche with such sexist views of women's education?
My alma mater has only been an asset to me in the workplace, not to mention the fact that there is an "Old Girl" network to tap into. The president of Harvard went to my school. Luckily, Logrus had no say in her hiring decision!
It really depends on what kind of college experience you want. I wanted to go to a small college campus, with strong academics, traditions and no Greek system or a lot of emphasis on partying and sports. If you want the sorority, lots of parties, coed dorm big classes thing, then you need to go for that. Or there are places in-between. I would recommend Swarthmore, for example, for that. And Swat is one of BMC's co-op schools, so you could get the woman's college experience that way.
Good luck!

ElleStar: Did you cut and snip out of context on purpose or was it by accident?

I was answering the statement regarding women going to a sexually segregated university not interacting with males. My statement was referring to the social interactions which are outside the competitive academic environment being non-competitive.

The original context and response:

Statement: "going to a sex-segregated school doesn't mean you never see a member of the opposite sex ever."

My response (in context): "social interaction in a non-competitive environment will not prepare you for a competitive environment, just like completely non-social (business, academic) interaction won't prepare you for social interaction."

Creative editing isn't argument.

"Also if I were going to hire a person for my company I would have to really consider any prospective employee's ability to work well in a fully integrated office as part of what they have to offer. Academics is only a fraction of what we learn at college."

=

"Do NOT let people like Logrus freak you out. Any smart employer will hire a person who will be an asset. Besides, do you really want to work for some douche with such sexist views of women's education?"

Nice. Reading comprehension and semantics must not be a curriculum focus. I like how the implication is I'm a douche (ad hominem attacks, the hallmark of a good education) for stating that a faced of the education history, not the gender of the applicant mind you, would be a factor.

"My alma mater has only been an asset to me in the workplace, not to mention the fact that there is an "Old Girl" network to tap into. The president of Harvard went to my school. Luckily, Logrus had no say in her hiring decision!

Because the answer to sexism is more sexism. Awesome.

Also academic hiring processes are not reflected in the non-academic world, you should know this. Do you know this?

"And my college was far from a cloister, mainly because we had opportunities to take classes (even a degree) at three coed universities. So the male competition was there."

1) In the real world the "option" for competing with males isn't usually an "option". Generally men and women behave differently, particularly in a professional environment. If you plan on competing with them in that environment then it's best to get that experience before it becomes a career killer. Does it suck? I don't think I indicated otherwise, but it's reality.

2) So do you get something from the experience of competing in an integrated environment? Yes or no? Because frankly it looks like you're trying to walk down both sides of the argument here. Is that a tactic or an accident?

Meanwhile I'm a douche (yeah, I guess that hurt my feelings a little bit since I can't get over it) because I'm trying to provide what I hope will be a helpful perspective to a female poster. Obviously this must be part of my plan to undermine her because, you know, I hate women and stuff.

"... any more than it prevents me from being a fair observer. "

Logrus, you are apparently unfamiliar with standpoint theory. You would do yourself a favor if you fixed that. Those of us with privilege also have a hard time seeing outside the bounds of our experience; our social role is "normal" for us, so we don't notice anything "ut of place" when we are at an advantage due to our privilege. Men don't know when men are dominating classroom discussion.

It is, in fact, the case that humans are notoriously unreliable observers. Our ability to distill the quantitative facts from our impressions is one of our poorest capacities; so, no, you do not have a reliable ability to determine if your classroom discussions are gender-biased or not, both because of simple human incapacity and because of privilege.

Also, Logrus, what you wrote to Dori is a classis shut-down; the sort of thing men should not do to women in the women's movement. It is, in fact, a dick maneuver, in the most literal sense. Further, it contains the logical fallacy of inferring her intent, which you cannot know because of the gulf between self and other. So what you wrote was not only rude, it was presumptuous.

Thomas: logical conundrum here. If I'm incapable of making accurate observations, what about those times when I observe male dominance over women or sexism being enacted?

Educate yourself on logical fallacy (condescension is a two way street).

I didn't understand your sentence's context right away. I guess it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Are you saying that women are at a disadvantage when interacting with men while at their jobs if they've only previously interacted with men in social situations?

