Mount Holyoke vs. Smith (academics, social scene)

123wombat
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 02:39:51 +0000

I visited both Mount Holyoke and Smith, and liked both for very different reasons. I am an academic individual and I have excelled in high school. That being said, I sometimes feel that I am inadequate. I worry that I won’t be able to succeed in college because I often spend long periods of time completing my work (I’m a bit of a perfectionist). My stats are around the 75th percentile for Smith and MHC. I have a 4.00 and many activities, so I think I am potentially a competitive applicant at both schools. I really liked the academic side of Smith, but I worry that I might not be able to handle the workload. The students I met frequently talked about writing extremely long papers on a weekly basis and intense amounts of reading. Smith students seemed a bit more interested in discussing ideas than MHC students, but I found the professors at MHC to be a bit more accessible and I actually preferred the lectures at MHC. That being said, the students in the MHC classes didn’t seem very engaged or analytical (in comparison to Smith). Based on my impression of the student body at MHC, I feel like it would be easier to get individualized attention from professors (especially if you’re really interested in your studies). Due to the competitive (or seemingly competitive) nature of Smith, I worry that unless you’re the cream of the crop, you’ll kind of fall by the wayside in terms of research opportunities.

In terms of the social environment of the schools, I found MHC a bit more inviting socially, but it felt a tad bit like high school or summer camp. Juice boxes and cookies were provided during study hours in the dorms, students all hung out together and chatted about gossip and videos, and the dorms were very posh and well equipped. MHC felt safe, but a bit too staid and globally unaware. I’m very liberal and active politically, and MHC came across as a bit more of a moderate place. I consider myself a feminist, but I’m not super radical – and radical feminism seems to be predominant at Smith. Students at Smith were very interested in talking about their plans after graduation, articles they had read, and were amazingly engaged. The one thing that bothered me about Smith was how often students talked about being stressed and their grades. I often did the same in high school, and I’m really not looking forward to a continuation of that mentality. I don’t want my GPA to dominate my experience, and if that is one of the primary focuses at Smith, I am worried about feeling unable to escape the pressure. I don’t want to talk about grades constantly – I need space from academics at times. Also, many of the girls at Smith came across as entitled and overly confident, which was a bit of a put off (I don’t want to constantly have to prove myself and compete with my peers.) They also seemed to think that MHC was not even worth talking about – that it was very beneath them and inferior academically.

Also, Smith’s campus beat MHC’s campus hands down, in my opinion. It was much more cheerful, and Northampton is a jewel of a town. I found the exteriors of MHC’s buildings very depressing and dark. The campus felt gloomy and isolated.

Anyhow, I am wondering if my observations ring true for any current students. I think that Smith is the stronger school academically, and I worry that MHC won’t provide as many opportunities. Which school is more likely to challenge or inspire one? Is the social scene at Smith accessible to someone who is introverted and a bit geeky? Do students work harder at Smith than at MHC? Do students at both schools have time to go into town and unwind (that is, do they spend every waking hour studying)? Which school would you pick and why? Thanks!