I didn't and I don't know anyone who did. Many of the colleges in my area that used to be exclusively for women, back in my day, went co-ed years ago.

For those with more exposure to this than me, what does one find appealing about going to a women only college?

I did, and it has since gone co-ed fairly recently (maybe 5 years ago?). Honestly, I can't remember why I chose a women's college. It was the only women's college I applied to, so it wasn't like I was on a mission to attend only a women's school. I mostly chose the school for its location (city), size (very small), and decent art program in a liberal arts school. (I started as an art major but changed by the end of freshman year!) My school may have been a bit unusual because we had males living on campus because one of our dorms was leased to a nearby co-ed college. So we lived among men, but classes were just women. And we found plenty of guys to socialize with from other area schools. (I went to a LOT of frat parties!) I think it would have been much different (and not in a good way) if I had attended a women's school in a rural area without co-ed schools nearby. I probably wouldn't have even considered it.

I did find it weird when I found out that one of my son's male friends was going to my college....

I went to a girls' prep school that was wonderful. It went coed mid-70s when I was in college. When I was there, we had a headmistress and, obviously, girls ran everything. Since going coed, a woman has never been head-of-school and the boys are more often the presidents of student council. A huge new gymnasium complex was built-what? Girls didn't play sports? Breaks my heart. If I had it to do over again, I would have chosen a women's college. I think it would have continued what my high school started in building my self-confidence in my intelligence and capabilities. I think a lot of young women today could benefit from single-sex education. Studies show women and girls are more likely to speak up in discussions, participate and feel confident in math and science, etc than in a coed setting. We have made strides, but women still make less than men in many cases. Women today seem often to forget what it was like before the women's movement of the 1960s. I would encourage women to consider the option of a women's college. It isn't for everyone, but then nothing is. I love having the option.

Sure, I think they are relevant! I believe in providing options.

My niece is in her junior year at Barnard. She could have gone to college anywhere, with a 4.2 gpa, a perfect SAT score, and a diploma from Stuyvesant, one of the most academically elite schools in the nation.

She likes the atmosphere. She's a very serious student. Maybe there are fewer distractions? She can mingle with males at Columbia! The two schools have some sort of relationship, and she can register for classes there as well.

My daughter is in her senior year at Smith College. She absolutely loves it there--she is a very serious student (in the sciences) and devoted to her studies. She transferred there (from Hampshire College, a co-ed school in the same consortium)--the sense of community, the incredible support, and the resources are amazing. She is working on an honor's thesis, doing research, and got an internship at NIH. The school has all kinds of networks and opportunities--it is awesome.

She has a boyfriend (he lives several hours away) but there are plenty of opportunities to meet boys within the 5-school consortium.

My DD is also a graduate of Barnard and like Stinky's niece she was accepted at several top notch schools. There aren't too many all women colleges left and Barnard is rather unique in it's association with Columbia. Cross registration is easy and depending on your major a Barnard student might have most of her classes at Columbia. Some majors are only offered on one campus so Columbia students might find their courses are taught across the street on Barnard's campus.

Her diploma actually reads Barnard College of Columbia University. She didn't choose Barnard because it was all female - she chose it on the strength of it's academic programs, class size, reputation, location, and it's focus on women's education. She felt she was getting the best of both worlds- a small (4 acre) campus adjacent to Columbia with all it's research facilities plus all that New York City has to offer.

Love hearing your experiences and those of your loved ones! I chose to hold my thoughts and experiences because I wanted to hear from you all. I will share mine (some of which overlap what's already been posted).. but I need to go vote now!!

Please do keep it coming.. and thank you all for sharing.

Immediately after HS, I attended a major coed school before moving to a much more metropolitan area. After a few years I attended a very small all womens' college in that city, which unfortunately is now defunct. It was adjacent to a larger coed college so I had a chance to take courses in both. Without question, the younger women in the single sex college were far more willing to delve into issues, engage in critical analysis and feel quite secure in doing so. Since I was about four years older, and actually have always been able to discard much of societal pressures, I had no problem expressing my thoughts even at the first university I attended.