You're either going to have to explain that further or I'm still going to call BS on that. Yes, they might be taken aback when they're interrupted and/or dismissed because the ideas and suggestions are coming from a female's mouth, but they'd probably be more likely to stand up to any subtle boardroom sexism.

Women in competitive academic situations don't act all that differently from men when there aren't men around. In fact, this is what keeps so many women silent in co-ed situations: we didn't want to be seen as "masculine" for speaking up, having the right answers, assuming our opinions mean anything. This kept me very silent in high school. I graduated 5th in my class of over 300 and was still as quiet as a mouse when it came to discussions of theory and ideas because it had been communicated to me all through high school that my ideas didn't matter when the boy next to me also had an idea.

However, when there were only girls sitting next to me and my opinions counted just as much as theirs, I became more vocal and willing to become active in discussions. Women and men are really not all that different when we feel we're being taken seriously.

juliagoolia-

Ha! I love your user name. Anyway, I'm an alum of a women's college that has a unique partnership with a men's college. Here's the website, which probably does a better job explaining than I will: http://www.csbsju.edu.

Because of the way our schools were set up, we shared educational resources and fully integrated co-educational curriculum. At the same time, we had separate sports programs, separate res halls (which I LOVED because no strange men were wandering down the hall as I went to the showers in my bathrobe), and separate student senates with certain co-committees that worked together. I felt like I had the best of both worlds - a coeducational environment as well as a women's college which put a premium on women's leadership and development.

Really, there are positives and drawbacks to both environments, so the best thing to do is check out both types of schools and find the one that feels like the best fit - may be women's, may be co-ed. My experience at a women's college was very positive: I was in student government on an equal footing with my male peers, an RA, able to present at national conferences and a leader in many campus organizations. Far from being non-competitive, our school taps very bright young women (my incoming class's average SAT's and ACT's were higher than our male peers at our partner-school) and is very focused on developing young women as leaders.

ElleStar: Fair enough, I can't speak to how women treat each other when there are no men around, but I can say that in the office men treat women differently than they treat other men. Even if a man is a real jerk to another man they will often be real jerks in a completely different way toward women.

Exposing yourself to both the beneficial and the harmful aspects of gender interactions, to me, is an advantage that should not be passed up.

And I think a big part of my original statement is really being overlooked in an effort to try and paint me as a misogynist: It benefits the men in school to be in the presence of challenging and strong women. The OP stated that she is competing well in a mixed environment, I can only see her contribution to educating her peers as being a good one, not only for the males but as an example for her female classmates.

"Also if I were going to hire a person for my company I would have to really consider any prospective employee's ability to work well in a fully integrated office as part of what they have to offer. Academics is only a fraction of what we learn at college."

Logrus, if you discriminated based on if a woman attended a women's college, that could be labeled as sexual discrimination. Not that you'd get caught for it. You must feel happy to have that privilege.

We're not here to prove to you that women are competitive with one another, that women don't need to face the corporatized version of the "real world" in order to prove their successes (or failures), or to argue the importance of a single sex education (this goes for women and men) to someone unwilling to listen.

I will say, however, that we don't need your patronizing comments about learning to stand up to chauvinism by going to integrated schools-- trust me, if you think our educational setting is the only place we have to learn to deal with the real world of assholes, then maybe you haven't been paying close enough attention to the subtle (or mostly overbearing) sexism can dominate aspects of our lives that don't affect you. And I'm not about to list them. Personally, I wouldn't hire someone who couldn't do his own research.

You must think yourself some big shot progressive go-getter for posting to this community, but it doesn't make you a feminist, and you don't deserve a round of applause from us for showing up. You have to learn to play the game, too, and stop making assumptions about the construction of this "real world" and stop making assumptions about how to create "strong women."

Also, do your research. Women's colleges produce many successful women, who often go to grad school, law school, etc, right out of college, and who make a huge difference in this world. Maybe not in ways you agree with, maybe in ways that reinforce ideals of femininity or in ways that challenge the norm. But they make a difference.

Trust me on this one, not that I trust you.

