Best in Sciences?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>Hello! I was originally planning on applying to just one women's college, Wellesley, and the rest co-ed, but upon reading what others had to say about Mt. Holyoke and Smith, I think I am starting to consider all of the top women's colleges...but I would really like to know which college has the best science program overall.</p>

<p>What I'm really looking for is a school that will allow me to really pursue the science in-depth. I am planning to major in Biochemistry and I hope to do medical research. Thus, scientific research opportunities and scientific facilities available at a college are very important to me.</p>

<p>Although I love science, I also love English and French. I may choose to double major in Biochemistry and English--yes, they are quite different from each other, but I hope that the college I attend would encourage me to pursue both if I choose to double-major. I would also like to have room to take a variety of courses that may not be included in my major.</p>

<p>With that said, I don't really mind a core curriculum or course requirements as long as it still allows for flexibility and an acceptable amount of freedom.</p>

<p>I would love to hear your opinions and maybe even first-hand experiences. Thank you all very much.</p>

2

<p>i dont know all that much about smith, but i do know that they are known for sciences </p>

<p>and there's no core curriculum at smith</p>

3

<p>I too am considering a major in biochemistry though I'm going to minor in Latin as well. I don't have any first-hand experience but from what I've seen on the Smith website, a double major in biochem and English would definitely be possible and you'd also have room for other classes as well due to the open curriculum. I don't know a lot about specific opportunities but I do know that Smith has an excellent science center. There's also a webpage that lists what research the professors are doing and any research position openings that are available to students. I don't remember how I got to the page but the Smith science website is <a href="http://science.smith.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://science.smith.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>I just found the page:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Chem/research.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Chem/research.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

5

<p>Smith offers a lot of opportunities for research collaborations with professors. I'm not a science student, but it seems like all of my science oriented friends are engaged in some sort of research project, and during the summer and J-term breaks they're always doing some exciting research thing, and they've been doing stuff like that since the first year. I can't speak to the other women's colleges, but Smith does have a large concentration of science students, and we are building a brand new Engineering and bio-sciences building that was made possible by a 12 million dollar gift from Ford motors. The gift is aimed at helping us foster women engineers, but the building is going to benefit all of the science students. I feel like science is very much a focus of the college right now (which is not neccessarily a positive thing for me since I'm a government major, but it's great if science is your thing). </p>

<p>Also, double majoring in a science and humanity will not be an issue. Smith loves those kinds of things, and you are hardly the first student to try them.</p>

6

<p>Smith is a national center for genomics research (under Steve Williams), and many students have peer-reviewed papers published as undergraduates. In addition to the normal run of undergraduate research, Smith has 40-50 students with STRIDE research assistantships, paid research positions in science for the first two years. There is, from what I can tell, no other college or university in the U.S. - including all the Ivies and Johns Hopkins - that can say the same. </p>

<p>I think Mt. Holyoke and Wellesley have excellent programs in the sciences. I would be in no position to say which is better or which worse. But I think one can say with some degree of certainty that at Smith there is more of it.</p>

7

<p><a href="http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/SWILLIAM/home.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/SWILLIAM/home.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>Smith sciences are everything you've heard about and more! My D is a STRIDE and is involved in research right now studying the effects of e coli in the digestive system. Big time research for a first-year anywhere, and she will be published by the end of her second year. No other college or university can brag about that, if I'm not mistaken. Also, the English and French majors are fabulous at Smith. It is not uncommon for a Smithie to double major in sciences and the arts; as a matter of fact I'm finding that to be more of the norm. There are no distibution courses at Smith, aexcept for one writing intensive course which most women get finished in their first semester. </p>

<p>By all means, you owe it to yourself to do more research about colleges, and visit Smith. pm me.</p>

9

<p>mini:
[quote]
There is, from what I can tell, no other college or university in the U.S. - including all the Ivies and Johns Hopkins - that can say the same.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>bjm8:
[quote]
Big time research for a first-year anywhere, and she will be published by the end of her second year. No other college or university can brag about that, if I'm not mistaken.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Smith sounds absolutely terrific, but let's not go overboard in saying that nobody else can match it.</p>

<p>I'm sure molliebatmit and ben from Caltech would say that there are at least a few colleges that can claim more than that. </p>

<p>80% of MIT students do UROPs before they graduate and students are eligible for MIT paid UROPs starting in fall of their freshman year, with a wide variety of research labs advertising opportunities. At Caltech, "paid research opportunities outnumber the undergrads," according to their website and freshmen are eligible even the summer BEFORE their freshman year!</p>

<p>Wellesley students are eligible to take advantage of MIT's UROP program if they are cross-registered there, though distance obviously creates some logistical problems.</p>

<p>It's not uncommon for students at Caltech, MIT, and elsewhere to get their names on publications in peer-reviewed journals, sometimes within their first two years of college.</p>

