I got a nice note from Deb Shaver today, in a small envelope. So, I guess that’s the “parent letter.” Next comes the T-shirt maybe? D is still waiting to hear from Barnard and Vassar but honestly if she gets a STRIDE letter I think her search could be over. Our EFC is pretty high so need-based aid is likely to be a weaker option.
@pauler80020 Sounds like our daughters applied to a lot of the same places. 
We are also waiting to hear from those (and Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke, along with a few other co-ed schools). A STRIDE could be a deciding factor for us, too.
Are all of your daughters planning on going to the Accepted Students event on 20-21? That is Tech Week for my daughter’s final school play and she’s a lead, so I’m not sure she can make it to that. We may have to schedule an overnight visit a few weeks earlier.
@smcirish Yeah, she has apps in at Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke too
The April 20-21 date is tricky for my daughter; April 22 is Prom and we live in Colorado so travel takes time (and time zones). In any case, she never visited Vassar or Bryn Mawr, so if one of those is in the mix we’ll be traveling on short notice, some time between her school musical closing April 8 and decision day, but avoiding the 22nd. LOL.
Hm, my D got the early write and I received the parent note, but there was no email about admitted student event. I hope that doesn’t mean she’s not in the running for a merit award. Bleah. I’ll try not to read too much into it until we know for sure. :-S
smith sent me an invite for an online chat for right now, but it isn’t working on my computer. Any suggestions?
@scaredaboutthefuture
It doesn’t look like there is an Admissions chat going on right now, at least not at this website:
https://www.smith.edu/admission/chat/
They sent me an email inviting me to a special online chat for admitted students right now… huh… weird…
What do you mean “early write”? Is this ED? My daughter has applied the RD, so far she hasn’t received the result yet. For the people who just got the results, did you apply the RD or ED? Thanks
I applied RD. Smith sends out some early acceptances to their top applicants, that is what an early write is.
My D also applied RD and received an early acceptance (early write). Most students will hear at the end of the month, so don’t worry.
i’m an RD applicant and i received my early write last week (?) or the first week of march. i was surprised because my stats aren’t that great (at least for competing for STRIDE) so i wonder how nebulous “top applicants” is to qualify for one
For those of you who have students who will attend, make your move in and parents weekend reservations NOW. We are never that smart and have to stay in Springfield!
My mom is completely in love with Smith’s attentiveness!! We just got the Smith shirt in the mail today. (:
Has anyone heard about merit scholarships yet? I’ve heard that scholarship winners are often chosen from the early write group and my fingers are crossed…
@mainegirl55 I think that students who receive a Stride or Zollman receive a snail mail letter around a week before regular admissions go out …
D got her t-shirt yesterday and there was a burst of excitement. If they are trying to woo her, it’s working. A big merit award would be more persuasive to me
Thanks @“Snowball City” I just made a bunch of reservations just in case. My, they do charge a bit for move in weekend, don’t they?
@“Snowball City” How long do parents usually stay for move-in weekend? What day to arrive, what day to leave? Trying to figure out what nights to reserve at a hotel.
This is the link to last year’s schedule https://www.smith.edu/student-life/orientation
Move-in is already posted on the academic calendar for September 1, so I think the days will be the same, just change the dates.
I would probably get there a day or two early, but there is a firm parent “goodbye” on Saturday evening so I’d be out of there Sunday 
It looks like the rest of orientation is pretty immersive for the kids.
My daughter is someone who likes to arrive towards the beginning of a time slot. We flew in the night before. We did the morning check in and picked up her boxes. There was a snafu part of the packet - mix up between two students with the same last name. We started the process of untangling that and moved her into her room. We helped her set up her bed and break down her boxes.
It is not that long ago but I have trouble remembering. I think there was a general welcome to Smith speech. I remember mostly sitting in the campus center feeling really sad. At some point we had to leave her at the house. Hugs. Tears. Emotion. She handled it better than I did.
And then we were gone.
If you are driving in and will have things that will be left over the summer in storage such as blankets - go ahead and search on the website for what size plastic tub they will need for storage. At least in her house you cannot store things in boxes, it has to be tubs.
edited: I remember - there was a big event on the lawn with faculty there to chat about their departments
Hi! I also received an early write letter and yesterday got a Smith shirt, so this school has definitely moved towards the top of my list! I was wondering if I were to receive merit aid how this would work with any financial aid I might get? Would my financial aid award decrease if I had merit aid as well?
Congrats to everyone else who got an early write letter, very exciting!