<p>IMO, saying Smith is prestigious is just like saying a school like UT Austin is prestigious. Are they good schools? Yes. Are they prestigious? No, to be very blunt. Are Harvard and Yale prestigious? Without a doubt. </p>
<p>UT Austin’s scores are lower than Smith’s, though, and Smith has much smaller class sizes and is a completely undergraduate institution, so I’d say it’s ignorant to compare the two like that.</p>
<p>I love how current high school students think there is some objective measure of prestige. Prestige is in the eye of the beholder. This beholder thinks Smith has it in spades.</p>
<p>Doesn’t Smith have an amazing and active alumnae network? </p>
<p>I missed the memos that said A) prestigious schools limited to MY20 and B) prestige matters to anyone but most high schoolers, most international students, and a few parents and alumni who ought to know better. Last I looked no one crowned me emperor when I got into college. I still had to work my butt off for the next 4 decades before I became emperor. Anyone have a different experience? </p>
<p>@dancingtocollege - That was a very loose metaphor. Just trying to get my point across that, yes, Smith is a great college. But to say it’s prestigious is a bit of a stretch. </p>
<p>I don’t think prestige is important at all. But I’m just trying to answer the OP’s question very honestly. If prestige is an important factor to her, then she shouldn’t be applying to a school like Smith. However, if she wants a decent education and that’s it, then Smith would be a great option. In fact, her options would increase considerably because there are MANY schools that may or may not be prestigious (like Smith) and that offer a great education.</p>
<p>@absentions: Smith is one of the 7sisters and is prestigious as such.
Thinking otherwise means either that 1° you’re a HS student or 2° you live in a very rarefied world where only a dozen schools are considered prestigious.
Of course you could also mean “it’s not prestigious because people who select schools on their football teams have never heard of it” but somehow I don’t think that’ts what you mean. In many areas, nobody would know Smith from Dartmouth, thinking both inferior to their state school (say, UT KNoxville or UOregon), many confuse UPenn and Penn State, etc.
To summarize: Smith will be seen as prestigious by the people in the circles where a Smith graduate is likely to function. </p>
<p>“To summarize: Smith will be seen as prestigious by the people in the circles where a Smith graduate is likely to function.” So true. </p>
<p>prestigious: inspiring respect and admiration; having high status.</p>
<p>By that metric, yes of course Smith is a prestigious college. It’s in the elite circle of selective small LACs. It’s ranked within the top 20 LACs in the country, not far from Grinnell and Hamilton and above Colby, Bates, Macalester, Holy Cross, and Oberlin. It is a very well-respected college.</p>
<p>But, more importantly…you love it! Prestige may be important to you, but even more important is that you love where you go.</p>