Kristen Bixby
Part of the college process in the winter/ spring of junior year is deciding what kinds of students you want to surround yourself with in college. Which types of students inspire you and enable you to do your best? Different schools attract different students, which influences the culture on campus.
When we meet with students to develop their list of colleges, one question we ask is about the kinds of students they want on campus. When meeting with female students, we often ask, “Would you consider a women’s college?”
Oftentimes the answer is “no”, especially for those students coming from co-ed high schools. It seems unthinkable. But we think that it makes a lot of sense for female high school students to at least consider a women’s college. There can be a lot of benefits to attending a women’s college and the data is quite telling:
- Women’s college graduates continue toward doctorates in math, science and engineering in much larger numbers than their peers at coed universities
- Women’s college graduates report greater satisfaction than their coed counterparts in almost all measures: academically, developmentally and personally.
- Women’s college students participate more fully in and out of class than women at coed colleges
- Graduates of women’s colleges develop measurably higher levels of self-esteem than other achieving women in coed institutions.
There are currently over 30 women’s colleges in the United States. Female high school students should at least consider, and possibly visit, a women’s college to decide if it could be a great match for them.
For more information, go to www.womenscolleges.org