Hello everyone,
Which Women’s College do you think is, overall, the least politically active? Or has the most Conservative or Independent students? While I appreciate other’s interests in political events I really just want to focus on my schoolwork and volunteerism for the next four years.
Info on Wellesley, Agnes Scott, and= Bryn Mawr in this regard is especially appreciated.
Thank you!
Wesleyan College is quite conservative, if that’s what you’re looking for you should consider it, though you might not consider it selective enough.
When I visited, involvement and political discussion and such with Agnes Scott seemed emphasized. I can’t really comment on the others!
@ibenheim Thank you for your rec! I will be sure to look into it; selectivity is definitely not a concern for me, only fit and affordability.
Hm, that could be a problem. I’m so used to being in a community where politics is shunned in favor of community cohesiveness but maybe it is time to expand my horizons. I wish there was at least more political diversity in the WCs.
Anyone who doesn’t know the difference between Wellesley and Wesleyan has no idea… Wellesley, in my mind, has an “old money” sort of conservatism about it, but there is also a definitely outspoken feminist component there as well. Agnes Scott is going to be your best bet in this regard, I think. Location alone will give you a larger pool of conservative students at Agnes Scott.
@intparent Thank you for the info! I’m pretty sure she meant Wesleyan as an alternative to Wellesley, haha, it would be pretty silly to be on a WC board if one didn’t know the most famous WC of all. I have absolutely zero problems with outspoken people or feminists, I consider myself to be both, but I don’t really like politics being at the center of campus life. That’s what I thought, too, but everything I’ve seen of them is extremely left-leaning. Would’ve thought there would be an evener number of Democrats and Republicans in a Southern school.
Actually, you may both have it wrong. There is a Wesleyan College in Macon, GA that is both an all-women’s college and reputed to be pretty conservative. It is a perennial winner on the Princeton Review’s “Most Sober Campuses” sub-category, something for which the miniature university in Connecticut would have a lot of trouble qualifying. 
I do think Agnes Scott would be the best in that regard, but politically active students doesn’t mean that you have to be politically active. I can understand not wanting to be on a campus where everyone was politically active because then you might feel left out. But your concern should not so much be which campus is the least active as it should be which campus has students that are most like to appreciate that you don’t wish to be politically active and/or has students who enjoy doing a lot of other things in their spare time.
@juillet You put it into words much better than I could; thank you! 
I really don’t want to end up somewhere where 80% of the community-building is based off of politics that I would have no interest in. Are you basing your opinion on Agnes Scott’s suitability off of its location? I’ve heard many conflicting viewpoints here so I was just wondering.
@circuitrider Yep I meant Wesleyan College in Macon GA!
VioletPie, I don’t think you have to worry about politics taking over the scene at Wellesley. Most of the students are busy working to enter law school, business school, med school, grad school, or a professional track job. Of course they are feminists, and I’m sure a certain contingent is enamored of the current wave in academic feminism–as a dyed in the wool feminist and alum I am not 
--but even in the late 60s/early 70s when all kinds of campuses were on strike for lengthy period, Wellesley students were more likely to keep their noses to the grindstone. Fortunately or not, depending on one’s POV.
@Consolation , Thank you! That sounds wonderful. They’re a bit of a reach for me financially (and a bit of a reach for most academically, I think) but I’ll hear back from them today. Wish me luck! 
@VioletPie - No, from personal experience with Agnes Scott. It was one of my top two choices in high school and a lot of my friends went there. You can be really politically active in Atlanta/Decatur if you want to, so it’s not the location. It’s the students. They just don’t have the same reputation for liberal activism that women do at, say, Smith or even Wellesley. There are also lots of fun and funky traditions at ASC that have nothing to do with politics, like Black Cat (sort of their version of homecoming), their sophomore ring ceremony and Spring Fling. (Most women’s colleges do have traditions that have little to nothing to do with political, though, so ASC isn’t unique in that regard - but their parties are a lot of fun.)
There are many politically active women on ASC’s campus; I think it’s just the nature of going to a women’s college that a lot more of the women are going to be plugged into that. But it doesn’t overwhelm the atmosphere.