<p>I think I did as well. I also didn’t say any of the things in the quotes you sampled, so I’m not sure again how I became a principle detractor. And I also responded to your questions on the academics, though it occurs to me that other than complaining about the way people have responded to you, you haven’t really engaged in discourse with any of our comments back either. I agree, you need to make sure Smith is a fit. It’s clearly not for you and it doesn’t sound like it is for your daughter. But if you expect me to apologize about that, I won’t.</p>
<p>I don’t think of myself as a Smith “supporter.” But I am looking for a school for my daughter and on my visit, though I saw some things that might make some folk raise an eyebrow or two, while other folks had no reaction. I teach at a large, private co-ed school and I see things and hear things there, too. My college also has a very specific culture, though it’s different from Smith–it’s got a lot of drugs and alcohol and all kinds of sex–and even a transgendered person or two. My problem is mostly that students don’t do their homework there, though. I’m looking for a school where students partake fully in the intellectual as well as social life. </p>
<p>I do think that if you don’t like Smith, you are welcome to that opinion, but as lots of people have stated, it’s a very specific place and it’s not going to change because you or your daughter are offended. Maybe another school would be a better fit?</p>
<p>and my D sat in on two classes–one where no one talked (maybe because it was foreign language at 9 am?) and the other one that was fantastic–a deal-maker for her, with an English professor I’ve seen mentioned on these boards, but won’t mention the name here b/c she’ll want to be in his class in the Fall and she hopes it’s not overbooked!</p>
<p>
Posters have answered but you’ve chosen to ignore their experiences (numerous students, parents of students, and other visitors) and extrapolate from your sample of one class. You’re certainly welcome to but as a non-Smith person I have to say not a lot of data seems to back your small sample size experience. Smith by reputation is known as academically rigorous school … the credentials of the incoming students is outstanding … and the results at the other end are also outstanding (% PhDs, % Fulbright scholars, etc). Of course YMMV.</p>
<p>I don’t have much stake in this discussion. D chose Barnard over Smith. However, I would be proud, gratified and content had she chosen Smith. The outcomes I’ve seen from Smith students have been awesome.</p>
<p>SmithieandProud, I would not, based on your prior posts, expect any type of apology from you for the conduct of current Smith students and how they mistreated or baited my daughter. If their purpose was to send away a straight student who had her heart set on attending Smith, they succeeded. You, in supporting their conduct are saying something about yourself. It is interesting that a Smith professor we spoke to in a conference brought up issues not addressed in this forum. I will not belabor this forum with those issues and will simply close by saying entering this forum has been an unpleasant experience and was most unwise of me. I just hope students and parents think long and hard about their decision to attend Smith and whether it is a correct “fit” before sending in their admission deposit.</p>
<p>The comments of the professors might be helpful. It’s a shame students baited your daughter. I can’t imagine that students have the kind of political agenda you suggest, but maybe they do. If they do, it is a problem for Smith.</p>
<p>The women I’ve known who have graduated from Smith do not fit the mold you outline.</p>
<p>A lot of people do have strong political feelings here, but the last thing they’d do is foist them off on prospies. When the prospective students came here last week, everyone was their most welcoming self. I must admit that I don’t see where cncrdparent is coming from based on what he’s posted, nor do I see where S&P has really been in the wrong.</p>
<p>Just for the record, crncrdparent, I am straight and the presence of the LGBTQA community here is not a source of discomfort for me nor for any of my straight friends. The lesbians here are not determined to drive away straight prospective students, nor are the straight students determined to mistreat lesbian prospective students. The same goes for any other group here, whether in the aforementioned spectrum or outside it. I’m sorry you and your daughter weren’t in a situation where you could see this.</p>
<p>cncnrdparent: It just really seems that you need to explore other women’s colleges for a better match. There are many others besides the usual.</p>
<p>Check here, a great site:</p>
<p>[The</a> Women’s College Coalition](<a href=“http://www.womenscolleges.org/]The”>http://www.womenscolleges.org/)</p>
<p>Agree with mustangmom: “My problem is mostly that students don’t do their homework there, though. I’m looking for a school where students partake fully in the intellectual as well as social life.”</p>
<p>This is the worthwhile item to seek for your daughter, as well as culture.</p>
<p>When your agenda is about “pervasive lesbianism,” one should not be surprised when one is called upon it. The remarks about academics have also been responded to in detail. I agree: Smith is a bad fit.</p>
<p>Some schools to consider instead: Bob Jones, Liberty U., BYU, Texas A&M. May your daughter find happiness where delicate sensibilities aren’t offended.</p>
<p>[One</a> Woman’s Education | Harvard Magazine May-Jun 2002](<a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2002/05/one-womans-education.html]One”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2002/05/one-womans-education.html)</p>
<p>A very good read (both the article and book).</p>
