Helping Prospective Students (and Parents!)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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<p>I just became the Admissions Chair for my local Smith alumnae club. This involves coordinating alumnae interviews for applicants who can't travel to campus, organizing a get-together for potential applicants, and reaching out to admitted students: phone calls, sending flowers, and throwing a party for admits and their families. I might also get to go on some high school visits, but that'll depend on transportation (no car is great 95% of the time; this is part of the 5%). </p>

<p>I'd love some suggestions from prospectives, as well as folks who have already chosen Smith. What would help you or your daughter make a good decision about which college to attend (which is very different from convincing them to go to Smith--I'd much rather have a kid end up somewhere else than go to Smith and hate it/transfer)? I graduated 2 years ago and am now living several hundred miles from the college. My area has a large population of well-educated middle and upper class folks who are pretty likely to go on campus visits, but there are many surrounding towns that are quite poor and educationally underserved. So there's a pretty wide range to deal with.</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be very welcome.</p>

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<p>I'll try to give this some thought over the next few days. Good on ya, Stacy, for doing this kind of volunteer work. Of course, longtime readers of CC's Smith forum aren't surprised at all.</p>

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<p>My D just returned from Women of Distinction. She really enjoyed it. Now that I've posted I'll have a way to find this post after I think about your question.</p>

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<p>Unless you have unlimited time, you ought to deciede whether you're going to just assist families by giving general info/guidance re: college (essay review/workshops, finaid/fafsa workshop) or whether you're going to recruit (interviews, college fairs, prospect/yield parties, etc)for the college. </p>

<p>To the extent that you're interested in the latter, check out the alumnae assoc. site for resources for admissions volunteers (I believe "alumnae admissions" is a choice from one of the drop boxes). Also contact your regaional NAAC (you can get her name from the admissions office) for pointers.</p>

<p>FYI: I don't think any of the alumnae volunteers aims to "convice" students to attend Smith. And, assisting families in "mak[ing] a good decision" regarding what college their daughter should attend is a pretty tall order.</p>

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<p>Good for you, Stacey for taking this on! </p>

<p>I can say that it was the admitted students tea held in our area that solidified my D's decision to attend Smith. I afterwards referred to it as the $160,000 tea, LOL, as she turned down merit money at another school to go full pay at Smith! (no regrests though :) )</p>

<p>That D became a Gold Key tour guide and recently was asked to interview several area applicants this year as an alum interviewer. </p>

<p>She very much appreciated the support of the local Smith Club. I believe they sent her a welcome to Smith package and other thoughtful goodies appeared at Smith from time to time. D also attending some gatherings for prospectives. </p>

<p>H and I attended local receptions for President Christ. It was great to be able to meet her in a small group and to connect with local alums as well. </p>

<p>My son is now a h.s. senior, and is going thou</p>

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<p>So sorry, somehow my previous post was truncated. In any event ...</p>

<p>Good for you, Stacy, for taking this on! </p>

<p>I can say that it was the admitted students tea held in our area that solidified my D's decision to attend Smith. I afterwards referred to it as the $160,000 tea, LOL, as she turned down merit money at another school to go full pay at Smith! (no regrets though :) )</p>

<p>That D became a Gold Key tour guide and recently was asked to interview several area applicants this year as an alum interviewer. </p>

<p>She very much appreciated the support of the local Smith Club. I believe they sent her a welcome to Smith package and other thoughtful goodies appeared at Smith from time to time. D also attended several gatherings for prospectives. </p>

<p>H and I attended local receptions for President Christ. It was great to be able to meet her in a small group and to connect with local alums as well. </p>

<p>My son is now a h.s. senior, and is going through the college admissions process, although obviously Smith is not on his list! ;)
One suggestion I have for you based on his experience is NOT to have students or alums call the prospie's home number just to see if there are any questions about Smith. My son is getting numerous phone calls from colleges, only some of which he has applied to, and these calls all seem to come during dinner time. I don't know where some of these schools have gotten his contact info, but wish they would contact him via e-mail to see if he has an interest in connecting with anyone, rather than calling our home. </p>

<p>With respect specifically to Smith, IMO you need to address the issue of attending a single-sex school in a forthright manner. There are, of course, both pros and cons to such a choice.
In the pro category, my D benefited from the "You can do it if you decide you want it" environment at Smith. As an example, she is now in her second position at her first post-college employer in her field, which is heavily male. She decided there was a particular area of the firm where she saw her "dream job" and went after it. She recently moved into that research area and is now one of only two women among 30 men in that job category. The other woman happens to be a Bryn Mawr grad! Just an interesting data point.
The cons of attending a single-sex school need to be dealt with honestly. Unless you are proactive, your heterosexual dating life will be limited compared to the likely experience at a coed school. I recently attended a party in the NYC area where I met a woman whose D is currently at Smith and is dissatisfied with her non-academic experience -- wishes she had chosen a co-ed school. I think if these concerns are discussed openly and honestly all will be better off.
I believe my D can speak to both sides of this issue as she interacts with the prospective students she interviews.</p>

<p>Best wishes, Stacy, as you begin this new assignment. I am confident that you will do an excellent job!</p>

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<p>Doesn't address the OP's question but D's reaction about dating was, "I don't have time for a serious relationship right now." One datum. (A datum about dating?) She has a MOI (male of interest) at another nearby school but I think their social life is predicated on her calendar talking to his calendar and seeing when there's any overlap of free time.</p>

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<p>I think it would be great if you could go out to the middle schools even of the less middle class areas of where you live and talk to girls about Smith. I think it's very well known in some economic brackets and very not at all understood in others (ditto for geographic areas, generations). You can talk about Smith's scholarship options, it's commitments to bring in first generation student etc. and I think it would make a big difference in the lives of some of those girls. </p>

<p>One of the things that really helped me with Smith is that it was on my radar as early as 9th grade. I fell in love with the brochure and I used to read it all the time and imagine myself going there. It also pushed me to do well in school, so that I would be ready when the time came. But it was also easier for me because both of my parents are college educated, good jobs, etc. </p>

<p>For kids who don't have that kind of built in community and family support, the earlier you put Smith on their radar screen the better. My parents are educators and they work with underserved populations and if there's one thing they push, it's early awareness. Some kids don't go to college because it's not presented to them as an option. There parents didn't go, there friends aren't going, college recruiters don't come to their schools because they don't fit the performance profiles, it can be very daunting. </p>

<p>So that's my two cents, if you want to put your energy into outreach to less well served populations.</p>

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<p>S&P's post strikes a chord here. For many students, particularly students from backgrounds without any advantages, the idea of going to college and what it means can't be planted too early. </p>

<p>UCLA is actually running an ad series right now featuring some of its alumni, including a black woman who is now a captain in the Los Angeles police department. In her ad, she says that she first learned what "UCLA" meant in sixth grade and that's when she decided she was going to go there and [in better language] worked her butt off to do it.</p>

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<p>Also true that it takes longer for students to "warm up to" the idea of a women's college.</p>

<p>Too bad Smith hasn't capped loans as $12K (like Wellesley?).</p>