<p>Okay - let me be honest and ask some questions:</p>
<p>Can Smith girls get boys?
I am leaning toward Smith, but how hard is it to meet boys from Smith?</p>
<p>I would like some current students to give honesssst answers :)
Is it hard for you to meet boys? date boys? etc?</p>
<p>Can Smith girls get boys?}}}</p>
<p>I guess that depends on what your definition of get is. Go to Fritzwillys on almost any night and Im sure youll be able to <em>get</em> a boy ..Girls have been able to attract the opposite sex through various means long before there was such a thing as colleges. Nothing has changed. You just need to me more creative if you attend Smith.</p>
<p>If you spend any time at any of the houses, its not unusual at all to find Amherst, or men from other colleges 'visiting for the evening and showing up for breakfast in the morning. In all honesty, its a bit harder to meet guys b/c youll need to travel to Amherst College, UMass or Hampshire College, etc, except when the houses have parties and the men come to you. If you attend Smith you have myriad colleges very close by to visit and meet or interact with men. </p>
<p>An interesting advantage of not having men attending Smith is you dont have to face the men in class or around campus that you had a less than desirable night/date with.
Think h/s or a co-ed college and the chatter, chatter, chatter by moronic men and their <em>fun</em> night with a co-ed. Never mind most of the talk is probably delusionary wishful thinking</p>
<p>My daughter has spent time at Harvard and that always makes for an interesting experience, if for no other reason than the Wellesley girls think they * own* the Harvard men and dont appreciate Smithies as competition. MIT can be fun too</p>
<p>Another way to look at the situation is you have the best of both worlds. Play at Amherst, UMass, Williamss, et al colleges and then come home to your quite house where there are no men to bother you, make a pain out of themselves or litter the halls with beer bottles and the stench associated with the aforementioned liquid.</p>
<p>If, otoh, you need to interact with men on a daily or minute by minute basis in class or in your free time to enjoy yourself or feel a sense of worth, Smith isnt a college you should be considering.
Something else to consider, men are always on the Smith campus taking classes. Or you can take classes at any of the co-ed colleges to change the ratio of men to women.</p>
<p>The cross country team at UMass is a great bunch of young men. A 20 minute ride to visit, party, date any of these courteous, kind gentlemen really isnt mush of a problem or hassle when the company you garner is worth the trip. Or Vice versa should they visit Smith. The CC team is just one example. There are hundreds of men at all the colleges that dont think like rugby players. Go to Midd, Colgate, et al colleges and youre stuck with the same group of males for most of your 4 years. It can get very interesting after youve pretty much exhausted all the men worth dating.</p>
<p>btw--Women attend Smith and don't date "boys"</p>
<p>thank you for your response.
i just have a lot of guy friends around me... and i am a very sappy girl, dreaming of perfect dates and meeting boys.
no-guy is the only drawback.
i want the small, beautiful campus, powerful women, strong academics, etc... but i really don't know how i am going to handle <em>no boys everyday</em>..
can anyone help me get rid of this fear?</p>
<p>i talked to my parents about this.. a lot.
i've gotten into good schools.. but they are too big for me.
i know that i want a small school - but, once again, i feel like i need guy friends all the time around me.
do you think i will be able to get rid of this fear?</p>
<p>It's hard to find powerful women at co-ed colleges when theyre in many instances not taken as seriously as one would think by the men. Life is a tradeoff. Youll have to decide whats the most important to you. Men are a dime a dozen. A great college that empowers women and is for women, and its mission is to give women the best credentials possible to compete in a world that is still unfortunately dominated by men is what Smith is all about. But it doesnt matter how much Smith empowers you and helps you grow as a women if youre not happy due to the lack of the opposite sex.</p>
<p>{{but, once again, i feel like i need guy friends all the time around me.}}</p>
<p>Then I would seriously consider attending another school. In all likelihood, if men are that important, youll end up transferring anyway. There is no point in taking a spot in a college your not sure you belong when there are plenty of other women waiting for a chance to attend Smith.
Im not trying to be cruel but transferring is difficult, time consuming and there are no guarantees youll get into a college you want to attend anyway if youre unhappy. You might as well start at a co-ed college if thats important, and it seems it is.
You'll also save your parents the financial burden of transferring</p>
<p>PS--Transferring as an international student and asking for aid (if you are) is VERY difficult. You really dont have the option of <em>trying</em> Smith to see what happens and then decide to move on to another top college if things dont work out. You need to make the best choice possible and decide which college you believe youll thrive and be happy the first time around. Good luck :)</p>
<p>thank you for your honest response.
it's just really hard to imagine myself without having guy friends around me. perhaps, i will be able to grow out of that dumb habit and truly become independent!
most people on cc are very supportive of smith, and i am liking your enthusiasm for smith.
don't get me wrong - i am really considering smith, and i can truly see myself at smith.
since i am a bio/premed major, it would be nice to just forget about boys and concentrate on my studies at smith - don't you think?</p>
<p>as of now, smith seems like THE COLLEGE i will thrive at.
