<p>Okay, I have been accepted. I loved my tour, but now I'm wondering if Smith is really the place for me. I want to double major in art history and English. I am straight, kind of shy, and DO NOT like the party scene. So what do you present students think? Will I be happy and fit in?</p>
<p>I think you will DEF find your niche. Most of the girls I’ve talked to going to Smith were straight( but they were cool with lesbians) and were not big partiers. Let’s face it, Smith is NOT a party school…</p>
<p>I think shyness is a factor at any school, not just Smith!!</p>
<p>PM me!!</p>
<p>Awaiting, congratulations! I think Smith would be a great school for you. My daughter, a first year, can be kind of quiet, especially at first, when she’s getting to know the lay of the land, but now she’s expanded her friends to lots of people she’s met in her classes and activities. She’s straight and supports and loves her gay friends. She’s on the house council, recently was accepted as a Gold Key tour guide and participates in MassPIRG (an environmental group). She probably will be an English major; she’s always had a love affair with words, and the English department is one of the strongest on campus. She doesn’t drink (or do drugs) but enjoys dancing and the occasional party with her friends. She, too, worried whether she’d fit in, but she didn’t need to. As rocket6louise says, you’ll find your niche. I hope you are able to come to the admitted students weekend; my daughter had such a nurturing, stimulating experience then that she was really able to picture herself at Smith. Perhaps you would wind up doing the overnight with my daughter (as a Gold Key guide, she’s supposed to host prospies)!</p>
<p>I definitely think you’ll fit in. One of my good friends at Smith was not only straight and shy, she dressed very differently from your mainstream college student, had a highly restricted diet, NEVER drank alcohol, didn’t dance, etc. and even she had a great group of supportive friends (even though we drank and went to dance parties…) </p>
<p>Smith is not a party school by any means, though there are parties and the students definitely know how to have fun. People drink, but not necessarily to the excess you see at a big state University (or if they do drink to excess, they’ll do it like once a week, not every day). </p>
<p>And there are plenty of introvereted Smithies. In fact, Smith might be good for you in that way in teaching you that you don’t have to be shy just because you are intro-verted naturally. I have lots of friends that started out quite shy and became overtime confident intro-verts: thoughtful, softspoken people, who don’t rush into situations headlong, but who have a good sense of who they are and what they want, and can stand their ground without making a big “look at me” song and dance routine out of it. THey’re some of my most valued Smith friends. </p>
<p>And just remember that in the beginning EVERYONE is shy, and awkward, and a little scared they’ll have no friends. So you’ll have that in common with every other student there who is just as new and nervous as you are. You’re bound to turn that commonality into friendship.</p>
<p>Beautifully spoken, S&P, as always!</p>
<p>As the parent of a Smithie grad, I think you’ll do fine. Smith is the place a lot of kind-of-shy women find they can blossom. My D was an interesting mix: the talkative introvert. Trust me, it’s not an oxymoron. (Though S&P might possibly disagree with my assessment.) D drinks moderately but I think her general mode was to have a drink or two with friends in room as opposed to what might be commonly thought of as a “party.”</p>
<p>One aspect of Smith is that it’s a place where women are free to be themselves, free to <em>become</em> themselves, if that makes any sense.
God, I feel like I’m becoming assimilated into the Smithie-Borg but there’s a seed of truth in the cliches about “empowering” and “enabling.”</p>
<p>Congratulations, awaiting. I can well understand that you’re nervous. Your decision is going to condition the next four years of your life. The main reason my D chose Smith was for the quality of the Art History Department. Not only is it excellent, but it has a very good reputation outside the college. D is one of the few juniors who was interviewed for internships this summer at prestigious museums (she is still waiting for the final answers, but they went well). Last year Smith added a Museum concentration, a very interesting program with extremely helpful advisers and profs with great contacts in the museum and art gallery world.
