<p>There are a couple women’s colleges on our list (Agnes Scott, Wellesley, Smith). I tend to think of the women’s colleges as being relatively safe, but when the girls head out to other nearby colleges for events or parties(where the boys are), I wonder about safety. Heading off campus, and away from your own territory means you may not have immediate transportation home, would be more dependent on your friends staying with you, things would be less familiar… What are your thoughts/experiences with this issue?</p>
<p>I’m not a student at these other schools so I can’t speak on their behalf, but Bryn Mawr has a very visible Campus Safety presence that is constantly working with Haverford College’s Campus Safety to ensure all students are taken care of. Haverford is only a mile away and the bus runs quite frequently. But should you need other means of transportation, it’s not unheard of for students to walk the mile home or call Campus Safety to be escorted back.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr also offers a van service that will drive you anywhere on campus or to the nearby train stations from 7pm - 1am should you feel uncomfortable (or just tired!) for whatever reason. </p>
<p>The Tri-College Consortium (Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore) are always in dialogue about students and encourage the cross-campus visiting. Safety is always a primary concern. Each college is located in a pretty benign and safe suburb on the Main Line. </p>
<p>In terms of greater issues of safety and transportation, being in college also means being in environments that are unfamiliar and learning to navigate those spaces. Luckily, most upperclassmen have already learned the ropes and in my experience have been more than happy to lend a guiding hand to a first year student.</p>
<p>My D is at Wellesley and she and her friends travel to other schools for parties fairly often. Most often I think to Babson (probably because it is so much closer than going to Cambridge), often to MIT, less frequently to Harvard or Olin but she still does go to those as well. ZERO safety issues have been reported - she is a second-year.</p>
<p>They take the shuttle which runs every hour or something. They have also taken cabs to Babson.</p>
<p>This isn’t really an issue only for women’s colleges. Wherever there are a lot of colleges in proximity (for example, Boston/Cambridge), students will be heading off to parties at other colleges. At women’s colleges there may be more awareness and discussion of the risks involved, though.</p>
<p>At Smith, I believe that the students usually head off in groups when they go to parties at one of the other Five Colleges. There is free bus service between the colleges, so even if they get separated, they still have transportation back home. There is a lot of information passed down from older to younger students about what to expect at parties at the other local schools, which to avoid, etc. Also, there’s so much other stuff going on that students don’t feel compelled to go off to parties because they’re bored. There are fair number of students who don’t go to parties and do other things for fun.</p>