Chance Me: Smith College

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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About me:
Caucasian female, Midwest (Michigan), incoming senior in HS
3.99 unweighted GPA
1460 SAT, retaking in a few weeks and aiming for a 1500
Taking a good course load, but my school is a progressive school that chooses not to offer APs.
5 years of math, 4 years language (Spanish), 4 years social studies, 6 years English, 4 years science.
Should have good recommendations from my journalism teacher, photo teacher, and literature teacher.
Want to be a government major and become a journalist focusing on politics and human interest.

Extracurriculars:
Mock Trial 4 years, A team 2 years, 8-time State champ team. We meet 8 hrs/week during peak season.
School Newspaper 3 years, Photography Editor Junior year, Editor-in-chief senior year, nationally recognized newspaper, I’ve won six MIPA state awards for my articles. chscommunicator.com
Forum Council (student government) representative sophomore year and senior year and Vice President junior year.
National Honor Society
Photography- large portfolio of work, was a teacher assistant for my photo teacher, have been in art shows and get paid gigs to photograph events/ take senior photos.

I loved visiting Smith because it seemed like a place I could call home. The campus was beautiful, the housing system and traditions seems fun and community-building, the study abroad program looks great, the open curriculum is exactly what I want, all the students we met seemed friendly and smart, and the 5-college consortium offers tons more opportunities. I really hope to go there next year! I am visiting California (the Claremont colleges and Occidental) soon, but if I don’t love any of them as much, I will consider applying early decision.

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Smith should be a Likely school for you, especially if you apply ED. Good luck!

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My daughter got 1450 SAT with 8 AP’s and got wait listed, she needed a good amount of financial aid. We are from Massachusetts, maybe being from a different area will help. Just trying to pass along what we learned. I think just 20 points will help a lot on the SAT.

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I’m replying because my D also went to a HS school without AP’s. Your test scores and GPA is higher than my D’s were. D also needed a lot of financial aid. What I think helped my D get in? Really great on-campus interview and her essay’s. (She also was very well rounded: athlete, organizations, lots of community service that she was passionate about). My D did apply ED1. When we attended an info session at Smith they encouraged ED because they admit 40% of the class through ED and that is when they have the most amount of financial aid available. If you need a lot of aid and you wait for regular admission, aid could become the deciding factor between you and another applicant.

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Class of 2022 here :slight_smile: (was accepted class of 2021, then deferred). I had a slightly lower GPA (3.9 flat) and a slightly higher SAT score (1510), and I was a high need applicant from NJ. My school only offers 2 AP classes, one of which I was not able to take. I definitely think bumping your SAT score could help, but scores really aren’t everything, especially with a school like Smith. If you apply ED, I think you have a really good shot of getting in! If not, it’s still likely, but a little bit of a crapshoot. Admissions is getting more and more selective each year. This past year the acceptance rate was 31%, the lowest ever. I’ve seen a lot of very qualified applicants on this website get rejected/waitlisted. You should do an alumni interview if possible and make sure your essays are the best they can be :slight_smile: They should really reflect yourself and your personality.

Good luck, hopefully I will meet you next year!

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Update: retook SAT and got a 1520, superscore 1530. To add to my ECs, I was made Mock Trial Captain and started a Spanish Club. I applied ED and should hear back in a week. Very nervous. Does anyone know if they email or regular mail admission decisions?

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Congrats on the increase in score! You sound like a very competitive applicant :slight_smile: They send out an email a few days before decisions are released with the date and time decisions will be posted and how to access them (it’s through a portal). Typically, they post them a few hours before the time listed in the email. Good luck! Let us know what happens :slight_smile:

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Update: Got in with presidential scholarship!

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