Decades later, I accompanied my husband on a speaking tour and had the same impression: women who are in a single sex environment, even though they were quite actively dating young men elsewhere, thrived in the classroom exchanges when not having to interact with male students. Smith College was one on those institutions that I was very impressed with: some of the most serious thinkers I had encountered, even in comparison with the students at Harvard, MIT, Emory, etc. Although I have not been in a similar position to compare attitudes in the last ten years, I suspect what others are sharing is prevalent today. Unfortunately, most parents don't do enough to support their daughters opting out of typical attitudes, or their sons for that matter, so the young people I know today -- albeit outside of their classroom experience -- are much more subject to rigid sexual roles than when I was in college 30+ years ago. We have made strides in economic parity and the glass ceiling is not quite as impenetrable, but our popular culture is far more disrespectful toward women so it's not as clear that we truly see ourselves in a more positive light.

Economic pressures are collapsing many of these colleges, but I wish it were otherwise.

Kkay, you describe what I have imagined to be the case at Smith..."the sense of community, the incredible support, and the resources are amazing." What a wonderful, enriching opportunity for your daughter.

Maire Cate, thanks for elaborating on the Columbia/Barnard connection. So your DD is a Barnard graduate...terrific! Yes indeed, in addition to the supportive environment for women, Barnard also offers a small campus with an intimate, personal learning environment & all NYC has to offer! Amazing.

Interesting and well-stated points, Abundantblessings.

This is a timely discussion for me as DD and I took our second tour of Bryn Mawr College just this morning. I believe that Bryn Mawr will end up being her first choice school but Barnard will be a close second.

The other few schools she will apply to are co-ed and include Swarthmore and the University of Pennsylvania. She's qualified to attend any of them but the women's colleges really appeal to her because she wants to major in math, which is not a major that typically appeals to females. She doesn't want to be "the token girl", as she puts it, in the majority of her classes.

DD is excited about the traditions (she keeps hearing about) at Bryn Mawr. To be honest, she also loves the fact that both Bryn Mawr and Barnard have relationships with other co-ed schools because she enjoys having guys in her life.

The more I hear about the benefits of single-sex education, the more I believe that a women's college will be the right choice for DD. I also believe that a women's college would have been right for me - too bad I didn't consider them all those years ago!

Flowers, you might suggest your daughter look at Smith as well. It has relationships with 4 other schools (Amherst, U-Mass, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire) and she can take classes at those institutions (my daughter did). There is a free bus service that runs from one campus to the next, and social events as well.

Smith is very strong in math and the sciences, has unique traditions (it was founded in 1871) and the housing is fabulous. My daughter got into Bryn-Mawr as well, but Smith is right in a charming small town (Northampton) with delightful shops and restaurants, and that has a lot of appeal.

Flowers, wish I had known you were at Bryn Mawr. I live around the corner! That campus is gorgeous (except for that one modern dorm). It's nice that students can walk to the train and be in center city in 20 minutes. The campus is very close to lots of shops, restaurants, etc.

My XH went to Trinity College in Hartford. It was so strange to go back there and see the young women shortly after they went co-ed. I only applied to big, co-ed schools. I think smaller schools, single sex or co-ed are far better because the kids get closer attention and know the faculty. Just my experience.

Flowers, like ded still does, I lived in the Bryn Mawr area most of my life. My hs was always referred to as "little Bryn Mawr" and was across the street. Our graduation ceremonies are always held in Bryn Mawr's Goodhart Hall. Small world. Bryn Mawr is a wonderful town. I am also quite familiar with Swarthmore and Penn. Both Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr also have beautiful campuses, but have to say, I love Bryn Mawr!

I went to a small, coed liberal arts college but I certainly think women's colleges are still relevant. My niece graduated from Wellesley last May, and could also have gone anywhere. She loved it, and got a great education. My best friend's daughter is a freshman at Mills College, and is also loving it.

Kkay, Smith sounds wonderful but we've ruled out schools in Boston because of the distance - we're in Pennsylvania and would like to stick to schools that are no more than four hours away. I'd really prefer her to be even closer than that since she has a connective tissue disorder which requires frequent doctor visits and physical therapy. It's taken us many years to find good doctors and it would be great if she could continue to see them. I appreciate the recommendation, though!

Ded and cyn, we live only about 30 minutes from Bryn Mawr and are very familiar with towns on the Main Line. We had never been to Bryn Mawr's campus until last spring and, you're right, it really is beautiful! And the modern dorm really is not! It sticks out like a sore thumb. I wouldn't be surprised if we've crossed paths at some point - perhaps in KOP at the mall. I met DH at Ursinus College and we quickly realized that we had probably passed each other many times over the years since his family frequented the same places that mine did. It really is a small world!

Ah, Flower, I completely understand. I wanted my daughter nearer home for medical reasons as well (I had encouraged her to apply to Bryn Mawr). Everything has worked out, but Northampton is quite a distance from our home outside of DC! Good luck to your daughter.

