<p>First of all, first year retention correlates rather strictly with income status. Of schools with more than 25% of students on Pell Grants, Smith has (actually by far) the highest first-year retention rate in the United States, which is pretty astounding, given that one would assume there are more than a few students who figure out that single gender colleges aren’t for them.</p>
<p>The house dining thing is a mixed bag. On the one hand, having all students in a house eat together does lend to cohesiveness. On the other hand, it was serving less than half the students well. All dining rooms were serving the same food at the same time. In sports and missing dinner (or breakfast) because of the time? Tough. Short time between classes around lunch time, and there is no 'grab’n’go? Tough? Have a rehearsal or a class at Amherst or Mt. Holyoke and can’t get to dinner at the standard time? Tough. Want to keep working in the lab during the issue dinner time? Tough. Want a special diet? Asian food? Kosher/Hallal food? Mediterranean diet? Vegetarian options? For the most part, tough!</p>
<p>Now, as I understand it, there are 16 different dining options. You can freely eat with friends from other houses at any of them. There is much more flexibility in meeting dietary needs, and immensely more flexibility in meeting timing ones. But there is loss that comes with it. Now 16 different options is a little bit more than the one at Swarthmore, or the one at Amherst, or the one at Pomona, etc., but it does mean less “house eating community”.</p>
<p>If you don’t like any of those options, you can join one of the coop houses, and cook (with your friends) for yourself. That’s what my d. did before heading to Florence, and is a very happy camper. (she now has cooking classes in Italy, and I expect will wow her friends when she gets back.)</p>