thenudibranch

Hello Everyone!

I was recently accepted into Agnes Scott College and Mount Holyoke College. Long story short, my family could not afford MHC and Agnes gave me a merit scholarship. I was also rejected from Smith College, which was my first choice college.

Anyways, my problem is that now that I am enrolled in ASC, I am having second thoughts about attending. I feel like I might not fit in socially and that I might not enjoy living in Georgia. I have to attend for at least one semester now, but I am already sort of thinking about transferring.

My problem with fitting in socially is that I am the kind of person people are afraid of at women's colleges. I am a queer women who is also a radical feminist. I dress in a very butch manner and also am an amateur drag king. I do not harass people with my beliefs and actually tend to be fairly quiet in social situations. But I know that my physical appearance sometimes intimidates people.

I guess being stressed out about college is normal and it is normal to be scared about moving 3,000 miles away from home. I know that transferring is always an option and I am not "trapped" at ASC.

I guess I just want to hear a perspective from someone who is not my friend or in my family. I feel kind of bad about posting this because my parents are all excited/proud that I got a scholarship. My friends just think I am crazy for going to Georgia.

I just want to know, will Agnes be a huge culture shock for me? Would I be better suited socially at Smith or MHC? Should I be worrying so much?

Thanks for your help!

Consolation

I would think that you might indeed fit in better at MHC or Smith, but since you can't afford one and didn't get into the other, it's a moot point. ASC is right outside Atlanta, connected by MARTA, correct? I think that Atlanta is supposed to have a large and varied LGBT scene, so perhaps you will be able to find sympatico people there.

Go in with an open mind, and keep your grades up. You'll either find that it's a great place for you, or you will be able to transfer. Good luck!

feminawesome

I don't know much (or anything, really) about Agnes Scott, but all the women's colleges I looked into are super open and alternative. Look on student sites or contact a current student on facebook or something to ask about it-- it can help a lot

welles10

Imo, it's a bad idea to enter college with the thought of "I'm going to be here a year and then I'm going to transfer." Generally in those cases it doesn't work out well -- one ends up too focused on transferring and doesn't really consider what the current college can offer.

Move in in the fall and see how classes go. See if you like where you are and the people who surround you. Give it a chance, as it may surprise you. I have found that colleges do accept/reject people for a reason. Colleges want to find students who they think will fit in with the rest of the students at their school -- in essence, a school rejecting you may actually be doing you a favor in the long run.

dntw8up

What can you do? Whether you'd be happier at MHC or Smith is irrelevant, because you can't afford the former and were rejected from the latter. Nobody knows whether they will love their school until they try it for awhile. Agnes may be ideal, it may be ok, or you may hate it, but you won't know until you give it a fair shot. Everyone is scared when such a large change is looming, but what's the alternative?

J'etude

thenudibranch:

I am sure that Agnes Scott has many clubs and organizations that have women with the same interests as you. They have WAVE which

"was established to enhance the feminist community on campus. WAVE takes action on campus, local and national feminist issues and concerns, provides leadership and career building opportunities for feminist students, and strives to establish a broad constituency to work in the pursuit of social, political, and economic equality for humanity."

they also have LBTQIA Collective which
"provides a comfortable, safe and supportive meeting environment for lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and allied members of the Agnes Scott community.
The collective strives to educate the campus about lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and gay issues and to raise consciousness and promote acceptance and celebration of all members of the campus community"

they also say you can contact a woman named Mallory Nelson at mnelson@agnesscott.edu (she is the head of the LBTQIA) if you have any questions about it.

Hillary2012

You're missing one crucial point here: Atlanta is VERY different from (the rest of) Georgia.

Atlanta has a huge LGBT community, which would be very accepting of your lifestyle.

While I can't speak for the students of Agnes Scott as a whole, you won't have trouble with people in Atlanta.

thenudibranch

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I guess I'll just try it out for a semester. The semester starts so early that I could go for a month and if I really disliked it, withdraw from the college and go to UW-Tacoma.

However, I will give Agnes a chance first.

Thanks again everyone! This has been a tough issue for me.

Rwasko

yay for queer feminist women! I am sure you will fit in just fine. Good luck!

TrinSF

Hi! Call it Scott, BTW, or ASC -- no one calls it Agnes. *grin*

Anyway, here's a story. I went to ASC freshman year, 25 years ago. At the time, I swear to god, I thought that there was only one lesbian at ASC, a senior, and one freshman who was teased about it. Honest to god. When I visited the dorm room of two seniors I idolized and there was only one bed, I honestly thought that one of them slept on the couch. :-)

So, after that year, I had to take a year off and then other stuff happened, and I didn't go back. But some years later, I was at an Indigo Girls show at Little Five Points Pub, and there were *tons* of my former classmates from ASC there. And I had this moment, like uh, Banky at the Kit Kat Club in Chasing Amy, where I suddenly realized they were with each other, in couples, and that really, *many* of my former classmates had been queer, but I had been too uh, something to notice it. :-)

In fact, not only had many of my classmates been LGBT, but so had several of my professors -- I hadn't really paid attention -- and that's become even more true. I think you'll find that Atlanta can be quite comfortable for LGBT folks. The Pride celebration is nice and huge, there are many gay friendly businesses, and Decatur especially (where ASC is) is comfortable for LGBT folks. (All of my queer friends lived there, for example!)

As for being into drag, butch, and that at ASC, you are going to find *some* girls who are uncomfortable with that, in the same way that they're uncomfortable with all things LGBT. You're also going to be exposed to the peculiar Southern flavors of lesbians -- pearl-wearing Southern femmes, for example -- that can be really cool. Or, uh, hot. :-)

egresham

I'm a current sudent at Agnes and I can honestly say that Agnes is very acceppting of everyone. You're choice in fashion is not going to be obstacle for 90% of the people at Agnes (and nobody can please everybody). Atlanta is also very accepting of people. Most folks have way to much to think about to be worried about your choice in clothing. You wouldn't have to conform to any standards at Agnes. Agnes is also very open and accepting about bieng "queer" and anything else. I am no queer and would have stubbed anybody who was before coming to Agnes. being there has made me more open minded and accepting. i think its a good place for almost anybody and dont worry about fitting in, we all fit in because we all stand out.
I didn't mean for this to turn into a plug for Agnes but as you can tell i love my college.

Pearl

We live in the area and I can tell you that the city of Decatur is well populated by lesbians and hetrosexuals alike. Midtown (near by) is known for homosexual men too ('men-town'..LOL). It is an accepting atmosphere where couples could walk the street holding hands and no one cares. I think that not only will you be fine, you will really like Agnes Scott. Give it a chance - it takes awhile to feel comfortable in any new place whether you are gay or straight. The opportunties that Scott offer you are tremendous. Good luck.