*
To the original poster:

I clearly went to a women's college, and I recommend it. But also think about what you plan on majoring in and how much financial aid, etc, will factor your decision. I am pleased with my choice, but it's not for everyone-- but if you're really considering it, that's a good sign!

Jessica: Because having unpopular views = disruptive. Good to know.

Glad to know diversity of opinion is acceptable only up to a point. Know that I don't need you to agree with me for me to want to be your ally, I'm just sad that it isn't a two way street.

I'm not even going to address logrus' asinine comments. The other women & men commenting in this post are already doing a very handy job of breaking it down.

I just graduated from Hollins University, a small, private, women-only school in Roanoke, VA.

I wasn't gung-ho about women's colleges, but women's colleges recruited me heavily, so that's mostly where I ended up applying. I was attracted to Hollins because of its beauty, small size, and strong creative writing program - I was just not averse to single-sex education. But going to Hollins was pretty much the best decision I ever made.

A single-sex education can give you confidence that you have never known in your intellectual ability. The absence of men in the classroom taught me to speak, listen, learn, and concentrate. I felt valued for my intelligence for the first time since elementary school. I learned how to make the most of my naturally assertive personality, rather than hide it against challenges and mockery – a trait that is currently serving me very well in the corporate world, where I work with men every day. The lack of significant judgment of my looks and dress habits taught me that I am beautiful and worthy of being looked at. In college, I learned to show off my body with clothes that fit well and look good (and are feminine – I dress mainly in dresses and skirts now), rather than hide it with ill-fitting jeans and t-shirts. And there are definitely boys around, in the classroom occasionally and visiting women. I met my current boyfriend at a Hollins party. Granted, these are just my experiences. But I credit a lot of my growth to the single-sex environment.

I could go on for days, but this is all that comes to mind right now. My personal experience with women’s colleges was amazing. I met so many wonderful, beautiful, inspiring women and learned so much about myself. I’m really happy with my life and myself right now, and I have Hollins to thank for that.

It’s not for everyone, though. Here are my thoughts on the specific questions you posed:

Wouldn't it be awesome to be at a school full of strong women like myself? YES!

But would going to a women's college (and possibly majoring in women's studies) label me? Maybe, but I think that the confidence you’ll gain from being at a women’s college will give you the strength to fight that label.

Choose the school that is best for you. If you feel most comfortable at a women’s college, go there. If you feel most comfortable at a co-ed institution, go there.

Dear Logrus,
I did not call you a douche. I called any employer who discriminates against a women's college grad because he or she thinks this woman is unable to deal with men a douche. If you are such an employer, then, yes, you are a douche. But since you implied you are a college student, and not an employer, you are not a douche. However, if you continue to subscribe to this belief and become an employer, then you will turn into a douche.
In this thread, you have made some erroneous conclusions about the women's college experience. You assume that women who go to such colleges will have problems integrating in coed society, because these colleges keep them from interacting with men on an academic and social basis.
I actually attended a woman's college, and I would like to inform you that is bullshit. Again, all jokes my college friends and I made about the Bryn Mawr convent aside, it's NOT a cloister. We are NOT kept away from the menz for four years behind thick walls and indoctrinated to be uppity man-hating hirsute baby-killing feminazis.
I get very tired of uninformed people throwing assumptions around about women's colleges not preparing women for the "real world". Or that those who enroll there are scared of or hate men, and will freak out the first time they work with "eeekkk!" a man.
Not that you would think that, or anything, Logrus. Because you are not a douchey employer, who has reservations about hiring a woman's college grad, right?

To give you another perspective on this, I have gone to multiple colleges, none of which were all-women colleges, but I have really found my voice at the one I'm at now. I've definitely started to "find my voice" in the last few years, though I'm not sure exactly what to attribute it to. (The classes I've taken for my major (Anthropology) have been heavily female-dominated, but I've taken plenty of classes that were about even in gender too.) I think the size of most of my classes has been pretty conducive to getting me to speak up; I believe the average is around 15 students, which is a lot less intimidating than 100 or even 30. Plus, my professors can make a point of getting to know everyone individually, and most of my professors have been incredibly encouraging of classroom discussion in general. I also make a point of thinking carefully before I speak and trying to avoid sounding like I think I don't know what I'm talking about. Having confidence in yourself (which you sound like you do) will definitely make most others have confidence in you as well.

