Agnes Scott College: A Personal Reflection of One of the South's Best Women's College

Everyone has something different that they are looking for in a college--some unspoken quality that will make itself known saying "This is the perfect college." Most people probably can't even describe what that quality is, but many people seem to have an almost magical or spiritual experience that lets them know when they have found the right school for them. I actually had that experience twice, first on the campus of St. Johns College in Annapolis and Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. Before I even visited St. Johns, I already knew that I was not going to be able to go there because they gave very little scholarship money. However, when I visited Agnes, I already knew that they had a very large endowment, and that money would be much less of an issue when it came time to pay the bills.

When I first started looking at colleges, I absolutely did not want to go to a women's college. I had a lot of guy friends in high school and wasn't sure I could handle being around just girls ALL the time. I really didn't know anything about the school, but my dad encouraged me to at least check it out and apply "for diversity's sake" (so that I would have different kinds of schools to choose from when it came time for the final decision). Even though I wasn't really interested in the least bit, I talked to an admissions counselor at a local college fair and was immediately impressed. She was also an alumna and could answer every question and dispel every doubt I had about the school. In fact, she was probably the most impressive admissions staff I talked to out of any school that I looked at (especially up to that point). I couldn't deny the fact that my interest had risen simply by her taking the time to talk to me. So, my parents and I decided to visit the campus. Once again, I was immediately impressed. I only spent a day on campus and I knew that Agnes was where I wanted to be. It seemed like the ideal school--a beautiful campus, friendly people, great faculty, and cafeteria food that was actually edible. What more could you ask for?

Well, the reality set in about two weeks into the semester. There were people in my dorm that were really mean (and I couldn't understand why they were mean to me since they didn't even know me), people were constantly in your face about their race or sexuality, the food was not as great when there were no visitors, and I was having trouble making friends. I felt as if the admission staff had betrayed me and painted an unrealistic picture of what campus life was actually like. I was even beginning to consider transferring. However, I stuck it through. When the fall of my second year rolled around, I was starting to form some great friendships and was excited about returning to campus. The first year was, in many ways, the worst year of college, but it took me a year or two to figure out why there had been so much garbage to wade through.

First of all, I found out that everyone's first year of college sucks in comparison to the years to come, regardless of what school you attend. Going to college is a hard adjustment for most everyone. Second (and more importantly), I found out that Agnes Scott is a safe place to express yourself. I discovered that most of the girls there had never had a safe place to express their sexuality freely--most people had never been in a place where racial equality was always a goal to be achieved. It took the first semester or two for everyone to get all of the anger, pain, and pinned up emotions from high school out and on the table--in a sense take their garbage out. Once everyone's garbage gets taken out, the school becomes a much more pleasant place.

The campus literally has a life of its own. It is a place where scholarship, equality of all kinds, and diversity are constantly on the table, being thoroughly scrutinized to find ways of improvement. In fact, the diversity of the campus is one of the main reasons I chose Agnes. The students literally come from all over the world. One of my friends from high school was looking at some pictures and was even really surprised to find that very few of my friends were Caucasian (I was very often the only one), which was the complete opposite of the high school I attended. My senior year, I was the only non-Hispanic girl in my apartment. The year I graduated, racial make-up of the graduates in my department was literally 33% Caucasian, 33% African-American, and 33% Arab. It was absolutely wonderful because we all had something different that we could bring to the discussion. We were all able to see the world differently and bring something interesting to discussion. Most of what I learned was outside the classroom because I was constantly with people who were willing to show me a completely new facet of the world.

However, the education that I received in the classroom was invaluable. The largest class that I had was 30 students, and the smallest class that I had was 3 students (yes, 3 includes me). I definitely had more academic opportunities than most people would have at a school of a comparable size. The summer after my sophomore year, I did research with my academic adviser. I used instrumentation that summer that most undergraduates don't even dream of touching. That research allowed me to present my findings on a poster at the American Chemistry Society. It also gave me a chance to form an even deeper bond with my academic adviser. The experience (along with some fabulous recommendations from my professors) the next summer allowed me to get into a very good summer research program at Vanderbilt University for which I was basically doing graduate level research.

All in all, I really loved Agnes Scott. I know that I was given great opportunities that I would not have had at other schools. I dearly loved most of my professors and really enjoyed most of my classes. I never knew I would like the all-women environment, but I found out that I liked it a lot. When I graduated, I was excited about re-entering the co-ed world, but I have actually had many times where I have wished that I were able to go back to a male-less environment. Now, don't get me wrong. I wasn't completely devoid of testosterone while in school. I had my Georgia Tech friends that I saw on a regular basis and even got to the point to where I was on Tech's campus at least once a week. Most girls find guy friends easily at Tech and/or Emory. I definitely did like the fact, though, that I was able to separate my male friends and feelings that arose for those friends at various times separate from school and campus. Knowing that you weren't going to run into that guy that you embarrassed yourself in front of last week was a relief when you had just pulled an all-nighter to finish that term paper (or, for me, lab report). As much as I now advocate women's colleges, I do know that they are not for everyone, unfortunately.

There are very few things that I would change about my experience at ASC. If I had to do it over again, I would still choose that school. I am constantly recommending it to girls I know and meet. For the girls that are looking at colleges, don't be freaked out by the fact that it is all-girls. It has the ability to surprise you. And, remember "It's not a girls' school without men; it's a women's college without boys."