<p>My D hasn't ventured to Hampshire either, but does go to Amherst some weekends; and rather enjoys seeing other college kids.</p>
<p>My d. actually knows guys at all three schools in the area through the 5-College Opera, and her baroque ensemble, and often had her STRIDE meetings at Amherst. But the events....unlikely.</p>
<p>My wife is a proud Camp Hamp dropout. I doubt that my d. is still reeling from her overnights at my alma mater; in some ways (good) she caught Smith on the rebound. ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
lol--You know where. Same place my daughter goes—Amherst College. Not to worry. I have my snitches. All’s good.
[/quote]
Ahem......good thing my d takes after her dad; I never went to parties or did anything inappropriate whilst in college. ;) I was the lead singer in a rock cover band that played all the local college parties, so I know the scene. See, you learn something new about someone else everyday. :)</p>
<p>I came across this thread randomly...but going to throw some experience in here...and, btw, I have nothing invested in this (I don't work at any of these schools, didn't go to any of them, etc...)...</p>
<p>My institution sees transfer applications all the time from Wellesley...more so than from any other one college or university in the country. </p>
<p>I know several Smithies...they all found the academics to be not very challenging...</p>
<p>Only have heard raves from those I know who have attended Mount Holyoke...in addition, there seems to be a critical mass of international students there who add quite a bit to the life of the campus. </p>
<p>Other Women's Colleges...</p>
<p>Nothing but raves about Scripps College in California...</p>
<p>Also know several who went to Bryn Mawr...see my comment about the Smithies I know...</p>
<p>
[quote]
I know several Smithies...they all found the academics to be not very challenging...
[/quote]
Adofficer...although I highly respect your position at whatever school you are employed at, your opinion on Smith academics based on "several" Smithies that you know hardly provides the OP with any reasonable assistance. I personally know "several" Smithies who will tell you that the academics are very challenging and very engaging because of the great profs they have had, and the coursework they have choosen as a major.</p>
<p>Adofficer,
My daughter attended an elite public high school and her friends all attend Ivys and top colleges/universities. She feels her workload at Smith equals or exceeds what most of her friends are doing in college, and her classes are smaller and more engaging. She has found her courses very challenging and her classmates very smart. In fact, Smith has exceeded her expectations in every way. And, by the way, her high-school friend who attends Mt. Holyoke thinks that her classes are NOT challenging. My point is: it's all relative and depends on who you speak to, and what you make of it.</p>
<p>C'mon adofficer...didn't you see this coming on this thread???? I agree with MoS, it's all relative and depends who you speak to. Just because you are an adofficer at a most selective school doesn't mean you know squat about all-women's colleges and their work loads. Wait till TD, RLT, MWFN and Mini get a hold of this one! <em>lol</em></p>
<p>A friend of a friend of D's who attends Barnard/Columbia came to visit and was envious of the Smith classes she sat in on. One datum. Fwiw.</p>
<p>BJM, it might be well to remember that this is the time of year when Ad reps highest concern is pumping their yield. There are positive ways to do it: I nod approvingly at W's "Early Evaluation" (a humane practice I wish more colleges would follow) and the hand-written letters & postcards that the recipients receive from current W students as a follow-up.</p>
<p>"Just because you are an adofficer at a most selective school doesn't mean you know squat about all-women's colleges and their work loads"</p>
<p>"Wait till TD, RLT, MWFN and Mini get a hold of this one! <em>lol</em>"</p>
<p>You called? :)</p>
<p>Criticism from someone posing as an admission officer (he references Harvard in another post, which explains the Wellesley transfer comment) is of no value. He gives enough information about himself and research he supposedly was involved at Harvard, the Harvard administration, or any college, would be able to ascertain his identity in minutes. </p>
<p>And a legitimate admission officer would be well aware other admission officers and administrators often read the threads regarding their respective college. I find it difficult to comprehend a Harvard admission rep, or any rep, would purposely post on the Smith thread and chance the wrath of Deb Shaver ;)--not good job security.</p>
<p>Even more egregious and a good indication AdOfficer has his own agenda is evident by his post "i've witnessed admissions officers, college presidents, bitter denied students, and others complaining that there are too many jewish students at their colleges. their (not my) concern is that certain schools are becoming "too jappy" or jewish"
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3697562#post3697562%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3697562#post3697562</a></p>
<p>It's reprehensible to profess any college president or admission officer would make such a disgusting comment.</p>
<p>No college would allow an admission officer to post such asinine comments as the one in this thread and others without serious repercussions. </p>
<p>Anyone employed by a reputable college would be cognizant of the aforementioned facts and would temper their posts accordingly.</p>
<p>As an aside, I knew someone in college whose advances were shunned by students attending different women's colleges. For some reason, he never had anything positive to say about those colleges either. :)</p>
<p>“her friends all attend Ivys and top colleges/universities. She feels her workload at Smith equals or exceeds what most of her friends are doing in college”</p>
<p>We have a friend (not a Smith alumna) who is an internationally known Prof. and researcher at Yale. She expresses the same sentiments regarding Smith.</p>
<p>Another thought: I find the timing of AdOfficer's post extremely suspect as well. Many women cross apply to Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr and Holyoke and will be deciding among various acceptances very soon. It’s interesting AdOfficer implies Wellesley students are unhappy b/c they’re not attending an Ivy and attempt to transfer, explicitly makes a derogatory comment regarding Smith’s and Bryn Mawr's educational quality, while at the same time promoting Mt Holyoke.</p>
