<p>To current and former students of Yale or Smith College, what were some pros and cons about the school? Which school do you think is better? My dad wants me to attend Smith but it has been a life long dream to go to Yale. So I’m torn between those two…</p>
<p>You might want to read through these articles and threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/1313154-smith-vs-yale.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/1313154-smith-vs-yale.html</a>
[Pros</a> and Cons of Women?s Colleges](<a href=“http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/30/pros-and-cons-of-womens-colleges/]Pros”>Loading...)
<a href=“smith college pros and cons site:talk.collegeconfidential.com - Google Search”>smith college pros and cons site:talk.collegeconfidential.com - Google Search;
<p><a href=“2013 College Acceptance Rates - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com”>2013 College Acceptance Rates - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com;
<p>You should convince your dad that you should apply to both Yale (SCEA) and Smith (RD), as the trick is going to be getting into Yale. Last year, Yale had an overall acceptance rate of 7.35%, while Smith had an acceptance rate 5.5 times higher, at 41.9%.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to offer useful information w/o knowing if you’re a senior or not. If you are, then you can wait until April to see if you’re accepted at both, one, or none.</p>
<p>If not a senior, you have many months of planning ahead of you. But no logical person should PLAN on attending Yale given its tiny accept rate.</p>
<p>Why does your dad want you to go to Smith? I think you need to deal with this question first.</p>
<p>It may be that your dad thinks women’s colleges are better places for women academically and are more likely to help them develop their leadership abilities. Or it could be that you’re “boy crazy” and wants to put some distance between your love life and the classroom. </p>
<p>It may also be that your dad doesn’t like the idea that his little girl is growing up and is terrified by the idea her living in a co-ed dorm. </p>
<p>So, if I were the OP I’d first try to figure out why he wants her to go to Smith.</p>
<p>@Jonri, the reason my dad wants me to go to Smith is because he says that I will make better connections with wealthier people…for example , the daughter of a CEO.</p>
<p>Because otherwise, you’d be slumming it with the hoi polloi at Yale (aka South Central Connecticut State College and Reform School).</p>
<p>Yer dad sounds like a nut job.</p>
<p>I was trying to think of a polite response. I thought maybe you should go to Smith since you would not want to be hanging out with my D who is on financial aid at Yale. But then I checked Smith’s common data set and they have a similar number of students receiving need based aid. You may have to look for another school with only rich people. Oh my.</p>
<p>You might go to Yale and marry the son of a CEO. Wait, that comment is heteronormative, isn’t it?</p>
<p>I think your dad has a misperception of the student bodies at these two schools. At Yale there are more people with whom to make connections in any case.</p>
<p>@MusicMerit, I’d just like to point out that my dream is to go to Yale, not Smith. I am not the one who is wanting to go to Smith because of the “advantages” that my dad says I might have. I respect the students at Yale because I know that they have worked extremely hard to get into the position that they are in and I look up to them. And also, my family will most likely be needing financial aid at either school too. I am not being the greedy one here…</p>
<p>There are many valid reasons to choose Smith over Yale. The idea that you’ll make connections with richer people at Smith isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>Unless your dad grew up in another country and knows nothing about the US college system, I don’t think that’s really the reason.</p>
<p>If he did grow up in another country, you can assure him that you can meet people from wealthy families at either.</p>
<p>What is the basis for your lifelong dream? Most children don’t know anything about colleges/universities other than their name; really, the strongest basis for your desire would be knowledge in high school. Have you visited Yale? Do they have special programs that you want to do? Do you really want to go to a co-ed university, or a bigger place than Smith? Or are you attracted to the name?</p>
<p>Personally, I went to a women’s college so I am very biased, but I loved going to a small college for women. I think it’s such a great opportunity/experience. And the great thing about Smith is it’s part of the Five Colleges - so you have socialization experiences with Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, Amherst and UMass students, as well as the opportunity to take a wide variety of courses.</p>
<p>yo, I’m the author of the Smith v. Yale thread above, and I’m now a sophomore at Yale. I thought pretty hard about my final decision, and do PM me if you want a super detailed comparison, but I agree with other posters above that there’s really no reason to worry about it until you’ve gotten into both schools. If you’re competitive for Yale I would just urge you under NO circumstances to apply Early Decision to Smith, as Smith will try to court you with $60-80,000 in merit money plus stipend, and a binding early application takes away the incentive for them to do so. Good luck!</p>