Oh Flowers, I did not know you live so close. I bet we have crossed paths, and perhaps it was at that mall. I sure have spent plenty of time there.

I attended Simmons College in Boston, which is right next door to Emanuel College, where my mother went, and Wheelock College, where my grandmother went. All women's colleges. I don't think it's an accident that Mom and Grandma were both very confident, outspoken women.

I graduated college in the early 80s. The reason I went to Simmons was mostly because they had the program I really wanted. Also, it was far enough away from home, but not too far. We could take classes at MIT. There are a couple of graduate programs that are co-ed.

What struck me the most was when I attended grad school in the 90s. The classes were mostly seminars where students were supposed to discuss and argue and debate. I was surprised at how little many of the other women talked in class, and how seldom they challenged anything a man said. And how often they let the male students interrupt them. I was just so used to women who spoke up all the time--because there was no one else to respond to the professor! In some classes, if you just listened to a recording of the class, you'd have thought there were just male students. And me--the outspoken one.

So I echo what abundantblessings said--I really do think that the single sex environment is a good one for many women, in helping them gain the confidence to challenge and argue and debate and speak up to make their voices heard. (Although in my case, I'm not sure whether it's my college or growing up with six brothers that makes the difference. Oh, did I mention I thought a women's college would be great because there would be no boys there? Growing up with six brothers does that to you.)

As a grad student, I taught a lot of freshman English classes. There were women students who did not speak up because they didn't want to appear "too smart" in front of a cute guy. The women told me this; it is not something I guessed.

There was no lack of young men at Simmons. Weekend mixers had guys from MIT, Harvard, Harvard Med, and several other surrounding schools. You had to be careful in the dorm bathrooms over the weekend, because you could not assume that there would be only women in there.

Simmons. Not a girls' school without men, but a women's college without boys. (We got very, very tired of being called a girls' school.)

Camlan -- I went to Emmanuel! Not quite at the same time but close -- I graduated in the later '80s.

Hey, Sueb20--waving at you from across Brookline Ave!

There's one more thing I want to point out about women's colleges--they tend not to have the extensive sports programs that co-ed colleges do.

Not that they don't have sports--we had a basketball team and a crew team and a field hockey team and probably some others that I can't remember. And lots of intramurals. And after a lot of fundraising, there's a much better gym than what we had, and since there's now a pool, there's a swim team.

But there isn't the big emphasis on football. Usually there's no football team. Which means that "traditions" like Homecoming and the like are either non-existent or take very different forms. There's no marching band. There's no big game to get people together on the weekend. If the women's college has strong connections to a co-ed college, the students might attend the games there, so there would be a choice, I guess.

I did not miss this at all. But some people might. So it's another thing to consider.

My mom went to Bryn Mawr and it was a cornerstone of her entire life. Granted, it was a different era (she graduated on D-Day), but she loved it so much she was an alumnae interviewer for young women applying to it for decades until her health deteriorated to the point she couldn't do it anymore.

She graduated second in her class and she and the valedictorian then went to Columbia Med, where there were obviously mostly men, and *again* graduated 1 and 2 (iirc reversed, but I'm not positive)! So the quality of the education has no apologies to make in comparison to *any* school. And the greater opportunity to explore traditionally male fields is still a precious gift these days.

But oy the joyful snobbery/pride: I still remember her saying that there was no Phi Beta Kappa at Bryn Mawr because *every* degree from Bryn Mawr was the same as a PBK, don't you know! Have they allowed PBK in now?

Ursinus grad here :-)

I went to Mt Holyoke many years ago....and agree with what most of the rest of you with women's college experience have said. And I might add that the competition is amazing....and from other women not guys!!
If you have the opportunity to send a daughter, by all means do it....and woe unto him who utters the words "Girls School"!! LOL!

So great to read everyone's experiences. Mine were much the same-- however, I went to Wilson College, a small women's college in south central PA so we didn't have the advantages of the schools in the big cities-- or those in Western MA/Boston where the environment of academic excellence is unmatched (IMO).

Like Sue, I didn't set out to go to a women's college. If I had, I'd probably have selected one that was in a different region and a little more focused on science/math-- however, I have NO complaints. Because women's colleges are so focused on providing opportunities to women, I had many advantages such as being able to work with my professors to design my own major, run my own lab/studies and build the kind of curriculum and experience that prepared me for graduate studies-- and, in fact, helped me to receive a full scholarship in a highly competitive PhD program.

