Wesleyan University is located in Middletown, Conn., overlooking the Connecticut River. The private institutions sports teams compete in the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference, as well as in the unofficial Little Three athletic conference with Amherst College and Williams College.

Women at Barnard College can experience two extremes of educationa small, liberal arts school and a large, coeducational Ivy League institutionall the while enjoying an urban lifestyle in New York City. Barnard is an all-female college in Manhattan with a partnership with the school across the street, Columbia University. Barnard women can take classes, play sports and join organizations at Columbia University-and Columbia students have the same opportunities at Barnard. The two schools are joined in an athletic consortium, and compete in the NCAA Division I Ivy League Conference. The schools own mascot is a dancing Barnard Bear named Millie. Barnard College has about 80 of its own student organizations, though Columbia students often join, too. The Barnard Student Government Association does not recognize on-campus sororities, but women can join Columbias Greek organizations. Students call the schools location in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Upper West Side home, as nearly 95 percent live on campus. Freshmen are not required to live on campus, but 98 percent choose to do so. The schools Urban New York program takes first-semester students to free events around the city, and all Barnard women get student discounts on tickets to nearby on- and off-Broadway shows, various sporting events and concerts. Barnard students also have year-round opportunities for internships in New York City, organized through the Career Development office.Men are permitted to be professors at this womens college, but females still dominate, accounting for 65 percent of the faculty body. The school has a renowned Barnard Center for Research On Women, which sponsors conferences and panels on the subjects of gender, feminism and womens rights. Famous alumnae of Barnard College include author Anna Quindlen and entrepreneur Martha Stewart.