<p>Well...more good news from the homefront. My D received her acceptance package today and received a STRIDE scholar grant. I did not realize it came with such a nice $$ package attached. I thought it was just a paid internship to help with research. WOW!! Blown away by Smith again!</p>
<p>Congrats! Of all the many things my d. has found at Smith, the STRIDE opportunity clearly as at or close to the top of the list! </p>
<p>Since she will have lots of time before the STRIDE opportunities list comes out, it would be worth her spending time trying to decide if she truly wants research in the biosciences (there are students who decide to use their STRIDES to broaden into other areas), and, if so, read about what the various faculty are working on.</p>
<p>Not that it matters, but do you know how many STRIDE's are handed out in a given year? Just curious...and proud as hell!</p>
<p>Ahem...<cough,cough>...I've been trying to PM someone, but their message box is filled to capacity. I won't mention any names, but their initials are RLT!</cough,cough></p>
<p>BJM, congrats. They give out 35 or per year. I'd post more but I'm late for a lunch meeting. Anon.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! This is AWESOME!!!! I really want to learn about research projects and what you got out of them? What would you have done differently, if anything? Is it always wise to do your research in your academic area of interest, or should she look "out of the box" and examine other areas of potential interest?</p>
<p>My went through the list of openings, something like several dozen...at least 60...flagging those of potential interest. She then went through them more carefully and came up with seven or so that seemed to be the most attractive. Then she went on Jolt and started asking opinions about Profs. While she's a Math/Government major, her prof is Computer Science. The project looked interesting and the Prof (Joseph O'Rourke) had an outstanding rep, which has been validated by experience. </p>
<p>I thought it was one of the top two, the other being a project with one of the Profs in the Classics department on recreating a 3-D model of Pompeii. </p>
<p>Her prof employs several STRIDE students. As with many things, you start out on the bottom of the food chain. However, D did get a credit in a paper presented in a conference, based on her work in her first semester. Her STRIDE work was also the entree into a job for seven weeks in the summer that was funded by the National Science Foundation.</p>
<p>Investigating the Profs, however you can, is a must, I think. Some of the projects are interesting, others the prof is looking for low-grade clerical slave labor.</p>
<p>As Mini says, there were quite a few projects in the Bio sciences. I would still investigate the profs' reputations.</p>
<p>BJM, you might want to put your D's STRIDE into the "Master List of Merit Awards" thread atop the Parents Forum.</p>
<p>{Her prof employs several STRIDE students. As with many things, you start out on the bottom of the food chain. However, D did get a credit in a paper presented in a conference, based on her work in her first semester. Her STRIDE work was also the entree into a job for seven weeks in the summer that was funded by the National Science Foundation.}</p>
<p>That's the hope! STRIDE seems to set students up for future opportunities like you mentioned. That's tremendous, especially for a 1st or 2nd year (see...I'm already picking up Smithie language)</p>
<p>{Investigating the Profs, however you can, is a must, I think. Some of the projects are interesting, others the prof is looking for low-grade clerical slave labor.}</p>
<p>That is a concern,,,goes with the territory, I guess. We will investigate profs, etc. when the list comes out this summer. I'd love to hear from others, as well, who have had this opportunity. I know the last time I saw a list (I believe on the Smith website), there were lots of bio opportunities. Again, don't know if D will do one in Bio, or may be interested in another field just for the experience.</p>
<p>{{Our D just received A STRIDE from Smith}}</p>
<p>Congratulations again. Have your daughter inform her underclassmen and high school college advising dept. of the STRIDE and the wonderful opportunities at Smith. It would be great to have a few more like her next year </p>
<p>{{What would you have done differently, if anything? Is it always wise to do your research in your academic area of interest, {}}}</p>
<p>Ive been there with this issue. Surprise eh! : ) My Canadian roots. --not that many will understand what Im referring to. </p>
<p>Bjm8, if your daughter is still interested in pre-med or bio research have her contact the pre-med advisor, Professor Anderson, asap. <a href="http://www.science.smith.edu/depart..._manderson.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.science.smith.edu/depart..._manderson.html</a>
Dr. Anderson has a wealth of knowledge and thoughts on this subject.
