<p>Haha, yes. I'm still looking over my college essay. Up until a month ago, I was so sure I was going to apply to Smith ED, but Barnard came along and pretty much did away with that since I can't choose between the two now -- gah, two places I absolutely fell in love with :( So RD for me, I suppose..</p>
<p>Anywho, I devoted a paragraph of my essay to my awesome experience at a program at Smith, what I learned there, etc. </p>
<p>1) General question: Will I be sending this one essay to -all- my potential colleges? That is, will I be sending the same electronic copy to everyone?
2) If so, would it still be fine to mention that it was at 'Smith College' in my essay? Would adcoms from other colleges be put off by that?</p>
<p>Well, thanks in advance for helping this paranoid student with her confusion! :)</p>
<p>If I correctly remember how the Common App works then yes, you will be submitting the same essay to all colleges that you apply to via the Common App. You could of course apply via a paper application and put in a different essay, but that’s more complicated and can involve application fees. </p>
<p>So assuming I’m right here, then I would not refer to Smith specifically in your essay. Can you illustrate the same point without referring to Smith specifically? Could you say “When I was participating in a summer program in science and engineering at a local college” or something like that? I would not say Smith specifically nor allude to why you want to be attend Smith specifically. Smith does have a supplement and I think there is an essay involved in that where you could get more Smith specific. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I am familiar with the Smith/Barnard difficulty. That was my choice too! I eventually went with Smith early decision, in part because I knew it was right and in part because my mom did a good job of convincing me that NYC was not the perfect place to study. I’ve never been sorry and never looked back since. I love New York, but am very glad I did not go to college there. Definitely considering Columbia for grad school though.</p>
<p>D was admitted to both Smith & Barnard and Barnard was her #3. <em>Very</em> different places beyond what they have in common. Smith has a terrific campus community, Barnard empties out into NYC for the weekends.</p>
<p>I’ll re-post the old joke:</p>
<p>At each of several colleges, a professor walks into the classroom at 9am and says, “Good morning, class.”</p>
<p>At Wellesley, 20 students furiously scribble “good morning, class” in their notebooks.</p>
<p>At Mount Holyoke, 20 students wait expectantly.</p>
<p>At Smith, one student says, “What do you mean by ‘good,’ how do you know that my values align with yours?” A second says what do you mean by saying ‘morning,’ that’s Western-hemisphere-centric." A third says, “You shouldn’t use the word ‘class,’ classist language should be eliminated.”</p>
<p>And at Barnard, nobody says anything because the classroom is empty because everybody got back to their rooms at 5am and they’re still sleeping.</p>
<p>This joke made me laugh so hard. So far I’ve visited Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley. I couldn’t agree more with your descriptions. But I felt like I clicked more to what a Smith student is, so I’m applying there (among many other reasons). :)</p>
<p>@SmithieandProud - Whoa, thanks for your quick response.
“Fwiw, I am familiar with the Smith/Barnard difficulty. That was my choice too!”
You don’t know how relieved I am just to hear that :). I’m sure a lot of people had gone through that same struggle, but I haven’t heard from any who actually vocalized their opinions, so thanks! Your input meant a lot.
And I also suppose it was a good decision that I decided to not go with Barnard ED. I just felt like I knew Smith more intimately, too…
Oh, and that tidbit about the essay was also really helpful. I think on top of my essay, I’ll go for an interview in order to (hopefully) add a little somethin somethin to my RD app.
And if you can share more about the whole Smith/Barnard difficulty, please do tell! I really appreciate any help I can get.</p>
<p>@TheDad - Hahaahaa, a joke like that definitely does help with my commonapp-induced tensions! The Barnard punchline is what really got me though, LOL. (Oh, and I just noticed that Bryn Mawr doesn’t have a part in that. Oh, well :P)</p>
<p>There really is a different vibe for each of Smith, Wellesley, and Barnard. I could feel the “click” with D every time she stepped on Smith’s campus. She probably would have done well at any of the three schools but I think Smith brought out the best in her. With the benefit of hindsight, she thinks W may have reinforced some of her perfectionist tendencies too much and that she’s a better human being for having gone to Smith and been a little more well rounded. Barnard…she like NYC but didn’t love it and I think you have to love NYC. Her thing in Manhattan, “Dad, you really have to look up to see the sky.” This from a city kid who likes cities.</p>
<p>Don’t know why Bryn Mawr isn’t in the joke, possibly because they’re slightly different geographic slot. I think of BM as a single-sex slightly toned down version of Swarthmore or U/Chicago that looks like Hogwarts. (I’ve never been, just digesting various reports over the years.)</p>
<p>starflavored there is a place on the Smith app to say specifically why your are interested in Smith so save that part of your essay and use it there. A lot of colleges have addendums to the common app</p>
<p>Spot on. My daughter recently took a BMC tour and had an interview. With her love of Harry Potter (so much so she wanted to apply to Oxford, as if that was going to happen), the beauty of the BMC campus, Haverford /Swarthmore exchange and the fact BMC reached out to her and awarded her their book award, I assumed BMC would make her college list.
When I queried her about her thoughts and opinion of BMC, I received a less than an enthusiastic response. After a bit of coaxing she said, “Dad, the tour guide talked about nothing but the academics and how hard they study. I really care about academics, but I want to have fun too.” </p>
<p>In fairness, she had outstanding, very amusing tour guides at other LACs prior to BMC. A tour guide really can make or break a kids’ perception of the college.</p>
<p>My daughter’s final decision came down to Bryn Mawr and Smith – and this from a kid who originally didn’t want an all-women’s college. She loved the campus, but ultimately chose the place where she felt more comfortable both personally and academically.</p>
<p>Looove Smith~ and still working on my essay, ahaha. I only have one paragraph of it so far… so I’m in the same boat as you with still hacking together an essay, only I guess I really really need to get on that now. Hahahaha I’m sure I’ll be up against the deadline.</p>
<p>Like the others said, your one essay gets sent to all colleges. So I would not specifically mention Smith I don’t think. Maybe just call it a top LAC? Or a highly ranked LAC? Trying to figure out a wording that doesn’t sound arrogant.</p>
<p>Either way good luck, and I hoooope I’ll see you at Smith next year. :)</p>
She loved the campus, but ultimately chose the place where she felt more comfortable both personally and academically.</p>