Smith vs. Whitman vs. Bard vs. Skidmore vs. Sarah Lawrence vs. BU

randomcoolzip
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 11:57:56 +0000

I don’t know about Discovery Days, but I did bring my daughter to the Open Campus for admitted prospective students in the spring of 2009. As I recall, the weekend was largely structured around different activities for prospies and parents. We arrived, got registered in the indoor track and tennis building, and soon after that my daughter went off with her student hosts to spend the night in their house. We parents were treated to a get-to-know-each-other wine and cheese reception, where we met some faculty and administration people, then went out to dinner at one of the many nice restaurants in Northampton.

My daughter was a STRIDE scholarship recipient, so in the morning I came back to campus very early to attend a breakfast presentation by STRIDE scholars and the professors they are working with. My daughter didn’t get up early enough for that. She and I were on different tracks that day but crossed paths several times. She went to a class or two, I think, and to some other presentations about life at Smith. I went to presentations for prospective parents about things like “why a women’s college?”, financial aid, student life at Smith, resources students have, “letting go” as a parent, stuff like that. Except for the “why a women’s college?” stuff, it was very much like what we heard our son went to his prospie weekend at Hobart & William Smith.

We were together for meals, a student activities fair, a Q & A session with Carol Christ, and a presentation on religious life on campus.

Then she to her house for the night, I to my Econolodge, and in the morning we had a final breakfast together and then headed home.

I think the weekend was instrumental in helping my daughter choose Smith over Wellesley, and I think it was the other students she met that most influenced her to choose Smith. I met some of them and they were a lively, cheery, enthusiastic crew of young ladies who welcomed my daughter with open arms.