Smith vs. Wellesley: Smith wins!

Springbird
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 15:43:34 +0000

My daughter just returned from both the Wellesley and Smith Accepted Student overnight events (“Open Campus”). She went in leaning toward Wellesley but came out a Smithie!

She had originally not even considered attending a women’s college, but agreed to look upon my suggestion. She first saw Bryn Mawr and really liked the concept (although Bryn Mawr ended up being too small for her), especially as a science/math girl who is used to being one of the lone girls in her HS science and math classes. She’s a high achieving student who was also accepted to an Ivy and one of the “little ivies”, but her final decision came down to these two women’s colleges. They are both excellent schools, and when compared to schools across the spectrum, they are far more alike than different. But I thought I would post some of the reasons why she decided on Smith:

1. Academics: Wellesley is ranked slightly higher in most rankings and their median SAT’s are higher. My DD got the sense that the Wellesley admits and current students were all very smart, top-of-their-HS-class achievers. Smith absolutely has some of these same students, but it also has some more average students in the mix – she talked with a current student or two who never took AP classes in HS. This caused her to initially think Wellesley would be better. However, at the Wellesley Open Campus the question of grade deflation kept coming up. The Wellesley administration repeatedly assured everyone that this has not resulted in any discernable decrease in grad school admissions. A few years ago Wellesley introduced shadow grading for first semester first years to take some pressure off the students. However, the Wellesley environment seems by its very nature to emphasize grades and competition for the students, especially with everyone being very smart, top-of-their-HS-class achievers. The students seemed very serious and DD observed them studying a lot. My DD is in an intensely competitive public HS, and the thought of four more years of that is not appealing. By the end of the Smith visit, she came to realize Smith might be a healthier choice for her – and it’s not like Smithies are a bunch of slouches academically! The open curriculum will mean more freedom, too. She likes the option at Smith of not having to take a language if she doesn’t want to. In addition, she had a lot more interaction with Smith faculty since they ran the Open Campus department tours, sat at lunch with the prospies, and made it a point to be present. She spoke with at least 5 or 6 different profs over the two days. She did not speak directly with any Wellesley profs, although she says she probably could have if she had sought them out, but they weren’t right there like the Smith profs.

2. “Houses, not dorms”. At dinner at Wellesley, my DD noted that all of the students in the dining hall were sitting alone studying as they ate (a few were sitting together – but still studying). At Smith, she ate with a group from her house, and students weren’t studying while they ate. This particular house also makes it a point to eat together in the house living room once a week. She noted that after dinner everyone hung out in the living room studying, talking, coloring, whatever; some together, some in different sections doing their own thing. That evening, the house leadership had a meeting with the prospies in which they had everyone introduce themselves. Then a bunch of them went to the a capella concert together. My DD and another fell behind the group, but the house members saved seats for them at the concert. She felt there was a community there that she didn’t feel at Wellesley. You can’t pick your house (you can only pick an area of campus), so each house has a complete mix of students and there is no recruiting going on. (As an aside - she likes the idea of 15 dining halls to choose from at Smith, too.)

3. Campus. Wellesley is gorgeous with beautiful traditional buildings and a treed, park-like setting. It’s huge, although you can walk across campus no problem. Smith has a lovely mix of architecture with trees and gardens scattered about, but everything is much more condensed. We saw few Wellesley students walking around those two days but rather just prospies (all wearing their red lanyards) and their parents. It was very quiet. She liked the more bustling feel of Smith with more people on a smaller campus.

4. Location. Oh, Boston is so alluring and tough to beat! But it is 45 minutes away by bus, and you have to pay $3 each way on the weekends. Northampton has quite a bit to offer and it is right there. DD also thought the vibe in town was very cool: bubble tea places, Urban Outfitters, tons of ethnic restaurants, etc. Her Smith host walked her into town for ice cream at Herrell’s after the a cappella concert – it was so easy to get there.

5. Financial/merit aid. Smith gave my daughter a large merit scholarship (Zollman - $25,000/year) and a two-year guaranteed paid research position (STRIDE). Wellesley doesn’t offer merit aid. While Wellesley has a reputation for good financial need based aid, we didn’t qualify for any from them despite our qualifying for need based aid at two other similarly ranked schools (we have appealed to Wellesley but haven’t heard back yet). She’d have to take out loans and do work-study at Wellesley. Huge plus for Smith. And the guaranteed research that will start as soon as she steps on Smith’s campus can’t be beat.

6. General vibe. DD had visited both schools twice for day visits prior to these Open Campus events. Wellesley’s Open Campus took place first. My DD came away thinking it was a great school just as she had perceived it to be during her prior visits. It had been her dream school since her first visit last summer. That W network sounds impressive. And all of her visits to Wellesley had been positive, including the Open Campus. She really connected with her host and could totally see herself at Wellesley. She came away saying she really liked it.

Her second visit to Smith last winter had not been great (bad tour guide). I know she was feeling some pressure to go with Smith since the merit money made it much less expensive for us, which added a layer of pressure. In addition, it’s hard to escape the talk of college rankings and prestige at her HS, so going into Open Campus, Smith was behind in the count. But from the start of the Smith Open Campus event, she just felt a warmth and openness she hadn’t felt at Wellesley. Wellesley had been fine. But Smith was wonderful. I noted that at registration the Wellesley people were kind of flat, while the Smith people were genuinely welcoming and accommodating (they were better organized, too!). Wellesley limited prospies to one class visit, and even though we got there pretty early Monday morning, there were few choices remaining (Italian, classics, and one slot for an Econ class); Smith provided prospies with a 15 page list of classes and encouraged them to go to as many as they wanted.

My DD’s take: Wellesley felt serious and intense and more isolated. Smith felt relaxed and happier and supportive. At Smith she is going to be able to get an excellent education and have a happy, balanced experience along the way with her guaranteed research and a welcoming house community.

For those of you trying to make a decision, I urge you to stay overnight. My DD said she learned so much more about the schools by staying overnight and really talking to students outside of tours and other formal presentations. I am thrilled that she has found the school that fits her best and can’t wait to see what the next four years holds for her!