Chance me at Smith (pleease)?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

Home schooled for freshman and sophomore years, took all advanced classes (in French, Algebra I and Geometry, British and American Literature, World History and US History, Psychology, Health Sciences, Biology, Physics, and PE) but no traditional AP courses. 4.0 high school GPA. I have transcripts made and my mother’s kept document records of course descriptions and textbooks used.

Junior year (August 2016) I enrolled as a full-time dual-enrolled student at a community college, taking actual college classes with undergrads.
Fall 2016 community college classes:
English Composition I (3 credits) - A
Astronomy (4 credits) - A
Sociology (3 credits) - A
Math Literacy (4 credits) - A

Winter 2017 classes:
English Composition II (3 credits) - A
Environmental Science (4 credits) - A
Introduction to Psychology (3 credits) - A
Statistics (4 credits) - W (had to withdraw bc professor tried to change course schedule, which then conflicted with my other classes)

Summer 2017 I (accelerated semester):
World Religions (3 credits) - A
Fundamentals of Speech (3 credits) - A

Summer 2017 II (accelerated semester):
Statistics (4 credits) - No grade yet (started class this week)

As you can see I have a 4.0 so far from community college! I’ve not been taking foreign language at cc and have been continuing that at home. This fall at cc I’m taking molecular and cellular bio, general chemistry I, ethics, and human development.

ECs: library volunteer and Teen LEAD (Leadership, Enrichment, And Development) teen library advisory board club member from July 2015-December 2016 (our volunteer supervisor moved away and the club was unfortunately dissolved by the library),
part-time (12-30 hrs/week) employee at a retail store/bakery since May 2016,
Cranbrook Institute of Science volunteer/assistant summer camp counselor since February 2016,
Psychology Club at cc since September 2016,
Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society at cc since February 2017,
Psychology Club president at one of our campuses since July 2017,
College Feminist Union since January 2017,
and pursuing original research with my psychology professor since January 2017. I’m creating my first research article now based on a survey I published and data that I entered and interpreted in SPSS.

Other than that, I enjoy baking, reading, and playing guitar, and I’m white and from Michigan. I can get good evals from either of my English professors, both of whom loved me, and my psych professor since we have a close relationship. My mother will have to write my “counselor recommendation” since I’m home schooled. I plan to major in neuroscience and ultimately get into grad school and become a neuropsychologist, so at Smith I’m very determined to do research with the faculty. I’m not submitting test scores because I’m not applying to any other schools besides test-optional Smith (and I suck at standardized tests, TBH). If I don’t get into Smith I’m staying at cc and enrolling in nursing school. I contacted my region twice for an interview but never heard back; is the interview very important/worth pursuing?

Smith has been my dream since I was thirteen and read Sylvia Plath’s journals for the first time. I love women, and I love that school. I want Smith to contribute to my future just as much as I want to contribute to Smith. I’ve realized that there is nowhere else I want to go. I know my high school education has been non-traditional, and I’m slightly concerned that my lack of APs will hurt me, but I’m hoping that my dual-enrollment 4.0 will make up for that at least partially.

What are my chances? Thank you so much for reading this!

2

I think you’ll be okay. I don’t think you’ll be hurt by your lack of APs. Many students don’t take their first AP until junior year, and you’ve taken only college classes since junior year. I think you’d offer a unique perspective and they’d probably be super excited to have you.
I think that if you could do an interview it would help you a LOT because it is obvious how much you love Smith and that would make you really stand out.
I think you have a good chance of getting in. Good luck!

3

It’s great that you are so interested in Smith. But only applying to one college? Would you really give up your goal of becoming a neuropsychologist just because Smith doesn’t accept you?

I don’t believe in “chance me” threads (only the adcoms can truly tell you whether you are in or not, not random people on the internet), so I am not saying you are likely to be accepted or not, but rather, keep your options open. If you are really concerned about your test scores, there are lots of test optional schools. In fact, both Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke, two women’s colleges that have quite a bit in common with Smith, are test optional, as well as a growing list of other schools: https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-test-optional-colleges/.

I strongly encourage you not to leave your future in the hands of one or two adcoms (or however many adcoms at each school actually look at apps). Plus, maybe you would qualify for better financial or merit aid at one school over another.

Smith may be great, but a college is not your future - it’s just one possible path of many that should be a tool to help you get to your future.

4

@thalaya thank you so much for being so helpful! Since the regional admissions coordinator won’t respond to me I’m contacting others in nearby zip codes who will hopefully set me up for an interview. :slight_smile:

@Springbird No, and I’m not giving up any goals. I’m simply planning to stay at community college and probably become a nurse before I do anything else. I have good personal reasons to stay here, too, and I am admittedly interested in exploring healthcare and have myriad connections in my school’s nursing program. Smith is just the only school that at this point in my life I feel may be worth the money and uprooting my life to attend. If I don’t get into Smith and find that I dislike nursing, I’ll just apply to more schools next year. I am seventeen years old with a wide open future, and neuropsychology isn’t going anywhere. I would never let any one school tell me what I’m going to do with my life, not to worry! Thank you for taking the time to offer some advice; I appreciate it, genuinely.

5

Smith does not always accept community college credits for traditional first-year students. They may be willing to evaluate that for you - but just be aware that unless you are applying as a transfer student, they may not accept the credits (and still may not anyways). And applying as a transfer student as opposed to a first-year can have other financial implications. I’m not trying to talk you out of Smith, just check out their policies on CC credits so you aren’t disappointed if they don’t accept them.