<p>Composer, first-years don't get to choose a house; they choose a section of campus and are assigned a house in that area. There are lots of singles in Scales/King, but probably difficult to get as a first-year; the best bet is probably Cutter/Z, where the singles are plentiful, but small. You might also want to consider whether any grouping of houses has more houses with on-site dining.</p>
<p>^^I don't know for sure, but I heard that this year's first year class (2012) got to request specific houses on their forms.</p>
<p>Maybe; my statememt was based on the class of 2011.</p>
<p>Those of us who requested specific houses did so in the "extra info" box on the housing forms. I did mine online back in February. It doesn't mean we'll get the houses, but if the system (it sounds like a computer program?) decides to be nice and honor our requests then we have a slightly higher chance of being placed there. I'd be happy anywhere, but I thought I put down Albright along with Lower Elm as my first choice just because we were allowed. ;) We'll see in July (or even August, they're saying) whether anyone gets her specific request!</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, for a project I'm working on right now, do you recall whether the housing option form split out Green Street and Center Campus or where they combined as a single option (which they were when D applied)?</p>
<p>I have a cousin at Smith who is just as happy at Smith as my daughter is at Williams. She has found Smith to be a tremendously nurturing school, and they did a fabulous job in matching her with a first-year roommate who will be a close friend for life. We love taking the occasional expedition to Northampton. It's fun for me to hear the two of them bubbling over with enthusiasm about their colleges and what they are doing. Take a good look -- it's a great school.</p>
<p>The options for my housing form were Center Campus, Green Street, Lower Elm, Upper Elm, East Quad, and West Quad. They keep swapping Chapin between Center and Green Street, but I think it ended up still being lumped with Green Street. </p>
<p>What sort of project are you working on, if you don't mind me asking?</p>
<p>Everyone: Thank-you for the clarification!
borgin:I went to Simply Smith in April. (I loved the faculty, the students, the environment, and the rigorous academics.) Campus was probably quiet due to kids studying for finals.</p>
<p>Yes, April is the cruellest month.</p>
<p>How is the music department? I want to major in music and something else.
Is there anything for a composer?</p>
<p>(I have been playing the piano for many years and will be composing for about four years. I compose music very well and have won many awards.)</p>
<p>The Music department is good, and it's not that hard to double major in music and something else. They offer both a course and seminar in composing, as well as a variety of other courses. You can audition for music lessons (sounds like you wouldn't have trouble) and then take those for credit. </p>
<p>Hopefully you got to check out the music building during your Simply Smith tour. The auditorium that they use for the main performances is beautiful. And the orchestra (if orchestral piano is your thing) just returned from a trip to Sicily, which looks like fun.</p>
<p>mini's daughter majored in music, and I believe her specialty was composing so you might want to PM him.</p>
<p>S&P: YAY ELIOT!</p>
<p>Thank-you S&P and smithiegr!</p>
<p>Do any of the women who study music composition win any national or international awards?</p>
<p>What is the style of the music that is taught at Smith: jazz, pop, neo-romanticism, neo-classical, concert works, experimental, & etc.?</p>
<p>What are the internships that are available for a music major?</p>
<p>What graduate schools do smith-grads go to? (for music and in general)</p>
<p>Thank-you in advance and last question:
How intense is the admissions process for ED and Regular Decision?
