Ok, finally time for some of those college visit reports I promised. I was taking notes on my phone because I couldn’t seem to remember to ever bring any paper. But it worked pretty well b/c I could also take photos to incorporate into the text.
** Smith College visit **
We did the info session first and then the tour. Lots of construction around the admissions building, so a little hard to get a feel for the campus. Literally had to walk around a huge trench that appeared during the time that we were in the info session. I felt like we should be wearing hard hats! But they assured us it was a short-term effort to beautify their main entrance.
Info session was fairly informal, with one admissions officer who sat on a desk for her presentation (she had a foot injury). She was pretty no-nonsense and down to earth and answered questions frankly. Here’s what we learned:
Smith is one of the largest women’s colleges, and one of the only (or the only?) offering a engineering program. They have an open curriculum and offer majors, minors, concentrations and certificate. They require that half the classes you take are outside your major. You declare your major by the end of your sophomore year. AP classes don’t translate to credit because there are no required courses but they can sometimes be used to place you in a more advanced class. Many students do internships and 87 percent also conduct research in almost every discipline. Opportunities to collaborate with professors, present and publish your research. About 130 students remain on campus during the summer to work on projects. 50 percent of juniors study abroad, but you have to have to be proficient in the language of the country you’re going to. They offer several (6? 9? I didn’t write this down) languages; students can also take many other languages at U Mass Amherst. Financial aid is available for study abroad.
Five College Consortium – all colleges within 12 miles of one another. 30,000 young people in the area when classes are in session. Free bus between campuses. 60 percent of Smith students take at least one class off campus. Colleges have the same academic calendars and kids can get vouchers to eat at different campuses if they are taking a class there. Some people complete their major at Smith and get a certificate in something else at one of the other institutions.
Internships-- you can do internships after your junior year (although later she said sophomores can also do). They fund all students who wants to do one $2700 for US, $3500 for international. They also fund “international experiences” although I am not sure how that differs from an internship. You can do more than one experience.
Mentorship-- alumni network is very strong. She described the alumni as having an “intense” fondness for Smith and said she sometimes has to avoid wearing her Smith clothing to the airport when she’s in a hurry b/c she knows she’ll encounter someone who wants to talk about how great it is.
Social life and housing–Housing offered all four years. 85 percent of people stay in their original house for four years. Houses are self-governing and offer a great sense of community. Vary in size from 20 to 100 occupants. First year you will probably have a roommate, maybe also as a sophomore. After that you’re likely in a single. There are 15 dining rooms on campus-- one card gets you into all and you can eat as much as you want. My daughter reported that the food was quite good and there are many options for specialized diets. I think I read somewhere they have a peanut-free dining hall? No cars on campus for first years. As is true of every college there is “no pressure to use drugs or alcohol.” Men don’t live in the houses but you will see them in classes since they can come from other colleges.
Students can participate in music and theater productions without having to major in those disciplines. They are open to everyone. You can join any club or organization at any of the five colleges.
Admissions-- each application is read by two to three people. High school transcript is very important (wants to see rigor in context of the school’s offering). They will call the high school if necessary if they don’t know anything about it (likely in our case!) 38 percent admission rate for regular decision; 42 percent for ED. Not a big bump. She emphasized very strongly that ED is binding. Interviews are optional. 2/3 of students get some type of financial aid; fewer than 4 percent get merit aid (this would be the STRIDE and the Zollman, I believe). Admissions is not completely need blind. They read them need blind and then assess the ‘maybes’ (usually only about 20-30 applicants) with regard to funding availability. Merit aid not used as a recruitment tool and it doesn’t vary whether you choose to apply ED or regular.
Campus tour
Our tour was a little disappointing because it was a Sat. and our guide said her swipe card wouldn’t let her into many of the buildings (?). The pond had been drained for dredging and there was a lot of construction on one edge of the campus. We went into the library entryway, the shared living room of one of the larger houses and into one small, unremarkable dorm room. The main part of the campus was very pretty, and the science and engineering building (Ford Hall) looked amazing but we couldn’t go in. It was pretty hot and humid for us Montanans but my daughter said it was pretty mild compared to the previous three weeks. The botanical gardens were lovely. The theater building seemed nice (from the outside!). We had lunch in Northampton, which really seemed to be the perfect college town. Right next to the campus, with tons of funky little shops, restaurants and interesting stores. Very walkable although on a hill. It reminded me a bit of Berkeley, which I attended in the late 80s.
Later that week we went back to Smith and my daughter showed us around to her favorite spots on campus. She’d been there three weeks, but gave a better tour than the tour guide, who was nice but not very informative. The pond had started to fill up again, which was nice. We explored more of the library, the poetry room (!), the student center, the bookstore. Didn’t have time to go into the art museum unfortunately. That tour was a lot more fun and interesting.
Overall Smith is still one of her number one (if not the number one) spots on her list. She likes the campus, the people and the town. If she could land a STRIDE or a Zollman I think we’d be happy to have her attend. Her stats put her in the running, I think, but of course there’s no telling. Northampton was a big selling point for me, particularly after we toured Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley and Wesleyan. None of their surrounding towns had that kind of fun college vibe that adds so much to the college experience, I think.
Whew. So long! I hope I didn’t bore all of you. The next day was Sunday, which we spent touring Newport in preparation for our visit to Brown on Monday morning…