When I started college, I was pretty confident and was quite comfortable (and quick) to speak my mind. What I lacked was the maturity and compassion to use my "voice" effectively. Through the many leadership opportunities and guidance of my peers and mentors, I learned how to use my voice to not just speak out -- but to speak out in a way to educate, influence and lead others. I learned to not just identify problems but to provide solutions-- because I was a part of the solutions. These skills have been invaluable not just in my careers but in my personal relationships.

I've had the opportunity to get back in touch with some of the students and professors recently as we rally to support the college, students and alumnae in facing the possibility of going coed. It has been a great reminder of what a great group of women we were... and are. We're professionals, business owners, teachers, lawyers, doctors. We're community leaders, mothers, activists, scientists and artists. We're passionate and wise and we know how to get things done.

When I was first contacted about the possibility of the college going coed, I had to ask myself if attending a women's college had benefited me. I've been in male-dominated fields my entire life-- through two different career paths. Had my women's college education prepared me for that work? I wasn't sure.. until I started reconnecting with my old classmates. We are all different and have gone down very different paths-- but there's just something different about this group. I've struggled to identify it and name it (which is why I haven't posted here for a few days). These women have such a strong sense of themselves and the worlds around them -- and hokey as it sounds, they are generously and passionately committed to sharing their experiences and giving back to other women. It's been humbling.. and inspiring.

And that's the other thing I gained from going to a women's college-- a great appreciation and admiration for other women. I think it's made me a better friend, sister, daughter and manager.

Thanks again sharing your thoughts and experiences! I've enjoyed them all.. and best wishes to all those with daughters and loved ones heading off to school!

funkyart I'd been wondering what the context was for your question. When you say "support the college in facing the possibility of going coed", do you mean you support the idea? I'm guessing it's because of declining enrollment, which is unfortunate, because this thread has actually started me thinking again very seriously about making sure my daughter is aware of the opportunities to study science without males in the room...

DD is one who is intensely interested in astrophysics, who took advanced high school chemistry in 9th grade (equivalent at the HS resource center here, with a retired public high school teacher) and killed it, BUT who decided not to join "science club" at the high school when she started in 10th grade because it was all boys : ( : ( It's been painful to watch as her interest in science has plummeted this year because it's so boy nerd-associated. A women's college would be *perfect* for her in many ways.

What do you think the college will do and what do you think about their choice?

Flyleft.. Going coed is but one of many tactics being considered for a strategy to strengthen the college. The commission has reviewed a number of areas-- and recommendations include adding new programs of study (and removing some) and improving marketing efforts to better leverage social media and alumnae. I am glossing over the details but there are an impressive number and range of recommendations-- many very much on target and long overdue.

Yes, like many colleges and universities, the economy has very much affected the college.. fewer students are going to 4 year colleges/universities, and fewer still are opting for a liberal arts degree. Considering the pool of students seeking a women's college is so small (2-4% depending on the study), the women's colleges have been hard hit-- many have gone coed in the last 20 yr and many of those that haven't have opened their classrooms to men (evening classes, adult ed programs, etc) without going "coed" in name.

When I spoke of supporting the college, students and alumnae, I was referring to participating in the discussions and sharing my thoughts and experiences. I am not actively involved with the commission or board of trustees but the college has been committed to including students and alumnae in the process by releasing reports and recommendations and conducting open meetings and discussions.

Wilson College was founded in 1869 and her identity, mission and traditions all reflect great pride in educating women across three centuries. As I am sure you can imagine, this is an emotional time for the current students, professors and alumnae. Of course, everyone wants the college to be financially viable and to thrive.. but not at the cost of her mission and identity.

The final decision has not yet been made. The Board of Trustees will review the recommendations of the President and the Commission and make the final decision in December. I hope that with the tremendous support (in time, money and love) of the alumnae, the board will decide to remain a women's college. It's happened before. The college was slated to close in 1979 due to declining enrollment and financial issues but the alumnae association rallied with great spirit and financial support and took legal action to prevent the closing.

We've made tremendous advances since 1869-- but I as many GWers said so much better than I could have, I do still believe there's a place for women's colleges. Your daughter is a perfect example of the kind of girl who would thrive in an environment that is singularly focused on educating women. I was far from the traditional "girl's school" (pardon the term!!) student. I was outspoken, wild, more than a little boy crazy.. but I was also serious about my studies and focused on my future. I'd hate to see the option disappear..