Not to hijack your thread on this issue… so I have [url="http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=155475"started this one to explore the propriety of grading gym on effort and algebra on ability.
- Rick
Fixed link. Sorry.
Do many graduates from your school look for all-female colleges or do most want to integrate into a co-ed learning/living environment after four years of single-sex school?
-wm
While not the OP, but as a former all-girls school girl, may I offer my opinion?
I would send my daughter to an all girls school in a heartbeat. Especially the one I went to.
Although some of this can be attributed to the opportunities afforded by private schooling, I feel that I was able to get involved in, and excel at such a wide range of activities (music, sports, academics, debating, chess, exchanges, FPS, ToM etc). I developed leadership skills, confidence and poise that I don’t think I would have in a co-ed environment. Not only that, but I think being in a girls-only environment really helped me to learn to speak up, express opinions and debate issues, where, had there been boys around, I would have been more inclined to take a back seat. From a pure academic perspective, this helps the learning process a great deal.
Not to be rude, but I thought it somehow amusing to hear of lacrosse - I think I always suspected tht it was invented by Enid Blyton. 
E.B. was an English write of “girls’ school” stories, and no, not the remotely smutty kind - all very jolly hockeysticks, and, of course, lacrosse, and “playing the game” and so on.
Re. the uniform, and the slacks/skirts question - in the mid 1980s my workplace would not allow us women to wear trousers of any kind, but I am a bit surprised that such rules happen. Or is it that you may wear trousers as long as they are not blue jeans?
(My own school was the locla public (in the US sense) high school, in Britain called a comprehensive school.)
Most girls here upon graduating flock to coed colleges and avoid all-girls schools like the plague. I know next year there is no way I’m going to an all-girls college! Many of the lesbian girls here go to all-girls colleges, because they feel more comfortable there with a higher lesbian student rate than there is here, and some straight girls go to all-girls colleges too, so they can continue in the learning environment they’re used to.
Girls are definetly given HUGE leadrership possibilities at this school where they wouldn’t at public schools. Most girls here take life by the horns and do what they want to do. Our school motto is “Educating girls to succeed as self-reliant young women” and we stand by it! An all-girls school is great for becoming a leader and I love my school.
There’s a somewhat lengthy story involving the founding of Andrews; it involves a woman named Mrs. Andrews who, in the 1890s had the radical idea of forming a girls school. She saw too many girls get sweatshop and factory jobs and marry abusive husbands. She wanted to found a school that educated girls in the fields of work, so they could have successful jobs and support themselves when they grew up without relying on a husband. Not that she was against husbands, since she was married.
But tragically she and her husband died in their NY penthouse when it caught fire, and there was quite a controversy over where their large sum of money would go to. Mr Andrews had wanted it to go the smithsonian, and Mrs. Andrews wanted to found a school. The case went all the way to the supreme court, and, after about a 10 year hiatus, the school was finally founded in Willoughby Ohio, after is was determined that the school deserved the money.
However the Smithsonian has never forgotton that they were “cheated” and they are always breathing down our necks; if the school fails, goes bankrupt or ceases to be a school, the Smithsonian immediately gets all 300 acres of the school property and any money left over. So it’s pretty urgent that we get our school back on it’s feet again, or else we’ll lose everything.
Merla
I only wish to apologise for the rather tasteless hits from these other schmucks.
They are relatively amusing though…
Merla-
I was sorry to hear about the school’s financial problems. I wish I had some extra money around to give them.
I’ve donated $100 or so on occasion to some of my other alma maters, but I imagine you all need quite a lot more than that to help.
I went to an all girls school, and I must say I would have been disappointed if this was all we had on our sylabus, I mean common, we had bitch-fights involving much torn clothing and hair-pulling, most lacrosse games ended up in a free for all mud-wrestling championship, we quite often met up with the all boys school for games, we had proper uniform checks, sex education classes included many demonstrations, detention was generally held in the “naughty room”, ooooh and Parents Evenings were fun…
Oh, we might also have done some of that standard boring shit, like learning about things that hopefully one day will be relevant to our lives and get us a decent job. But where’s the fun in that.