But I also think (and I don't know how this might help you but I'm going to throw it in here anyway) that being older than most of my peers has helped, since I'm not seeking any of their approval. I've seen a lot of girls in my classes who are sitting with a group of their friends and will whisper to each other sometimes but when it comes their turn to speak up, they glance at their friends first, and won't speak up at all if they aren't specifically called on. Perhaps part of this is the tendency of girls to gender-police each other, especially when boys are around (though this has happened in classes with only one or two boys too).

So if you choose NOT to go to an all-female school, I would recommend that you get to know your professors as well as you can (ask them questions during or after class that show you were paying attention, for instance, and they will be much more likely to remember who you are) and show your female friends right off the bat that you will speak up without hesitation. Maybe they will even be encouraged to do the same.

Attending an all women's college was the most positive experience for me. I had attended a co-ed college and for me it was not the best for my education. As an freshman, sophomore, and junior I was ridiculed by men for my opinions.I attended Stephens College in Columbia, MO for my Senior years (a whole 2). There was a since of knowing who you were and what you believed.

I know that an all gender college is not for everyone. That being said besure that the college you choose lets you voice your opinion.

Hi juliagoolia [cute name, by the way!],

As a rising senior at Mount Holyoke College, an all-women's college, I absolutely have to chime in here. I love going to a women's college for a number of reasons, but some of them specifically stand out, so I will share them with you so that perhaps you can get an idea of where I am coming from with my intense love.

I love that I have been able to feel worthy and respected as a female student by both my peers and professors. Throughout highschool I did exceptionally well in both academic and extra curricular activities, but was often harassed or insulted by male peers [occasionally female peers as well] and teachers of both sexes for my achievements. Going to an all-women's school I can be confident that my mostly female peers [I will explain later more about that] and professors don't think I am stupid because I am a woman; after all, they chose to attend or teach at Mount Holyoke knowing it was a women's college. We also have a lot of female professors, from what I understand a higher proportion than many but not all co-ed schools, which helps to give students a perspective about what women can achieve, and role models to look up to. Some of my professors, especially the older ones, have had to overcome SO MUCH discrimination based on gender throughout their lives and academic careers. They understand both blatant and subtle sexism, and they know how to help us build confidence in ourselves and our ability to accomplish things.

I love that I have become more confident and outspoken during my college career. A lot of that has to do with encouragement in the environment. Professors often remind us that although women are commonly socialized to be more softspoken and compromising, that we owe it to ourselves and the world to let our ideas and opinions be known. Seeing other intelligent women in the classroom and the way professors treat their comments and thoughts in class has also given me confidence, because I know that those strong women will not judge me for being outspoken, and the professors will respect what I have said.

I love the networking that is available through the college and alumnae. It is awesome to see recruitment for jobs going on because we know that the employers doing the recruitment want strong women in their company, and that they are specifically focusing on that. We know they won't give us information when we ask for it but drop us like a hot stone as soon as a man approaches the table for the same reasons. That has happened to me many times at job fairs outside my college.

And you know what? I will admit some other things that I love as well, even though they may prompt an outcry from offended parties in this thread. I appreciate female-oriented housing, with less men in my dorm [only transmen and guests of students]. I appreciate that I can feel safe walking to the bathroom in my towel for a shower, which I would never do in a co-ed dorm, even if I lived in female-only housing. I appreciate that, from what I have read statistics-wise, having less men on campus statistically shows that we have less rapes occurring. I do feel safer. Sorry if that offends anyone. I know that not all men are rapists and some of my closest friends are men, but when it comes down to it, I am more likely to be physically or sexually assaulted by someone of the opposite sex, and that makes me uncomfortable.

