monydad

re"..Oberlin offers no linguistics ..."

Unless something's changed, if you look carefully I believe you will find a course buried in the Spanish department. And there may be one or two others, not sure, maybe in Anthropology??

But FWIW, the reports I've read on CC indicate linguistics is something some people who like languages think they may be interested in, then take a course and a lot of them find out it's nothing like what they thought, or want.

But of course not everyone feels that way, or there would be no linguistics majors in this world (instead of just very few). If you are one of those who may want it, you've every right to want it to exist at the school you matriculate to.

Keilexandra

^ There's one course in linguistic anthropology, I believe. Maybe in Spanish, taught in English; I haven't checked. But a "real" linguistics course is along the lines of "Introduction to the Theory of Syntax" at Carleton, for example.

I have no idea whether I'll pursue linguistics, which is why it's a secondary nice-to-have academic criteria for me; my ling-major friend is learning IPA in her free time and has always been interested in the technical aspects of language as a classical singer, so I think she's likely to stick with it.

EricLG

My daughter visited U-mass Ahmerst last month and liked the feel. I was a tad bothered by the zoo element, and wanted her to visit Smith, but unfortunately we ran out of time. I'd really like to hear experiences and opinions of Smithies past and present who are heterosexual. My daughter's initial thoughts when asked what she thought of applying to a women's college were 1) sexual orientation is a non-issue for her, but she does not want it to be a defining character of the college; and 2) she thought she might miss the heterogeneity of boy/girl environments. Like the Dad who posted earlier, she is leery of lack of diversity.

This post probably sounds like yet another ignoramus sticking his head out of the mud, and I apologize for it. And yet, I am looking for some reassurance that Smith could be a good fit for a smart, liberal straight girl who wants a real good education first and foremost. To be honest, Smith came up as a choice mostly because it seemed like a college that might provide Ivy'ish level education with a scholarship. My daughter may or may not be scholarship material, but if these are very wrong reasons to consider Smith, please let me know.

wej

@teenage_cliche

That's really unfortunate. My question, I guess, is what male characteristic requires you to undertake your undergraduate education in a co-ed school in order to better deal with the gender post-graduation? I think it's ridiculous to say that women's schools don't help women deal in the real world, especially considering the vast success of women from women's schools in the past.

Fight for it if you want it.

rocket6louise

EricLG: I honestly wouldn't worry about the the sexual orientation at Smith. Yes , there are lesbians, but there are also straight girls. She will have plenty of company in the hetero boat.

As for the the liberal, straight part, I think that's what the majority of Smith girls are. I know I am ! I think Smith is among the best schools in the country for girls like myself and your daughter. Def check it out

SmithieandProud

I'm a straight recent Smith grad and I can say that homosexuality is by no means the defining characteristic of Smith, no more than homosexuality is the defining characteristic of most gay people that I know. I'd say that being interested in making a difference on a micro or macro level and a strong thirst for knowledge are the true defining characteristics of Smith.

And women's colleges in no way cut back on the diversity. If anything, I think they give women the freedom the explore all of their talents and interests, even ones they might be a little embarassed about admitting to in front of a guy they were meeting for the first time.

I think your reasons are good reasons to consider Smith. As a seven sister, I think the education there can keep pace with any Ivy. Just keep in mind that while need-based financial aid is pretty generous at Smith, merit aid is in short supply. If you are looking strictly for merit-based scholarships and depending on that heavily, Smith may not be a good choice. The merit aid that they offer is AWESOME (large grant PLUS garaunteed research with a professor, continues for multiple years) but they only offer it to a very select few students.

EricLG

Thank you SmithieandProud and Rocket6Louise for your comments. Reassuring to be sure.
I'd like to hear your takes on the other choice of entering U-Mass, and taking classes throughout the sister consortium. Obviously you think the cost difference was worth it; I'm very interested in hearing specifics why -- although I think I can guess them.

SmithieandProud

Well, for one thing there's usually a limit to how many five-college classes you can take and you don't get first choice during registration (so if a popular class fills up, it fills up) and UMASS usually registers after the other colleges (because it's on a quarter system, the registration times don't match up). Secondly, there's a logistical challenge. If you don't have a car, you're going to spend a lot of time on the bus getting to and from your classes. The bus is free, it runs regularly, but it's a bus so it takes a lot longer to get from school to school than it would if you were to drive so in terms of time management, it won't make sense to take too many courses off of your own campus in a semester.