<p>I respect AdOfficer and his many contributions to this site. Let's not call him "suspect" or "reprehensible."</p>
<p>Now about Smith . . . I do think that the idea of rigorous study is relative. For the most part, my d. is challenged intellectually in her classes, although her first semester grades may reflect that grading is generous. However, if I were to say "Smith is easy" based on that one experience alone, it would diminish the struggles of so many other first-year students as they adjust to what are perhaps different expectations than those of their high school.</p>
<p>My husband and I, as educators and Ivy League alums, find that Smith offers an excellent, stimulating classroom experience. We are stunned at the quick transformation from good student to excellent critical thinker that we've seen in our d. (Note that she took three college level courses at a top 30 national university and finds Smith much more challenging and much more comprehensive in covering the subtleties of the material.)</p>
<p>The evidence AdOfficer offers is anecdotal--and I may disagree with his assessment--but his sharing this information is not irresponsible. He's merely adding to the discussion. I <em>do</em> advise him to don his hard hat, however. :-)</p>
<p>"Let's not call him "suspect" or "reprehensible."</p>
<p>I'm sorry MWFN, I have to respectfully disagree. Attributing the sentiments there are too many Jews and use of the word “Jappy” regarding college enrollment to admission officers and college presidents is besmirching their reputations. I find it incomprehensible to accuse college presidents or admission officers of making such derogatory comments. Not to mention, no college president or admission officer would risk a firestorm of dissent and acquisitions of anti-Semitism by professing his idiotic accusations.</p>
<p>If his comments weren’t reprehensible, then I don’t know what is. ;)</p>
<p>Let's be fair - the applications ADofficer claims to have seen are from the transfer applicants who 1) by definition are less than happy where they are, and 2) have to contrast what they hope to find at college B from what they found at college A. Whether they actually find that to be the case is impossible to find out.</p>
<p>Wellesley, Smith, and Mt. Holyoke are all part of the Consortium on the Financing of Higher Education. In surveys (with survey size approaching 60% of the student bodies at each school), Harvard ranked 27th (out of 31 schools) in student evaluation of academic quality and quality of campus life. Is it true? Who knows? But it is what Harvard students say. (Most colleges don't release their results - Harvard didn't intend to, but got scooped by the Crimson.)</p>
<p>Well, I'm aware the CC does vet those claiming Ad Rep or similar association with a college before granting use of the "College Rep" status. </p>
<p>Mini, I'd like to see the COHFE data, warts and all, but I understand why it's closely held...there's probably something to make nearly everyone happy.<br>
My own sense based upon a melange of anecdotal input is that Yale & Brown are the most Smith-like of the Ivies but that's not quite the same thing as addressing academic rigor. And in certain dimensions, as far as my D is concerned--and she has friends attending both Yale and Brown--she'd take Smith again today over both Yale and Brown. (I disagreed with the reason she didn't apply to Brown in the first place but she got into some very good schools and is attending a great one so it all came out fine in the end.)</p>
<p>"Attributing the sentiments there are too many Jews and use of the word “Jappy” regarding college enrollment to admission officers and college presidents is besmirching their reputations."</p>
<p>I guess I'll have to follow your link. I've seen many posts by AdOfficer on CC, none of which seemed to have the qualities you describe in the quote above. I know little about him - except that he wrote his PhD dissertation on admissions and (I think) race. He is probably at MIT or Brown.</p>
<p>RLT, did you read the post from AdOfficer? Quotes in context:</p>
<p>"i've witnessed admissions officers, college presidents, bitter denied students, and others complaining that there are too many jewish students at their colleges. their (not my) concern is that certain schools are becoming "too jappy" or jewish (this is a quote, not my language...) and are afraid that this will scare aware non-jewish students...there've been articles written about it in the nytimes, wall street journal, and other periodicals. what is so frightening about this is that it is EXACTLY what led to the systematic exclusion of jewish students at harvard, yale, princeton, penn, and other schools at the turn of the 20th century.."</p>
<p>Note the "frightening" part of the line? He is concerned that the same prejudices that kept out Jewish applicants are now keeping out others. Perhaps you would have had to follow his many posts supporting Affirmative Action and diversity and the integrity of the admissions process to know the context of his remarks?</p>
<p>I don't agree with his assessment about Smith, but he has taken great pains to answer questions about admissions, in particular how it relates (or doesn't relate) to Affirmative Action and the feared discrimination against Asians.</p>
<p>X-posted. While I'm pretty sure that I would not fit in as an admissions officer as I have understood how things work these days--I'd be too partisan for my favorites and would have to work against discounting EC's that I don't particularly think worthwhile (and in return would scrutinize the apps of dancers very intently)--I'd be very hesitant to expose either myself or my institution to fire on an exposed flank were I a professional. The Hypocritic oath begins with "Do no harm. Especially to thine own henhouse." Which therefore even if you don't believe in the equality between institutions, you don't get caught saying so in public.</p>
<p>I agree with those questioning Adofficer's comments on this thread. I have been on many threads where "official" admin officers post, and they are, uniformly, very "politically correct" when their discussions include institutions other than their own. To read something on a public forum that is so blatently negative about other schools, from an admin officer, is surprising.</p>
<p>This post comes from someone who lurks on the Smith thread to make sure the zealous Smith parents are not too biased in their discussion of the sister schools!</p>