<p>My daughter is planning an overnight visit to Smith. Any suggestions on how to make the most of the visit? She is interested in the engineering program.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I would consciously sort items of the itinerary into Engineering-specific and Other, with Other broken down into Academic and Non-Academic.</p>
<p>Off the top of my head while still waking up:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Tour current engineering facilities, get some idea of what the new ones...which will be ready for occupancy when your D arrives on campus...will be like.</p></li>
<li><p>Sit in on a couple of Engineering classes. Use time before & after to casually chat with other students and some of the profs in an informal setting. The old stand out in the hallway 10 minutes before class starts trick can work well. The assumes your D is willing to walk up and introduce herself to people and chat. Recommended parental distance for this exercise is 3.5 light years.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>*Sit in on one non-Engineering class of interest, ditto above.</p>
<p>*The formal dog-and-pony tour is not useless. If your particular tour doesn't make it possible, definitely see inside one of the Houses. Circling like a vulture outside the front door usually works pretty well. The tour guides are pretty random; I'd focus on the broad brushstrokes rather than individual details. One guide we had got into an overlong discourse on the etiquette of visiting boy friends using the showers.</p>
<p>*Hanging out in the student center and on Chapin Lawn (you'll be told the lawn is for sitting/lying upon, not for walking upon) and asking students what they like & don't like about Smith.</p>
<p>*I can say that for my D spending some time in downtown Northampton was essential. One of her major worries had been that Northampton was too "small town" for her. (Both pre-admission and after four years of attendance, it passed with flying colors.) Shops, restaurants, etc. Definitely stop in for an ice cream at Herrell's. Even if it is winter.</p>
<p>*Schedule a time in advance with a prof in what might be a particular class of interest to meet & chat. This might happen after sitting in on one of the classes above or might be scheduled independently.</p>
<p>I'm sure that others will have good suggestions as well.</p>
<p>TheDad has some good suggestions. Let me know if you'd like some direct contacts within the EGR dept for your D. Admissions can and will get you into classes, but if you email a prof in advance, he/she will be able to spend more time with you than if you just showed up.</p>
<p>Eat breakfast at Sylvester's.</p>
<p>Roger that.</p>
<p>Haymarket is also great for breakfast and they have better coffee than Sylvester's, although Sylvester's has a more extensive menu.</p>
<p>If you tell admissions that your D is interested in engineering when you schedule your overnight and ask for an engineering student to stay with, they will try to either accomodate to it or ensure that the student that is chosen to host has engineering friends. Also, if your D has particular extracurricular interests (crew, chorus, bell ringing) she may try to get some advance info to see if some activity related to that extracurricular is happening during her visit (even if it is a rehearsal or practice) to allow her to crash that and meet other students with similar outside of academics interests. One of the things my D enjoyed most was a surprise opportunity (that we found on the Grecourt News on the website) to listen to a benefit performance of all of the A Capella groups after she had checked out of her overnight but before we left town. After that one she talked to a lot of the singing students and then went and looked through several additional houses.</p>
<p>My overnight there went well because I was paired with someone with the same intended major. I also made sure that I went on a night early in the week so that I was able to sit in on classes the next morning; try to avoid a weekend visit if you can. I also attended a meeting of one of the clubs I was interested in, which was good since it gave me a chance to meet more students, one of whom wrote an alumna reference for me since she graduated in the winter and I applied in spring.</p>