It isnt necessary she do research in her field, but one aspect to consider, when doing research in the sciences one step leads to the next and you cant leapfrog the basics. Getting your foot in preverbal door the 1st year and getting to know the professors in the sciences, what is expected, and research basics 101 is invaluable. The experience will also be beneficial if she wants to apply for summer research positions--JH has some good ones-- in a year or two in the medical/science fields.</p>
<p>Keep JH in the back of your mind. One of their internships is in Hawaii :)
My daughter may add an internship in politics/law as well as the sciences because politics/law is also an interest of hers--medical ethics (cloning etc.) as an example. Duke has a great MD/JD 5 year program.</p>
<p>Your daughter may want to test the waters, so to speak, in other disciplines her 1st year. Going out of the box to do research can give a student a different perspective and an invaluable insight into a subject they might not gain from a course or textbook. Be careful, however; many of the STRIDEs do end up as glorified secretaries, as you know. That usually happens more in the depts. others than the sciences though.</p>
<p>My d.'s STRIDE position was constructed just for her. So know that this is possible, if you d. knows what she wants. My d. also has a friend who entered as a pre-med, but got so wrapped up into her professor's research on folklore through the STRIDE position, that she switched her major to anthropology, and hopes to extend his work to other cultures he hadn't considered. She can still meet the pre-med requirements if she desires, though I think she is headed off in other directions.</p>
<p>{Congratulations again. Have your daughter inform her underclassmen and high school college advising dept. of the STRIDE and the wonderful opportunities at Smith. It would be great to have a few more like her next year.}</p>
<p>As usual RLT, thanks a bunch for the kind words. Our D's best friend is also thinking of applying to Smith after hearing of the STRIDE opportunities afforded our D. She is a Yale legacy, and was thinking of applying there because her brother attends. Now, she is changing her mind after reseaching Smith a bit more with my D. </p>
<p>{It isnt necessary she do research in her field, but one aspect to consider, when doing research in the sciences one step leads to the next and you cant leapfrog the basics. Getting your foot in preverbal door the 1st year and getting to know the professors in the sciences, what is expected, and research basics 101 is invaluable. The experience will also be beneficial if she wants to apply for summer research positions--JH has some good ones-- in a year or two in the medical/science fields.}</p>
<p>How true! We've talked briefly about it, still way too early to decide, and we'll wait until the research opportunities present themselces in the summer. I do believe, as does our D, that staying in the science area makes much more sense; simply because of what you stated above. These lab skills build in each other, kind of like math does. </p>
<p>She has read about Margaret Anderson and Stylianos Scordilis, and would love to be involved in their research. We'll see how it goes.</p>
<p>{My d.'s STRIDE position was constructed just for her. So know that this is possible, if you d. knows what she wants.}</p>
<p>Mini, I did not know this! Thanks for the info. Smith really does take care of their students, don't they? Are there any other perks that go along with STRIDE?</p>
<p>I have a sneaking hunch that there are some unpublished perks that not even STRIDE students themselves are aware of. But I've a suspicious mind. E.g., preferential registration slots in the first year...never heard yet of a STRIDE having a bad one.</p>
<p>Anyone know about some special tea provided with other STRIDES and profs? Althou, I must say, I like the registration perk better!</p>
<p>"a project with one of the Profs in the Classics department on recreating a 3-D model of Pompeii."</p>
<p>That sounds absolutely wonderful. Is it possible to possibly get a STRIDE position without the official award?</p>
<p>Wrong terminology...the STRIDE positions are, by definition, reserved for STRIDE students. However, I imagine that research postions unfilled by STRIDE students may be open to other students, assuming the prof has a another source of funding.</p>
<p>I'll also admit, that to my jaundiced eye, with the exception of that Classics project, most of the more interesting projects seemed to be in the science/computer science/math part of the spectrum...could just be <em>my</em> interests, however.</p>
<p>Stride teas are known for homemade treats by Peter Villers (I am pretty sure I spelled his name wrong, but it is midnight here and I just got home from work so I am not going to look it up.) Anyway he is the coordinator for Strides and makes wonderful things for Stride teas, or so my daughter reports.
Ellen</p>
<p>{{E.g., preferential registration slots in the first year..}} </p>
<p>Even if your conspiracy theory had a grain of truth, and Im not saying it does :) because I know of a STRIDE student down the hall from my daughter who had a very late registration time, it wouldnt effect a student from registering for their preferred classes 99.0% of the time. The students with later appointments almost always get their class choices anyway
Its not the mad dash for courses as it is at some larger colleges where there are far more students wanting the same class than there are seats. e.g. UMass
If there's going to be a problem, it would be registering for the 1st yr. seminar. Because seminar courses are limited to a smaller number of students, in some instances your pecking order during registration can make a difference. But theres a way to overcome that problem. If you cant register for the seminar you wanted because its filled, simply ask the professor teaching the course if you can sit in on their class a couple of times, and in many instances the professor will decide s/he can add a few more students. Youll be in two seminar classes for a short time but you have two weeks to add/drop classes, so it is possible to weasel your way into your preferred 1st year seminar course</p>
<p>Further info supplied via PayPal :)</p>
<p>"I have a sneaking hunch that there are some unpublished perks that not even STRIDE students themselves are aware of. But I've a suspicious mind. E.g., preferential registration slots in the first year...never heard yet of a STRIDE having a bad one."</p>
<p>My d. had a "bad slot", actually one of the last slots. It turned out to be one of the best things that happened to her. Instead of the seminar she thought she wanted (which was way overfull), she ended up in a writing-insentive seminar taught by one of Smith's famous profs, who also has one of the worst reputations among students (be careful how you use the ASPECTS and RateMyProfessors things), and apparently among the most feared. Half the students (there were only 6 to begin with) dropped the course. She absolutely loved it, learned heaps, and the prof, she said, was the only one more particular about her writing than I am. She turned out a very happy camper. (Got an "A" too, which is said to be impossible with this guy.)</p>
<p>Thanks, Mini...another lovely theory ruined by an ugly set of facts.</p>
<p>RLT, <scratches head="">, well, if you want to send me money via PayPal to listen to your information, I'll do it. I can generally find <em>someone</em> to listen for free.</scratches></p>