Common guys, Mullinators post, (and a few others), were typical lighthearted “Beavis & Butthead” responses, I really don’t think they are giving us a look into the blackened abyss of their twisted psyches!
Celyn I used to LOVE Lacrosse, and it certainly wasn’t all “Jolly Hockey-sticks, What-Ho Old Chaps, Cucumber Sandwiches for Tea, Toodle-Pip” Enid-spits-Blyton stuff, it was more “How Many Arms Can You Break” We were an evil lot! 
I’m not surprised – I go to a women’s college, and we get very few students from girl’s high schools, except for foreign students from countries where single-sex schools are more common.
It’s been my experience that the number one reason for specifically wanting to attend a women’s college (as opposed to “the school that gives me the best scholarship” if that school happens to be a women’s college) is to get away from having to have classes with guys. After four years taking classes with a bunch of teenaged boys, a lot of girls just can’t stand the thought of putting up with more of the same for another four years. Something I hear all the time is “I decided I’d just go to a women’s college and let the guys mature a little.”
This may be unfair to college guys; I’m sure at least some are quite mature and civilized by the time they’re in college. Merla and her classmates will probably be more appreciative of the ones who are than girls who spent their high school years being bothered by boys at co-ed schools, and likely will have a more positive attitude about going to a co-ed college than many students who attended co-ed high schools.
…And that’s 1400 dirty old men and counting!
Congrats on the excellent post/view ratio.
Anyway, have you been in private school all your life?
Do you have friends that attend the public schools in your area? Have you ever compared your experiences, re: school?
Is there anything (other than boys) that you think you might be missing out on?
How is the college application process going? Do you plan to live at whatever collee you go to? Do you think you’ll be able to make the adjustment to co-ed life fairly easily?
I’m asking these questions as the father of a 1-year old girl, and as someone who’s steadily losing faith in our public schools.
All you have to do to raise money (and other things) is host an **All-Girl Bikini Car Wash ** and put the shout out to the Tex Avery Wolves of Straight Dope. Charge more for the 'watch us suds each other ’ extra
Mully, I’d suspect, would be the first in line.
On a more serious note, I’ve never heard of this Mrs. Andrews, but she is now one of my personal heroes.
On a very serious note: Being a yank (MI) and disliking all things oceanatic ( salt water is gross) Why manatees? ( I know they are endangered.) What do you think you will have to do in order to work with manatees? What kind of classes and whatnot?
I mean, “Do you plan to live at whatever college you go to?”
Sorry, someone keeps messing with my ‘g’ key.
I’m thinking it might be remlins.
PS: Would you mind answering a coupl’a newbie questions?
How did you find the SDMB? Did you lurk for a while before registering? What are you looking for from your SDMB experience?
[sub]Dang, I’m sounding like a college entrance application, aren’t I? Well, spend 4 years here and you might get a world-class education for free![/sub]
OK, first a personal note- all this time I’ve been posting several times a day, since my personal selfish goal has been to keep this topic on the first page of MPSIMS as long as possible
But it may not be on it for a few days, since I’m going camping tonight. I’ll be back on Sunday- please, everyone continue to post and I’ll answer all the questions I can when I get back!
I definetly plan to live at the college I go to- I’m ready to fly!
I went to a very crappy elemtary school. Not inner-city, but pretty cummy. We had no paper to write on, so we couldn’t write on the tests, and the halls were filled with garbage cans to collect water since we couldn’t fix the ceiling. My parents are comfortable, nowhere near rich, but I really didn’t want to go the local middle school, which had many problems with violence and drugs. I orginally had wanted to skip 6th grade and go right into 7th at Andrews since they didn’t have 6th grade then. I found a school called Hershey Montessori school, and I absolutely loved it there. I stayed all through middle school, which was the highest the grades went. Then I came to Andrews in ninth grade- by that time, Andrews had also gotten 6th grade.
So I can say I know life in a very crowded public school, and life in a teeny tiny private school.
I’m right smack dab in the middle of the college application process. I’m applying to 5; 3 in ohio, one in Indianna and one in FL.