i haven't checked out the campus, but i am actually planning on doing so to get the feel of the student body at smith.
my other options are - just big schools.
i think i want small school > co-ed.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>hey dinosaurrawr (cute sn btw, lol). yeah, i'm kinda thinking along the same lines as you... so don't feel that you're the only one. But the way I see it, Smith is great because you can really focus on academics and have the support of wonderful women without having to worry about guys and stuff during the week. But once the weekend comes around we'll have the chance to go out and have fun. Basically I think we'll have the chance to really "study hard, play hard" at Smith. Oh, also, without boys and stuff, there's less chance to get in stoopid catty fights with other girls about them and stuff. There's nothing worse than having some boy ruin a strong friendship. Frankly, it'll be a relief to go somewhere where the women are more mature and confident - a place that's quite different than HS - if you know what I mean. =P</p>
<p>Well, with perhaps a crass illustration: </p>
<p>I was talking to one of D's friends who said that she didn't know what she'd give up for Lent if she were Christian. I suggested "sex" and the horrified look on her face (she's emphatically straight) implied that meeting guys, on whatever level, isn't that big a problem if you make it a priority. There are some guys in some of the classes and there's town, the other colleges, even taking courses off-campus. </p>
<p>I think my D is looking forward to a co-ed year away from Smith with the off-campus programs but she loves Smith so much that she'd never give it up, guy access problems not withstanding.</p>
<p>}}it's just really hard to imagine myself without having guy friends around me. perhaps, i will be able to grow out of that dumb habit and truly become independent}}</p>
<p>It isnt dumb at all. Its part of your personality and who you are. There is nothing wrong with enjoying or wanting men in your life, its only natural and thats how babies happen--hopefully not while youre in college though. :)</p>
<p>Besides, no one is truly independent, they just pretend to be. </p>
<p>{{would be nice to just forget about boys and concentrate on my studies at smith - don't you think?}} </p>
<p>You dont need to <em>forget</em> about boys--not that you could. Just dont make them a focal point for a while. As soon as you dont want or need want men in your life, dozens will seem to come out of nowhere. </p>
<p>{{i haven't checked out the campus, but i am actually planning on doing so to get the feel of the student body at smith}} </p>
<p>Very good. Visit with as many students as possible and look at numerous houses. Smith has a plethora of different women, artists, scientists, writers, activists etc. It would benefit you to meet as may different types of students as possible. I have a feeling you may very well feel more at home than you imagine.</p>
<p>{{i think i want small school > co-ed.}} </p>
<p>Which one are you considering?</p>
<p>My daughter fell in love with Smith's great academic opportunities, though she didn't start out looking for a single-sex education. Having the Five College Group is a big plus. According to the book The Hidden Ivies, "In a typical year 800 Smith women enroll in courses at the other colleges." My daughter, who was admitted ED II, figures that if she gets desperate for boys she'll take classes at one of the other schools. There's always the Twelve College exchange and the junior year abroad options, too.</p>
<p>I think folks make the mistake of thinking of Smith as a traditional liberal arts experience, just without men. It is in fact a lot more. There is mentoring specifically aimed at women's experience - in the workplace, in dealing with financial issues, in career planning, as future academics. There are the examples of strong women academics and educators, all over campus. There are female rolemodels in upper class students (and the lack of first-year ghettos allows that to happen more readily.) There is, percentagewise, the largest agglomeration of women science students in the U.S. There are women going places!</p>
<p>I spent my undergraduate years at Williams, and my d. had the opportunity. Besides the overwhelmingly male testosterone-laden campus culture, if you look at the record of female graduates from there over the past 35 years, you'd find it decidedly underwhelming (and, though I know less about it, I think you'd find the same at Amherst.) You look at the 14 Fulbrights at Smith (8 in research) and it is easy to forget they are ALL female! (you can add those at Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan, etc. together, or take any of Ivies, UChicago, etc., and you still don't find as many.)</p>
<p>Smith is not just a liberal arts college that happens to be all women. </p>
<p>My d., who is a combined music/Italian major, plays baroque music with students from the 5 colleges. There is a Renaissance music group with men from the 5-colleges. The opera consortium has folks from the 5 colleges. Next year she will be JYA in Florence. What she hasn't had to contend with is 9% of the student body having had blackouts from alcohol in the past two weeks (as at Duke), or 49% binge drinking in the past two weeks (as at my alma mater). </p>
<p>But I do agree with RLT - if the daily dose of Y is a real necessity, Smith probably isn't the right place.</p>
<p>{{I think folks make the mistake of thinking of Smith as a traditional liberal arts experience, just without men.}}</p>
<p>As usual an unbelievably informative post. It would behoove Smith to take your post and include the thoughts and facts on their website--minus the mention of drinking at certain colleges :)</p>
<p>{{According to the book The Hidden Ivies}}</p>
<p>Boy, dont mention that book or the Greene brothers around an Amherst student, alum or administrator.
When the Greenes wrote their book Inside the top Colleges they included Williams but not Amherst.