Do I realize that my college is different from the "outside world." I mean, kind of. However, saying that an all-women's college is some kind of bubble is a bit misleading. We have an exchange of students between five colleges in the immediate area. There is one other women's college, and three co-ed schools. I've had men in my classes, but they have been respectful of female students and come there expecting to be in the minority, which I think is very admirable, and gives them pause to consider their actions and attitudes. I have even had men in my classes sheepishly admit that they lacked respect for the women in their classes before taking a class at my college. They said we were smart and confident. They said the women in their classes were less likely to speak up, and it seemed like they didn't have their own ideas and opinions. When I explained that that might have something to do with the way women are socialized to behave or due to male-dominated classrooms or prejudiced professors, that made them think more about their own environments and female students they know. It gave them an opportunity to think about how their male privilege affected those around them.

My experiences at co-ed schools, both in summer classes, and taking semesters at other colleges while on leave made me appreciate the women's college environment further. Sometimes in the past I was tempted to think that the stories of male-dominated discussion or misogynist professors were hyperbolic or just someone being "too touchy." Perhaps I haven't always been the best feminist in the world. ;) Experiencing that first-hand changed my perspective on that: not being called on despite raising my hand often to answer or ask questions, lack of female students used as examples in hypotheticals by professors, male students being allowed to interrupt and talk over other people [mostly women] over and over again. In a way it's sad because it isn't entirely the male students' faults that some of them were socialized to behave that way in the classroom. But that doesn't mean I want to be there with them when they behave that way, either. And not all of them do. I have experienced both and I have a preference for single-sex education.

Does that make me AT ALL not ready to face the "real world"? Well, my college IS the real world, so I highly doubt it. I don't think competing against someone of the opposite sex in the classroom is necessarily more valuable than competing against other women, who are extremely competitive as well. There are men present commonly, in both academic and social settings. I have worked many jobs and internships in co-ed environments, and many of those have been extremely competitive. I have done debate team and model united nations in co-ed settings. I have taken courses with men, and have found myself *markedly* more willing and able to speak up in situations where I might have felt uncomfortable before.

The idea that graduates of women's colleges are looked down upon is sort of ludicrous. Don't let people like Logrus mislead you about that. Many women's colleges are ranked highly by systems such as US News and others who do that sort of thing. Those rankings need to be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but can be useful in getting an idea about the level of respect associated with the school, since people commonly do care and think about rankings. Employers wouldn't specifically target our schools if they didn't think we could adequately perform in a mixed-sex setting or weren't capable. Our alums wouldn't do so well in all different employment areas and careers. Don't let that deter you. Also remember that Women's Studies/Gender Studies is in some places a newer addition to the curriculum, but growing EXTREMELY fast and becoming well-respected. New programs are popping up all over the country every year. People are getting over the hangup that it is taboo or unnecessary. I am a Gender Studies minor, so I have learned a bit about these things. I doubt people will think poorly of you because of that.

Now, please don't misunderstand. I am not saying that a single-sex environment is for everyone, because it's definitely not. I know some people who don't like my college because of that, or who have transferred. It isn't the same as being at a co-ed highschool or college, but I don't think there can really be a value judgment about which is better or able to prepare you more for higher education or the workplace. Check it out. I would advise going to visit if at all financially and logistically possible, and staying overnight or even for a weekend with someone at the colleges you are considering, both co-ed and single-sex. That might give you a better idea of what you will experience. Ask students what they think of the school, but remember that not everyone has the same preferences and experiences, and you need to do what is right for you personally.

Also, something to think about is the possibility that you might want to consider a smaller school in general. Some of the things I have mentioned above might have something to do with less students in the classroom encouraging students to speak up more or having more opportunities to speak. Some people find it more intimidating, I guess, but I'd take it any day over a huge lecture hall! Again, it's personal. It also gives the professors an opportunity to get to know you as a student, and know who it is that is asking the question or responding to a question posed. If I know a professor knows who I am and remembers that I am generally a good student, that makes me more confident in their classroom. It also gives you an opportunity to meet with them one on one in their office, and not deal with only TAs, like some of my friends at larger schools do. It's personal, all of it, but something to consider.