<p>I was accepted at Smith and am trying to figure out “fit” for me. There are so many things I really liked about Smith when I visited, and I didn’t witness anything like the OP did. So I’m trying to weigh all these comments and also other things I’ve heard about Smith’s reputation, and to figure out what it all means for me. I’m straight, fairly conservative, and serious about my studies and athletics. I consider myself open-minded and tolerant, but I don’t think I’d like an environment where everyone is constantly trying to be more outrageous than the next person with their in-your-face behavior. Is that the real Smith?</p>
<p>I would say you have to be “gay tolerant” to be happy at Smith. If seeing gay people do the same things that straight people do in public would offend you, then it’s not a good fit.</p>
<p>I’ve met a number of D’s gay friends and I’m happy that she has them as her peers…one couldn’t ask for better. D never had one “inappropriate” or otherwise unwanted advance made to her; people figure out pretty quickly who hits from which side of the plate and there aren’t roving bands of lesbians trying to “convert” you.</p>
<p>I was thinking about the loathsome “piece of meat” comment: one should be a good looking young woman passing a fraternity house at a co-ed institution to get a sense of that. But I guess since the behavior is heterosexually based, it’s okay. Feh.</p>
<p>LACluster, I’m also straight and definitely not liberal (I am about as moderate politically and socially as you can be). Smith is not a place where everyone is competing in a petty game of seeing who is the most outrageous. There are very few people here I would consider “outrageous” and they are generally content to compete only with themselves.</p>
<p>I echo what TD said about the unwanted advances. Once, a girl from one of my classes tried to flirt with me. I dropped hints that I wasn’t interested. She backed off. No hard feelings; we’re still friends. That’s what you can expect here.</p>
<p>Btw, “serious about studies and athletics” is a good marker for Smith. “Bright and quirky” is my own marker. The most annoying thing about Smith is the sense of PC that can infect everything; you just have to learn to roll your eyes…something I’ve noticed that young women of a certain age have learned to do just fine.</p>
<p>Smithies are VERY serious students. I remember taking my daughter and her friends out to dinner her first year and sitting back to listen to them, how they could quietly but passionately discuss their ideas and the nuances of a situation. Flash forward four years (or so) to the night after my daughter’s graduation. We and her grandparents took her back to her house where we met up with some of her friends. We all sat in the living room and chatted about the upcoming summer and what everyone was doing. My mother asked a simple question (I can’t remember what it was), and the Smithies launched into a detailed, articulate discussion about it. We older adults sat back to listen to the discourse, just because it was so impressive. My mother took me aside as we left and said, “So THIS is why Smith is such a great college.”</p>
<p>My daughter entered Smith as a relatively shy teenager and left a confident, outgoing woman.</p>
<p>We took three of D’s friends to dinner with us on Family Weekend…their family members either couldn’t come or weren’t there yet. </p>
<p>We had the same spontaneous, detailed articulated conversations. I recall one young woman, a Philosophy/Religion double major, discoursing on the politics of Edwardian England with particular attention to Ireland, India, and German naval power.
I was impressed…and I’m not all that easy to impress.</p>
<p>You know, TheDad, looking back at the posts from Cncrndparent, I think you were absolutely right: the OP was a ■■■■■ who wasn’t who he/she claimed to be, jerking our chains, claiming all kinds of outrageous stuff, as well as being a brand new poster to CC. Hindsight is always 20-20!</p>
<p>I just got back from another school’s admitted students day with my D, where we attended a couple of sample classes. With regard to academics, I think it is very hard to judge a school on a couple of classes or sample classes. Though, I have to admit that when we were at Smith for open campus, I was NOT impressed with the prof in an intro to women and gender studies class. It seemed very much at a high school level. My d attended another class without me that day and said she was impressed that even though the class was large, the prof seemed to know everyone’s name. She also told me that several Smithies told her that the intro classes (in general) were kind of a waste. Do I want to be paying for “wasted” classes? Not really.</p>
<p>The sample classes we attended today at the other college were impressive because the profs seemed to be real "intellectuals’ who had done major research in their fields. So what does this tell me? Apples and oranges? Just based on these limited experiences, I think the other college offered a better academic experience. But to be fair, I have read some student reviews of other profs at this school and they were pretty bad. So how does one decide? For my daughter, that is the problem, she still hasn’t been able to.</p>
<p>First: intro classes everywhere can be a bit of a waste for a well prepared student. But, my first semester my classes were far from a waste. I took Calc II that thoroughly kicked my butt, Turkish which did likewise, an Econ class that was taught by an AWESOME professor that was a bit “easier” but by no means easy and my first year seminar was a love-hate relationship that pushed me to write better than I ever have. </p>
<p>Sure, intro swag can seem a bit “high schoolish” because they’re trying to give everyone a foundation in the subject, but for some people it’s brand new stuff.</p>
<p>Also, look at Smith’s professors more closely If you want an EXPERT in a field look no further than Randy Frost (known worldwide for compulsive hoarding) as well as Pat DiBartolo. Both are top notch in their field and both teach at smith. And the cool thing about Smith, I get to work with Randy as a first year, an opportunity unheard of at other collges.</p>