<p>Any adas out there? Tell me what you like and dislike about your experience at Smith so far, please. I'm also wondering what the stats are on adas that were accepted in the past....</p>
<p>If not, Smithies, how do you feel about adas? Anyone living in the same house as an Ada?... how has that been?</p>
<p>About me: I'm a potential ada applying to Smith for the fall. GPA at local community college is 3.71--about 35 credits, but I have a couple blunders in my past academically from about 6+ years ago. Not sure if I want to live on campus yet if I'm accepted, but I'm starting to lean towards that. Smith is my first choice but I'm also apply to MtHolyoke (if I am rejected at both I'll be applying at Columbia (GS) for the June deadline.)</p>
<p>I know Adas can play sports, but do they generally end up participating? I'm interested in the equestrian team.</p>
<p>One of my really good friends is an Ada and she's lived in the same house with me all four years. She's so great because not only is she super young at heart and loves to do the things we enjoy (going to parties, going to movies, shopping, studying, hanging out and watching bad tv, going to tea), but I like that I can go to her and talk about things and she can provide a special perspective that my age-peer friends just don't. </p>
<p>If you want to live in the houses though, think about whether or not you really want to live with 18-22 year olds. How do you feel about drinking? parties? can you put up with noise at late hours? Will it bother you to not be able to eat what you want when you want? How are you with pop culture/do you think you'll be able to "get" your housemates?</p>
<p>What makes my Ada friend work well with the house is that she basically acts like a 20 year old, and finds it easy to participate in our social activities. But I've met lots of nice Adas who just didn't work in traditional housing because they weren't that comfortable living with a bunch of fresh out of the house 18 year olds and preferred to be with women their own age. That's okay too, there's plenty of ways to enjoy Smith to the fullest without living side by side with traditional students.</p>
<p>As a group, I've found Ada's to be very impressive...but what the heck, as a group I feel that way about all Smithies. Their exuberance at graduation and their esprit de corps was very touching. </p>
<p>I think, if you can handle the occasional potential social "bump" implicit in S&P's post that living on campus will get you connected better and more quickly unless the 20-year-old scene just makes you roll your eyes.</p>
<p>If you don't like noise at late hours, you'll have better odds in a Green Street house, at least vis a vis the Quad.</p>
<p>An Ada from our area started this Fall and I'm waiting to meet her again and see how it worked out. <em>She</em> was very excited...her husband was a bit underwhelmed.</p>
<p>There is also Ada-only housing. Conway House is for families, while 150 Elm is dorm-style but the residents are Adas. I'm not sure if there's any other Ada-only options on campus.</p>
<p>150 Elm is on campus, so is Conway house, though it's down behind Dawes off of Bedford Terrace. There's another Bedford Terrace house that's Ada-only too I think. Many of the Adas I know decided to move into Ada-only housing after living a semester or two in traditional housing (except for my really good Ada friend, who still lives in traditional housing). I mean, many people, having already been 18, don't have a great desire to re-live those years with people discovering them for the first time, and really, I don't blame them. </p>
<p>Just think about it. Be honest with yourself about what you want. There's no single "right choice" when it comes to housing, and there's no sense in being miserable because you thought you were supposed to live one way or the other.</p>
<p>S&P, that is exactly my concern that there will be a "gap," because of my age. I'll be 28 so not all that old... people also regularly mistake be for being traditional college age. Not sure if it's my looks or my actions :) I figure might as well try anything once, and not having to cook for myself everyday would be a welcome break while getting into the swing of things. I some chronic health concerns so the closer to classes the better. I'm leaning towards giving it a spin and if it doesn't work I can always move off campus after that.</p>
<p>How often are the parties? And on what scale? I probably wouldn't be down with loud parties during the week on a regular basis.</p>
<p>It depends what house you live in. In the quad, there's usually some kind of open campus party going on in some house every weekend, though there are breaks occasionally when nothing goes on. But even on Green Street, people will gather in each other's rooms on the weekends, probably drink a little, and get noisy. There's usually some kind of dancing/loud music playing involved. Also, even if the party isn't in your house, the noise from the people getting dressed/leaving and returning can be obnoxious if you aren't used to it. </p>
<p>Most people don't party during the week though, because generally there's waaaay too much homework to get done. But weekends, even on Green Street, can become raucus. I'm not telling you this to make Smith sound like a party school or to freak you out or anything, but just because I think you should know what you're going to get into. </p>
<p>Living in trad housing just to try it out is probably a good thing. Just be honest with yourself if it isn't working out. Also, it's more likely to "work out" if you really put the effort into making friends with traditional students. I find that Adas who cultivate mostly or exclusively Ada friendships tend to gravitate towards Ada-only or off campus housing, and vice versa.</p>