The last thing I want to say before I conclude this novel is that I don't consider women's colleges to be discriminatory in the least. They are one method of rectifying the destructive discrimination in education that has been so persistent, even with steps forward made by the feminist movement, etc. Someday, when hopefully there is more equality of the sexes, there won't be as much of a need for them. Until then I think they are a great option for people who want to go that route.

Good luck in making your decision! :)

PS: Logrus, I hope you are never in a position to make employment decisions, but if in some unfortunate situation you are, I will relish your being sued for gender discrimination. The great thing about students of women's colleges is that we have quite the grasp on how to recognize those sorts of legal issues and deal with them confidently and effectively.

I love all the positive posts from women who went to women's colleges. :) I am a recent graduate of Agnes Scott College, and when I was starting my college search in high school I was completely against going to a women's college. My personal stereotypical image of a women's college was a bunch of prudish virgins who were afraid of having to compete with men, or something equally ridiculous. I was outspoken in my high school classes (and received more awards in high school than any of my male or female classmates) and had no fear of competing with men in college. Then I got a full-ride scholarship to a prestigious private women's college, and decided to go with mine and my mom's wallet and go there instead of Washington University (over $40,000 a year, four years ago, YIKES!)

My first visit to the school after being accepted changed my mind about women's colleges completely. Every woman I talked to (even ones that didn't work in the admissions office) had glowing things to say about the professors and the camaraderie around campus. Not to mention the place was absolutely gorgeous (less a women's college thing, and more an Agnes Scott thing) I was sold, especially after I met the philosophy professor who would later become my adviser, a world renowned Kant scholar!

As some other commenters have mentioned, my school gave you the option to take classes at local colleges and universities, such as Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Morehouse, Spelman, and Emory. So there is the ability to interact with men in the classroom. We also have a Master's program and a Post-Bachelor's program to help people take classes they need for med school and some classes (particularly science and math classes) have male students in them. I took a calculus class my freshman year, and there was one male in the class. After the first three weeks of class, he had to drop it and switch to pre-cal because he wasn't prepared for calculus! It was fun to be in a math class full of bright women, as most of my high school upper level math classes were about 80% male.

I don't think women miss any competition going to an all women's college. The women at my school were fierce, competitive, intelligent, and sometimes ruthless. The atmosphere at the school was trying to push every one of us to do the best we could, to talk in class, to think critically. I think that these are traits that are instilled at many small liberal arts colleges, but I don't think a women's college is lacking.

I've also had the ability to hang out with men socially. My boyfriend of two years just graduated from Georgia Tech, and Georgia Tech's 70% men to 30% women ratio meant that we were always welcome at their gatherings and they were welcome at ours.

And grad school opportunities and employment opportunities are readily available to women's college graduates. Our career planning office gets requests for Agnes Scott graduates to fill positions all the time, and we have an extremely high rate of women being accepted into prestigious graduate schools. There is also a large network of alumnae that work in law firms and corporations who are looking to help Scottie Sisters.

Women's schools aren't for everyone, but there is no way in which going to a women's college is going to be a disadvantage to you, or make you less prepared for your career. My Scottie Sisters are feisty, and don't give a damn if men in the "real world" are going to try to bring them down, they've already competed with them for internships while here, and have competed with them for grad school spots and employment opportunities and have done extremely well.

(This may sound like a love ode to Agnes Scott, because it partially is, but I hear the same thing from women I meet from women's colleges around the country.)

Good luck choosing schools! And look into Agnes Scott if you like women's colleges, because they have a large scholarship endowment (almost all my friends had some sort of scholarship, between 5,000 and 36,000 a year) and the campus is right outside of Atanta, so you get a small, personal school and a big city with lots of stuff to do and lots of job and internship opportunities.

juliagoolia posted at July 21, 2008, at 12:30AM: "Supposedly women learn better when they aren't competing with or being intimidated by their male peers, but I have survived 12 years of coed schooling and have never been afraid of voicing my opinions or doing well in (god forbid!) math and science."

Which reminds me, what about the other women who do feel intimidated by male peers who often speak up in math and science? How many of them also feel intimidated by female peers who do the same thing and often speak up in math and science?

Likewise, imagine a quiet student feeling sick of a few boys in each of her high school classes speaking up more than everyone else even when they're not sure of the answer, going to an all-female college to avoid that...