<p>Williams runs a very impressive math research program that attracts very strong students from other colleges all over the country, but about half the slots go to Williams students. Some are freshman or sophomores. Their publication record just in that one discipline alone is very extensive:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.williams.edu/Mathematics/published.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.williams.edu/Mathematics/published.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>So, singing the praises of Smith is surely justified, but there's no need to making sweeping assumptions that no place else offers anything comparable.</p>

10

<p>First of all, almost all schools have research opportunities. But we did research PAID research opportunities (during the school year - there were many during the summers) at other schools (especially LACs and Ivies), and found almost none. This includes Williams, my alma mater (which has a GREAT math department) - they couldn't name a single one during the first two years. Not one. We couldn't find any at Yale or Princeton either. I taught at UChicago - Nada. I haven't heard of any at Johns Hopkins either.</p>

<p>You are right, though. I have no idea about MIT or Caltech.</p>

<p>As for published research, Hope College has more than any college than I know of, per capita, but that's an entirely different subject.</p>

11

<p>Barnard has a lot of paid internship opportunities...</p>

12

<p>Lesson to be learned here; Smith is a great school that you need to visit and take quite seriously. Of course, when you come to a Smith board you will receive a Smith bent; but, it truly is a great school with a great science department. Also known for it's English and languages, so it appears you might hit a home run with this one! My D had opportunities to attend elsewhere, and cannot fathom being anywhere else but Smith.</p>

13

<p>theothermuse - thank you very much for providing me with that link. Minoring in Latin sounds great! I actually started taking Latin this year, and I like it a lot. Sounds like our interests would be fostered if we were to go to Smith. : ) We should talk more about biochem!</p>

<p>mini - Thank you for the information on the opportunities available at Smith (which sound amazing by the way), and for also mentioning that Wellesley and Mt. Holyoke have strong science programs. :)</p>

<p>SmithieandProud - The new building sounds great...do you know when it will be up?</p>

<p>Wisteria - Thank you for all of that information! I have also looked at Williams and I am planning on applying there. When the admissions representative visited my school, she left a book that had pages upon pages of research done at Williams. It definitely sounds like a place to look at if anyone else is interested in math/science.</p>

<p>BJM8 - I have sent you a pm! Thank you so much for giving information on what your D is doing -- it gives good perspective.</p>

<p>Purpoisepal and socks -- Thank you both for your input =)</p>

14

<p>I took Latin my senior year at Smith and was SO sad I didn't start it earlier...I definitely would have minored in it. Prof. Ryan is one of the best educators I ever had. The department is small, but very friendly. And with UMass and the other 5-college schools nearby, you can get quite a range of classes--my classics-major friend took Medevial Latin last year and is now working on Sanskrit. </p>

<p>Feel free to PM me if you're interested in learning more about STRIDE (I did sociology research), or Smith in general. It was the only women's college I applied to and I weighed a lot of factors when deciding to attend, but it was absolutely the right place for me.</p>

15

<p>Cendiaz9891 Here's the link for the new science building. This will be spectacular, and will only provide Smith with even better science applicants. </p>

<p>Smith is the first women’s college in the country to offer engineering.</p>

<p>The Picker Engineering program has grown from a graduating class of 19 in 2000 to 32 in 2006. This year close to 130 students are taking engineering courses.</p>

<p>About thirty percent of Smith students major in the sciences. </p>

<p>Smith is one of the top four-year colleges sending women to doctoral studies in the sciences.</p>

<p>Smith alumnae include the first woman elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the first woman computer scientist at IBM and the first woman on the faculty of Johns Hopkins Medical School.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.smith.edu/future/next/building.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.smith.edu/future/next/building.php&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.smith.edu/future/next/research.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.smith.edu/future/next/research.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<p>Smith needs a new engineering building, that's for sure! It's the ugliest building on campus.</p>

<p>I will say that my husband, a computer scientist, was extremely disappointed in the offerings in computer science. Although none of the women's colleges offer much in the way of <em>real</em> computer science (beyond a few programming classes and the basics), he expected Smith, with its engineering department, to be much stronger. Any woman who wants to go into that field would do better to look elsewhere, I'm afraid.</p>

17

<p>Whoa, not so fast! Although I cannot speak for the computer sciences curriculum or course offerings; did you read in USN&WR where Smith is among the top engineering schools in the country? Not bad for a second year program, heh?</p>

18

<p>For the past 70 years, Smith has maintained a spot in the top two percent of four-year colleges with the greatest number of graduates receiving doctorates in science. Along with this apparent strength in educating female pioneers in the fields of science and technology, Smith has also responded to the growing concern of male dominance in these fields. This doesn't sound like a bad school for sciences to me?!?</p>