<p>I absolutely love everything about Smith... however, my parents are totally not with me on this as they are solely into "name" schools. Assuming Smith accepts me (hopefully), I'm hoping though that Smith can offer a generous financial package to convince my parents otherwise. I realize that I may not qualify for need-based aid, as my parents' combined salary reaches 200k... therefore, my question is, how generous is Smith with merit aid?</p>
<p>I know admittance and merit aid all depends on my stats/ how I commpare to the rest of the applications, so here goes...</p>
<p>My general stats:
4.0 UW GPA at a competetive NY school
Courses: All honors freshman, sophomore year, all AP courses junior and senior year
Rank: School does not tell rank; however, I have basis to believe I am in the top 10/340 (i was nominated for something, in which only the top 10 students are selected)
2240 SATs // SAT II: 720 Math, 720 Biology // AP: English Language 5, Chemistry 4
Ethnicity: Asian</p>
<p>General Extracurriculars:
Piano (12 years) - I've won many awards, performed with orchestra, played in famous halls, fundraiser... etc.
6-year winner of Chinese Writing Contests
Graduated from Chinese School (12 years) - awarded "Honors Student" from ANCJS
International Club Committee
Certified Emergency Medical Technician (100+ hours)
Volunteer at a Hospital
Math League captain, Chemistry League
National Honors Society/ French Honors Society</p>
<p>Good recs, essay</p>
<p>So basically I'm asking, a.) do I have a shot at getting in and b.) how is Smith with merit aid? </p>
<p>Smith has several merit aid scholarships. I’d say you’re in the pool for the STRIDE, which is $10K a year, not to be sneezed at.</p>
<p>Perhaps you can come up with the list of famous Smith alumnae to make a dent in the “name school” mindset, which is really difficult to deal with sometime. By any chance are they also biased in favor of U’s over LAC’s?</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes my parents have not heard of many LACs… actually, to be honest, none.
They only know of the ivy’s, public schools, and big schools like nyu; their knowledge is quite limited.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t rely too much on merit-based aid. Smith does offer some, but it’s a very, very, very selective pool for the STRIDE scholarships, less than 50 per class, so for any one, even a very qualified person like you, merit aid is rare and not to be counted on. </p>
<p>I would do what TD says, focus on educating your parents on why Smith is a name school. For one thing, it was practically Yale’s sister school before it went co-ed, so even if they haven’t heard of it, try to frame it as a sister-Ivy. </p>
<p>Then impress them with it’s list of famous alum, excellent career services, etc. The CEO of Ogilvy and Mather, the biggest advertising company in the world, is a Smith grad. The first woman doctor in Kenya. Sylvia Plath, Margaret Mitchell, Ann M. Martin, to name a few literary noteables. Rachmaninoff had his American debut at Smith. Robert Frost’s poem, “A Road Less Taken,” was written while he was staying at Smith as a guest of President Neilson. Gertrude Stein, Julia Child, Betty Freidan, all Smithies. </p>
<p>If you go to the alum section of the website you can look up famous alums. It sounds like your parents are interested in the prestige of the institution you are attending, and it’s not a completely unworthy factor. Just try to show them that Smith is prestigious, with the added bonus of being right for you. Bring in rankings if neccessary. Most of all, note that Smith is known for their network of amazing alums who will help you break into the world beyond college, whatever that world might be.</p>
<p>xteatime: I was in the same situation with my parents last year; my father wanted one Ivy and my mother wanted another Ivy. You definitely have a good shot at getting in as long as you show interest in Smith. Show them the online-campus tour video, convince them to go with you for a campus visit to Smith, and pull out different college review books to compare the academic ratings with other prestigeous schools (my parents were shocked). If you are applying regular decision have them come with you to accepted students’ day weekend so they can hear how well spoken the Smith students are.</p>
<p>Also tell them about the wonderful oppurtunities:
-PRAXIS
-AEMES
-Junior Year Abraod
-Open Curriculum
-various helpful resources, i.e., the career development office for internships, special programs, and future jobs
-5 college consortium
-the extensive library system
-the various clubs and activities that go on at Smith</p>
<p>S&P, I think the STRIDE pool is even smaller but perhaps we’re comparing apples & oranges, offered vs. accepted. However, SAT scores seem to be one heavy component of STRIDE consideration and I like the rest of XTT’s profile as well. I don’t think she’s a slam dunk but it would surprise me if she were offered one, either.</p>
<p>XTT, I say this delicately and with no prejudice, but I’ve noticed that as a demographic, Chinese <em>parents</em> are often focused on the big name schools and are unfamiliar with the LAC concept and then often dubious when it’s explained to them. </p>
<p>(Not that other demographics aren’t affected as well. Both TheMom and I were biased in favor of research universities, TheMom having worked at UCLA for 30 years, but we were astonished when we visited Smith…I was actually astonished first at a “prospect party”…and had to re-think a lot of our assumptions.)</p>
<p>You might think of dropping into the Parents Forum and start at thread about how parents became or become convinced that LAC’s can be a good idea. If your parents start to buy the notion of LAC’s, then accepting Smith will become a lot easier because Smith is an “admissions bargain,” easier to get into than the quality of the school would indicate.</p>
<p>Smith may have changed its policy, although I doubt it, but D’s STRIDE was certainly not due to her incredibly low Math SAT score. To be frank, I think STRIDE means “we want you and we are afraid you might choose some other school for the wrong reasons”.
In my daughter’s case, it may have been her nationality, or her headmistress’s report which unaccurately portrayed her as the next Saint Teresa of Avilla.
Whatever the reason, they made a good choice, and so did she…</p>
<p>STRIDE is actually a half-tuition merit scholarship & is therefore something like $15,000/yr
There is another scholarship program, the Zollman scholarships, which are also merit aid and include participation in STRIDE’s paid research asst. posistions. But if you really like Smith, don’t let the lack of aid based solely on merit deter you from applying- you’ll have to submit both the FAFFA + CSS/PROFILE with a boatload of fin aid info aside from just income amount, which is all taken into account when determining an aid package to varying degrees. </p>
<p>As a general rule of thumb, don’t assume the sticker price = actual price.</p>