...and then having a few women in each of her college classes speaking up more than everyone else even when they're not sure of the answer.

In high school I did speak up in class more, so I took the hint from descriptions of which learning styles women's colleges catered to and I didn't apply to those schools.

juliagoolia posted at July 21, 2008, at 12:30AM: "...But then again, would it be a slight to my feminist foremothers if the women's schools they fought to create were closed or turned coed?..."

Good question. From what I've heard, when Randolph-Macon Women's College's admins considered accepting men as degree students the alumnae reaction had a generation gap. For example, a higher % of the Class of 1995 than of the Class of 1945 had chose RMWC in part because it's all-female, a higher % of the Class of 1945 than of the Class of 1995 would have attended coed schools instead if they could, etc.

At any rate, I bet RMWC's founders wouldn't have been impressed with news like this: "Dividing lines" by Erinn Hutkin, March 30, 2008, http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/156350

Dori commented at July 21, 2008 11:00 AM: "The option should be there for those women who are not as secure as you are in their worth and abilities as women."

...and for those women who are as secure but whose parents aren't as supportive.

What about when a young woman's parents refuse to chip in for coed schools, she can't afford to go to college without her parents chipping in*, and she doesn't want to wait until age 24 or whenever to go to college?

Dori commented at July 21, 2008 11:52 AM: "Like I said, going to a single sex school does not mean that you are cloistered away from members of the opposite sex in any place besides the classroom."

Don't forget cross-registration. At Wellesley and Spelman, women aren't cloistered away from members of the opposite sex even in the classroom. Some of the students in the classrooms are men from MIT and Morehouse (BTW, women from MIT can take Wellesley classes too). Likewise, women from Wellesley and Spelman can take classes at MIT and Morehouse. Simmons has an all-female undergraduate program, coed graduate programs (if you want to get a librarian master's in Massachusetts, you have to go to Simmons), and I wouldn't be surprised if seniors can take graduate classes. I've also heard of some all-female schools accepting both male and female exchange students.

If one doesn't want to be in the same classroom as a male student, she might have better luck with one of UPhoenix's 100%-online bachelor's degree programs (more male classmates, but no classrooms).

JetGirl70 commented at July 21, 2008 1:03 PM: "It really depends on what kind of college experience you want. I wanted to go to a small college campus, with strong academics, traditions and no Greek system or a lot of emphasis on partying and sports. If you want the sorority, lots of parties, coed dorm big classes thing, then you need to go for that. Or there are places in-between. I would recommend Swarthmore, for example, for that. And Swat is one of BMC's co-op schools, so you could get the woman's college experience that way.
Good luck!"

Exactly! :)

RMJ commented at July 21, 2008 2:37 PM: "In college, I learned to show off my body with clothes that fit well and look good (and are feminine – I dress mainly in dresses and skirts now), rather than hide it with ill-fitting jeans and t-shirts."

Good point, and one that can vary depending on the student and how well her body fits the local standards of what's "beautiful enough" or even "female enough." For one example, when I was in middle school and had a "bearded lady" reputation even after I switched from following Mom's bleaching advice to shaving, it was another girl who asked if I was supposed to be born a boy. So I'd probably have felt no less pressure to be hairless at an all-female school (and maybe even some more pressure, a la "this place is for women, what's he doing here?" - OTOH, I've never yet been thrown out of a women's bathroom for "looking like a man" the way some other ciswomen have been).

* Keep in mind the way a lot of U.S. colleges and universities, and some U.S. federal financial aid programs, calculate financial aid. Usually they want info about the student's parents'/guardians' finances as well as the finances of the student herself or himself. What if a school tells a student "this year we expect you to contribute $300, your parents to contribute $10,000, and we'll give you grants and loans for the rest" and then the parents tell her or him "we won't chip in that $10,000 for just any school you want, we'll only pay if you attend [specific school or specific type of school]"?

I've heard of financial aid making exceptions for students who are at least 24 years old, aged out of foster care, are married, were in the military, etc. but it's probably much more difficult to get an exception because the parents don't like the school or the student enough.