Is Smith worth 11K more each year than Mount Holyoke?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>My daughter has been admitted to both Smith and Mount Holyoke. She did not get any merit based scholarship from Smith and she got the 21st one from Mount Holyoke. At the first, I glanced over the the FinAid and thought they were just less than 5k different. However, the more I looked into it, the more I realized the difference is around 11k. Here is the break-up.</p>

<p>Mount Holyoke lists the following as COA:
Estimated Cost of Attendance $58,546 / yr
Tuition and Fees $42,656
Housing and Meals $12,490
Books and Supplies $1,900
Transportation $1,500
Other education costs $0</p>

<p>Smith lists the following as the total charged:
Tuition $44,450
Room & Board $14,950
Student Activities Fee $274
Total per year $59,674</p>

<p>Smith did not include books/supplies and transportation, with those added, its total per year would be $63,074</p>

<p>Books and Supplies $1,900
Transportation $1,500
Total: $63,074</p>

<p>My family's health insurance will be able to cover my D while she is in school, so I do not add health insurance in either of them.</p>

<p>Mount Holyoke's financial aid package are all from scholarship and grant. She can totally focus on her study and research.</p>

<p>Smith's financial aid includes a work-study of $2,250.00, which may mean that she has to work 10 hours each week, and it will affect her study and research more or less.</p>

<p>Overall, the difference of cost for us is around 9K/year with work-study, and without work-study, the difference is around 11k/year.</p>

<p>My D is kind of introvert. She likes to do research and her goal is to go to medical school after college. She likes both schools. We understand that Smith has a higher rank than MHC and it is in a much lively town Northampton. We are not rich and 11Kx4 is a lot of money to us. We can definitely use that money for her medical school.</p>

<p>So my question is whether Smith is worth 11k more than Mount Holyoke? What Smith can provide that MHC may not be able to in terms of helping my D to get to medical school?</p>

2

<p>Given your situation, I would say she should go to Mt. Holyoke. My D was also offered the 21st Century scholarship at MH last year; she chose a different school, but if she had been aiming for med school I suspect she would have chosen MH. The things you need to get into med school:</p>

<ul>
<li>High GPA</li>
<li>Good preparation for the MCAT</li>
<li>Low undergraduate debt - med school is expensive, so minimizing UG debt is important</li>
<li>Some kind of volunteer or research experience related to medicine (which can be achieved in summers).</li>
</ul>

<p>Last year the 21st Century scholarship also included a summer research stipend, not sure if that is still the case this year.</p>

<p>Your D can accomplish all the necessary goals at MH for a lower cost. Smith is a great school, of course, but MH is also a very nice place and can provide everything your D needs to get into med school.</p>

3

<p>@intparent, thanks a lot for your reply. 21st Century Scholarship does include funding for a summer
internship, and a number of intellectual, social activities which will be coordinated for the recipient. </p>

4

<p>The difference in ranking between Smith and Mount Holyoke is not significant at all, and it is by no means worth $11k. Would you attend Harvard over Yale even if you have to pay $10k more per year simply because H is ranked 1 higher than Y? </p>

5

<p>Well… I would attend Yale instead of Harvard to start with… :slight_smile: But that is just me… Also, since they are in the same consortium, your D can hop on the shuttle to go over to Northampton if she wants to hang out there. I admit to having a soft spot for Mt. Holyoke… my niece went there and loved it. And both my daughters were accepted, but made other choices (one didn’t get any merit aid, or I am sure she would have chosen it). It is such a lovely campus. I especially like the science building. Smith is also a fine school, of course. But I do love MH.</p>

6

<p>The only consideration I would tweak is the work-study thing. D’s work-study <em>was</em> research…so she got paid for it. Philosophically, I think it’s also important for students to have some economic skin in the game: D did work-study the first two years and graduated with about $20K in loans. </p>

7

<p>I’m going to warn you, I go to Mount Holyoke, so I’m a little biased. </p>

<p>I have taken classes at Smith through the consortium, and I can honestly tell you that they’re not any more difficult or enlightening than Mount Holyoke classes. Honestly, the ranking doesn’t matter much when interviewing for jobs or graduate programs; it’s more about the candidate. Your daughter will be able to graduate from either school confident about who she is and where she wants to go in life. You don’t have to pay $11K more for her to be successful. My best friend is a senior here and she got into Harvard Law, and my other friend is going to med school at Brown next year. Education is what you make of it, and your daughter couldn’t go wrong with either school.</p>

<p>The schools have totally different atmospheres, but if your daughter liked them both, I’d really recommend saving yourself $44K and sending her to South Hadley.</p>

8

<p>I don’t know whether or not your daughter has already made her decision, but I figure I’ll chime in here anyway. I don’t think I can really give you advice about the financial aspect of the decision, because that is so personal and individual to each family. I’m currently a sophomore at Smith, and I agree with dickinsonhall that the two schools have very different atmospheres. I’m sure your daughter will gain an outstanding education at either school. The financial aspect aside, the two schools different, so if she hasn’t yet decided, I’d recommend looking into which school seems like a better fit for her. To me the fit is much more important than the rankings. </p>

<p>Some reasons I chose Smith:
The warm, welcoming, accepting campus community. As a prospective student, I felt more welcome and comfortable at Smith than on any other college campus (and I visited about 30…)
The housing system. We have very homey “houses” as opposed to big dorms, with very close and supportive house communities.
Very strong science programs with great opportunities for research, even starting during your first semester. We have one of the strongest science programs you can find at a liberal arts college and we even have an engineering major!
Diverse student body, not just in terms of background and identity, but also in terms of interest, career aspirations, etc.</p>

<p>Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions about Smith!</p>