But those are just nuts and bolts reasons. The bigger reason is that going to UMASS and taking consortium classes is not the same thing as going to Smith. You don't get to participate in the great Smith community or live in the awesome Smith housing, you don't get the really excellent support of the Smith Career Development Office nor do you get to take advantage of Smith's study abroad programs, and perhaps most of all, you aren't a part of the Smith alum network nor do you get to take a Smith diploma with you out into the world. Might seem like small things, but without the Smith alum network to help give me a hand up, I would probably be unemployed and strugglling, they really are amazingly helpful.

monydad

".. a "real" linguistics course..."


You tell me, looks "real" to me, as intro anyway, but I've no idea. Also, if that prof is knoweldgeable in the field there might be opportunity to pursue private reading further on, possibly. Plus whatever is available in Anthropology. Certainly cannot be confused for a department, in any event.

311. Linguistics for Language Students
3 hours 3HU, CD
Second Semester.
This course addresses the questions of what human language is and what it means to know a language. Of central concern is how the scientific study of language helps to reveal the unconscious knowledge that enables speakers to understand their language and use it creatively. The class will touch briefly on each of the primary linguistic fields while covering in detail the theory and practice of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Taught in English. Enrollment Limit: 25.
Ms. Tungseth-Faber

monydad

" she thought she might miss the heterogeneity of boy/girl environments. Like the Dad who posted earlier, she is leery of lack of diversity."

Based on someone's experience at a different college I think this is a legitimate concern
which bears further exploration. The way she expressed it, in her case she felt the atmosphere was such that the mere fact that there was a guy around got turned into a noteworthy event, something that one becomes consciously aware of, instead of something that one doesn't even think about. She missed having guy friends, and the boys who came prowling on campus were not in friendship mode. Sharing dorm life is a big deal socially, IMO.

On the other hand, this aspect is but one of many considerations in choosing a college.

SmithieandProud

Well, I think it depends a lot on the school. At Smith, I don't think guys are distracting when they're in classes. They're just there. Maybe because we have the consortium and because it's common for students to host male guests (boyfriends, friends, brothers, whatever), it's not a big deal or something that people are self-conscious about. As for not having guy friends, it can't be denied that it's harder to cultivate new male friendships at a women's college, though again, with the consortium it's definitely not impossible.

One thing I found interesting was that when I did study abroad or summer internships when I was at Smith, I almost every close friendship I formed was with a guy. Whereas prior to Smith if I was having a non-school experience I would never have sought out a purely platonic relationship with a boy. Somehow, after bonding so closely with my friends at Smith, I found it less interesting and more difficult to bond with non-Smith women, whereas making guy friends was interesting and easy. I'm not sure if that's a common experience, or if it had more to do with the caliber of girls that were on my programs than my women's college studying, but that's been my experience.

rocket6louise

SmithieandProud-you keep making smith sound better and better
it's by far my favorite, and pulling ahead

teenage_cliche

Agree with rocket. Everything about Smith sounds superb. I can't wait for April

SmithieandProud

Well I hope it lives up to your expectations. All I can do is share my own experiences and for me, it was superb in so many many ways.

juillet

Depends entirely on the school. I went to Spelman which is across the street from Morehouse. Guys being around wasn't an "event", it was more like an "oh." Occasionally, they were unwelcome, as with the single male in my math class who tried to dominate the entire class with his comments and questions. And like I've and other women's college alumnae have said repeatedly, we don't disappear into women's only worlds for the 4 years we're in college. You can have guy friends in college and depending on where you go the guys on campus may or may not be looking for sexual relationships, romantic relationships, friendships, or they just may be looking for their next class. Who cares? It depends on your level of focus. Most of the women I went to school with were not overly impressed with or concerned with men, so it didn't turn into a huge production when they showed up nor were we overjoyed to have them in class. We took classes at Morehouse and Clark Atlanta when we wanted to and we stayed on campus when we wanted to.

Sharing dorm life can be a big deal socially if that's what you want. Personally I loved living in a women's dorm. It was a very casual, sleep-over like atmosphere. But not having guy friends in the dorms didn't preclude a social life including guys, and in my later years we all moved off campus anyways so I would go to guys' and girls' apartments just to chill.