Hooboy, it’s a little embarrassing to discuss my relationshipb with manatees. You see, I’m very environmental. Not extreme, I still love to eat meat and I wear leather, but I’m for the protection of most things endangered. I’m not one of those flaky greenpeacers, but I am prez of environmental club at my school. You see, I have a deep connection with the ocean. I hate to say this because it makes me sound flaky, but it’s basically a religion to me. I just love the ocean. I fell in love with manatees about 12 years ago and have loved them ever since. The highlight of my liife was finally seeing some in the wild. But I won’t talk about this boring stuff too much.
Tygr- I found the SDMB through my brother, Vanyel. He likes it here, and I finally joined because I wanted to post a dumb joke on the dumb joke thread. Then I decided to make an ask the schoolgirl thread, and boom! Instant success. My web page has lots of hits too. This place is busy!
See you all on Sunday!
Merla
Merla,
When I was in college, I read a book called “Women’s Ways of Knowing” for a senior seminar. The book discussed that all-female schools might be good for girls, because the authors felt that they have a different learning style, and public schools tended to teach subjects geared toward the “male” learning style. It was science and math courses that were mainly geared toward the “male” style of learning, and might explain why fewer women go into these subjects.
Since you’re thinking of studying biology in college, I was wondering if you’d have any input on that. Do you think Andrews teaches in a style specifically geared towards “female” learning styles? Do you believe there are “male” and “female” ways of knowing?
Here is the link to the review of this book that might prove informative:
Lamia,
I went to a woman’s college too. Some of the students had attended all-female schools, quite a few actually.
I can’t say there was a big lesbian population. Probably the same ratio as you’d find anywhere.
I’d send my daughter to an all-girls school (not that I have one).
Actually, now that I think of it, I have no idea how many women in the general population are graduates of girl’s high schools. I know they’re a definate minority at my college, but it’s possible that there are still more than you’d find at a co-ed school. But I think most of the girl’s high graduates I know attended foreign schools (either because they are foreign themselves or wealthy mummy and daddy sent them off to a Swiss boarding school).
I can back that one up! And not just from personal experience, I’ve got statistics. A friend and I once made a list of all “out” lesbian and bisexual students at our school (we had plans to start a campus dating service), and we came up with 12%. Since bisexuals were included in the tally that’s doesn’t seem like an unusually high percentage.
Another friend of mine says that she’s always been bothered by the assumption that all women’s college students are lesbians, not because she’s not a lesbian (although she isn’t), but because it seems to support the old stereotype that women only go to college looking for romance. Like straight girls go to co-ed schools to get their MRS, and lesbians go to women’s colleges, and no one cares about getting an education!
Back to Merla: do you feel you’ve had greater opportunities or more encouragement in pursuing your interests in the sciences than you would at a private co-ed school?
As a Cleveland native who hasn’t been there in many years, what part of town is your school in? The only single -sex school I’m familiar with in the area is University School in Shaker Heights/Hunting Valley, which my father graduated from MANY decades ago.
Do you have much contact with girls who aren’t themselves at a single-sex high school? If so, do you notice any marked difference in personalities between those who go to a co-ed school and those who go to a single-sex?
The reason I ask is that for the last two years of my pre-university education, I went to a single sex school. Well, actually it was single sex (male) for the years below the one I joined in, and co-ed above that. This does make sense in a twisted sort of way if you understand the british educational system (the transition to co-ed is for what we call Sixth Form). At the school I was at previously, the lower school boys were pretty bad, but these ones were 10 times worse - they were amazingly immature and bratty, even compared to those I’d encountered previously. Some of these people were only a year younger than me, but still acted like the difference was more like 3 or 4 years. Having only one sample, I don’t know if this is generally an all-boys thing or just the school I went to, but I was wondering if you experienced a similar thing.
(For the record, I’m male.)
Miss Mapp: You Rockvillians are all alike! (Is that even a work?!)
Merla:
How often do you get to see your family?
Are you allowed off-campus?
How is your friendship with people pre-boarding school?
I hope camping was fun!