(After being accepted did you wish that you applied ED rather than Regular Decision?)</p>
<p>I actually applied ED, and it was kind of nice to be able to relax while everyone else was freaking out about their applications. But Smith was absolutely the correct fit for me, so that made the decision easier for me. The admissions process is not especially intense, Smith is on the common app and when I applied there was a one brief supplement to fill out. Also, now I guess they post decisions online, which they didn't do when I was applying, so you can find out right away. </p>
<p>I don't know about music, but smithies go on to all kinds of grad schools, though not all go right after college (I will be one of the not going right away types). </p>
<p>I wish I could give you more info about your specific questions, maybe someone with a music major D (I have a lot of music major friends, but don't know how to answer those questions. Except to say that the jazz program at Smith seems small to me compared to the orchestral programs. I often notice though that the high school jazz programs in my area tend to be dominated by boys, so maybe that's the reason? Not as many students?</p>
<p>Composer - I PMed you.</p>
<p>My D is a rising high school senior. She attends an all-girls (and yes they proudly refer to themselves as girls) private high school right now. She wasn't considering a womens college before due to being tired of the emotional and catty behavior of some of her classmates. </p>
<p>D wants to study engineering, computer science and/or math and is concerned about the extreme lack of girls in most of the CS programs in co-ed colleges. So now she is considering a women's college. Smith seems to be mentioned frequently for engineering. </p>
<p>I am wondering how the Smith students are in general regarding the emotional/catty/mean behavior that sometimes comes out when the group is all female. I've experienced this as an adult in a work situation and with PTA and it's not fun. At my D's current school students always seem to be crying in the lobby when I visit and they have had problems with bullying. (The school has a lot of positive qualities; I'm just pointing out the negatives for this question.)</p>
<p>Also, do you have any thoughts on the CS dept? I looked at the website and it looked like a really small department. That could be good for receiving personal attention or not so good as far as providing equipment and resources. </p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>Personally, I haven't experienced any catty behavior, but I have heard of it happening in certain houses. I don't know how much stock to place into these stories, but I can't say that it's worse than any other school simply because we're all-female.</p>
<p>Engineering, math, and computer science are all very supportive departments. The professors are generally wonderful (I've only run into one bad egg so far), and the students all help each other out. We're not graded on curves, so we're more inclined to help each other out than to sabotage each other. </p>
<p>Engineering is heavily project-based, and it's made even more so by groups collaborating with each other. We all have an unspoken understanding that constructive criticism is welcomed from any other group, and if good ideas are come upon, then everyone is free to use that idea (with proper credit given when due, of course!) to improve their projects. Classes are really small, and study groups to work on assignments together are frequent...we joke that we have two official classes and two unofficial classes per week just because so many people show up to these things. If, for some reason, you can't find someone in your class, there're probably upperclassmen around who can help you out (because our curriculum is so tight, most people take the same classes).</p>
<p>I don't have as much experience with the math department, but it seems really welcoming as well. There's a math forum with couches, chalkboards, and large tables for tea, math games, and working on assignments. TA hours are offered Sun-Thurs (in addition to office hours). From what I hear, collaboration is emphasized just as much as it is in engineering.</p>
<p>Computer science is a really small department (around 5 grads per year or so), but a lot of the professors are really great. The intro classes tend to be larger, as they're also requirements in other departments, but the cap is still at 35 or so. As you get into the higher level courses, the number of students dwindles to about 10 or so per course, so you can get as much personal attention as you need. Equipment-wise, you won't have a problem. CS has its own dedicated student labs, and if you were engaged in research, you could easily get your own space for the small price of a key deposit. I also don't think that you'd be lacking in resources. There are plenty of TA hours, professors are readily available, and if there are courses that you want to take or things you'd like to learn that aren't available, we have a special studies course option that can remedy that.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great information. I will pass it on to my D. Regarding the catty behavior I'm hoping that females will be calmer in college compared to high school. I vaguely recall that things that seemed so important in high school ceased to matter in college. Your description of the engineering, math and CS depts make them sound like fun. My D really likes tea so that part sounds nice. Thanks again.</p>
<p>My D also attended a private all-girls school - - most of the catty/mean drama was age related (7th grade was the worst!) and they are definitely calmer now, as rising sophs, than they were 3-4 yrs ago.</p>
<p>My personal theory on cattiness is that taking boys out of the equation takes out a lot of the reasons most people think girls are catty. I went to an all girls Catholic high school, and we didn't have a lot of catty issues, and at Smith I definitely don't see that as being a problem. </p>
<p>For one thing, Smith is a much bigger pond and it's a much more hetergenous one. There isn't one clique or one style of dressing/acting that could dominate the whole campus. So you don't get the Queen Bee and wannabe problem like you do in some high schools. </p>
<p>We're small, but not suffocating. We're competitive, but more so with each other than against each other. And one of the things I love about women's colleges is the sense that we're all in this thing together, and we're here to help women succeed, not to stake out our little slice of turf.</p>