Although Amherst was included in the book The Hidden Ivies, the Amherst administration still felt they were slighted b/c they were omitted from Inside the Elite Colleges where they believed they belonged.</p>
<p>I think they refused to cooperate with the writing or give info for the Hidden Ivy book. Isnt college rivalry and arrogance wonderful</p>
<p>All of the newly accepted students really need to attend open campus in April. Your feeling unassured is natural; but I believe a visit will cure all those ills. You need to experience Smith, to be surrounded by intelligent women just like yourselves, to walk the campus, to see the houses and dining options, and to talk to and meet some of the brightest profs in the country. Boys are important, and if you're straight, they probably will always be. They're also like busses; another one comes around every fifteen minutes. Relax. Go to Smith and enjoy yout time there. Enjoy being among some of the brightest, intense, caring women around. You'll be around many boys if you choose to attend sporting events, parties, or take classes at other colleges. It might be a little harder to find them, but they don't disappear from your sight for four years. Don't you think that Smith and MoHo are popular spots for the boys?</p>
<p>MomofSmithie, that "didn't start out looking for a single-sex education" is <em>so</em> common...nearly universal in my experience of Smithies.</p>
<p>i think i'm kinda like gcheng.
as a premed student, i feel that i will be distracted at coed schools.
maybe, by getting accepted to smith, i am destined to go to a really good medical school! (jking, but hopefully yeah).</p>
<p>here is the reason why i am somewhat "caught in between":
when i was getting ready to apply to smith, my friends at school said, "oh, you CANNOT go to a women's college! YOU need boys around you!" - i guess it's because i am a little too sappy.</p>
<p>i've talked to many women who attending women's colleges...
and they've been ALWAYS so enthusiastic!
apparently, your daughters are all very happy at smith, right?</p>
<p>i will certainly visit smith with my mom in april.</p>
<p>mm my thoughts are very disjointed.</p>
<p>oh! i am considering UCBerkeley and UCLA.
two very good public schools -
but i will have to pay ~20k/year + they are too big for me.
i KNOW that i am a LAC girl, and i NEED to get to know everyone and become more than a number.
i am sure i will be fine at UCBerkeley or UCLA, but i am certain that i will be more successful (as a student/woman/premed student) at smith with my amazing, admirable female friends!</p>
<p>oh! gcheng, you and i should be friends at smith!
mm we will help each other to find boys! jking - maybe not.</p>
<p>THANKS EVERYONE for YOUR COMMENTS!</p>
<p>lol dinosaurrawr we SHOULD be friends!!! and lol... we should go hunting for guys (and party once in a while - I DEF need that active social atmosphere... and of course, hit the books in the library or something). :P</p>
<p>OOO!!! and my friends said the same thing about me (i'm glad i'm not in this alone)!! They thought I was crazy applying for an all-girls schools and even crazier when they found out I was planning to attend Smith. But you know, you shouldn't care what they think. Afterall, it's your future. So regardless of boys, you need to take control of your own education/life. That's how I see it.</p>
<p>And yes, in response to your comment about the whole mother/daughter/women enthusiasm thing. Everyone who I've talked to said that they or their daughters had a wonderful time at women's colleges, and though finding guys can be somewhat harder to find (though not impossible), you have a great time.</p>
<p>I also had to make the tough choice of bigger institutions. But I really think Smith is great because of its smaller size. Esp for pre-med, I think its kinda important that you have that personal connection with the professor. I mean, at least for me sci/bio/med stuff is really really hard - definately not my forte - and I'm always in asking questions. It's kinda hard to see myself going in everyday to ask questions... plus you're competeing with soooooo many other students for attention. I dunno, regardless what major you're in, I think Smith is better just because of that intimate student-teacher relation. </p>
<p>I'm interested in doing East Asian Studies/Economics (I'm not sure which, but I'm leaning towards EAS) and possibly a minor in International Relations. When I was a freshman at HS I was sooo sure I was going to do something with genetics or nanotechnology... but OMG AP BIO practically KILLED me.... so I knew it really wasn't something for me. I was constantly struggling with that class.</p>
<p>Oh, to all you alumns, parents, current Smithies, I was wondering.... in terms of roommates, is it better to room with someone of the same major (so you can help each other out and stuff), or is it better to room with someone of a different major (meet more ppl outside of your major - so you don't get tired of seeing the same ppl day after day)?</p>
<p>gcheng...although I too am new to this, I believe that you do not have the opportunity to choose your roomate; they are chosen for you after you fill out a profile about your likes and dislikes. Personally, I would want to have a roommate who is female...ooops...I forgot, I have that darn Y chromosome thing going for me!</p>
<p>how about filling in the form of Likes with "sharing room with a girl with the same major" :D</p>
<p>Roommates and sex are very similar--- both can become a nightmare very quickly unless you chose the absolute right person. </p>
<p>If you want to stay friends, dont room with them.</p>
<p>Of course my fignort daughter isnt going to listen to me when she rooms with her friend next year.
Oh well, thats what dads are for--to be ignored. :(</p>
<p>Sidebar: If you reallyyyy want to room with certain individual, it can be arranged if you bug Randy enough.</p>