I know nothing about the English department, but if Art History is truly your thing, I’d recommend acquiring a very good level in at least one foreign language. The German department at Smith also has an excellent reputation, and the profs are very active in finding scholarships and fellowships (Fullbrights, DAAD, etc…).</p>
<p>wow, Smith sounds really fascinating. But what about the economics department at Smith?</p>
<p>TheDad-I sound like your D…I’m a “bubbly introvert”…I’m glad I’m not the only one!</p>
<p>Shushi, my D wasn’t an Econ major but that’s where she will likely do grad school. She took several Econ courses at Smith and rhapsodizes about profs Mahnaz Mahdavi and Roger Kaufman. I’ve heard others say similar things about Randy Bartlett.</p>
<p>wow TheDad and SmithieandProud, do you work for admissions/recruitment?? Your posts are always so enlightening and make Smith seem so great! I am currently deciding between Smith and GW – waiting on a few others with little expectation –</p>
<p>I heard great things about the art history department too-- I’m planning on Econ as well, so it was great to read about your daughter’s experience.</p>
<p>They say the Smith alumnae network is great, and I now have first-hand experience. The day after I found out I got in I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers congratulating me from “2 local Smithies.” These are women in my town who my mom knows a little, but they went out of their way immediately to welcome me.</p>
<p>It was VERY impressive.</p>
<p>FBBG, yes, aren’t TheDad and SmithieandProud wonderful?</p>
<p>Comparing Smith to GW I would think would be like comparing apples to oranges–they’re both fruit but they provide very different experiences. Think about what kind of experiences you want–large classes vs. small classes, TAs vs. professors, distribution requirements (does GW have them? Smith doesn’t unless you want to do Latin honors), large city vs. small city, competitive environment vs. non-competitive environment, etc., etc.</p>
<p>As you point out, the Smith network/sisterhood is awesome. What a lovely welcome! They were really on the ball; I’m glad you were impressed! :)</p>
<p>The other thing, GW vs. Smith, is a close-knit, defined campus vs. a school that’s essnetially in a city without too much campus feel (I know they have a “campus” out at Mt. Vernon, but it’s still not the same). But some people don’t like to feel too claustrophobic at school, and being spread out around DC definitely has its perks (I live in DC and I love it here).</p>
<p>I chose Smith over GW and so did my best friend from college. We both did semesters in Washington. I felt as though I could always live in DC in the future (and I do now) but the Smith experience was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I also liked smaller classes with more student participation instead of lectures, and thought I’d be more likely to make friends at Smith. It was also a lot cheaper, both because of scholarships and because Northampton is a cheaper place to live than DC (movies, restaurants, etc.)</p>
<p>But they’re very different places. I would encourage you to visit both.</p>
<p>If I were a student, I think my thinking would follow Stacy’s. I like GW, but I love Smith, and whether via the Picker internship program and/or working after college, there’s time for DC. Fwiw, I think DC is more enticing once you have your degree.</p>
<p>As for the daily life & academic experience, I think Smith is hard to beat.</p>
<p>Thanks Stacy and TheDad! Very persuasive!</p>
<p>To the OP–</p>
<p>I’m actually CarolynB’s supposedly-quiet daughter, and I’d be happy to answer any specific questions about the Smith social scene or tell you about the kinds of social opportunities I’ve taken advantage of in my first year. PM me! (and that goes for anyone else who needs this question answered…I know it’s a big one). :)</p>
<p>“DO NOT like the party scene”</p>
<p>That should have ruled out GW right there.</p>
<p>When my daughter first visited Smith her description of the experience was <em>nice relaxing sigh</em> followed by a verbal “it feels like family.” Her first year experience has been true to her initial visit. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else on the face of the earth. And, honestly, I have to tell you that I have a hard time imagining any woman who sincerely desires to attend Smith not fitting in. </p>
<p>At our D’s graduation party a few significant people in her life came and toasted her and said a few words. Past, present, future sort of thing. The Smith alum who introduced her to Smith (and that’s a long story in itself) came and talked about where our D was headed, the legacy of women she was joining, etc. She presented her with a Smith t-shirt, and the baton of education was officially passed from our family to the Smith family. And, honestly, I must tell you that I was very relieved when our D chose to attend Smith. I relaxed with the realization that if anything ever happened to me or her sister I knew she would have the Smith women taking care of her. That may sound cheesy, but it’s true. Smith women take care of each other. The unexpected death of her grandfather (with her being miles from home) this semester proved it. Her house and friends were there.</p>
<p>None of us can predict whether you will “fit in” because we don’t know you. And even if we did know you, it would be difficult to tell. Still, I would NOT rule out Smith because of your personality and interests – if anything, I think those would make Smith a stronger choice. My daughter (a senior) is one of those animated introverts. Smith has transformed her into a shy-with-strangers teenager to a more confident, more mature, but still somewhat reserved, young woman. Her growth, both intellectually and emotionally, has been astounding to watch. Although some of that can be attributed to natural maturity, much of it stems from the close-knit community that acts like a family – they love you no matter how many times you trip up. She was able to branch out and explore beyond her initial comfort zone without fear. At the end of the day, she could always return to her house and her friends for support. Even more telling, she could also turn to her professors.</p>
<p>I’m a firm believer in the college community as the final “family” that shapes you for the rest of your life, primarily because both my husband and I experienced that in our own undergraduate college. I always advise students to choose the undergraduate institution with the strongest sense of community – provided, of course, that the academics are also good – because these years can never be reproduced. How can you tell that a college has a strong sense of community? For one, alumni/alumnae loyalty and giving are sure signs that the undergraduate experience was transformative for many individuals. And you can tell from watching the students interact while on campus. You might have picked up hints from information sessions and tours.</p>
<p>I’ll never forget leaving my very-nervous daughter at pre-orientation and then receiving a call the second we walked in the door after a five hour drive, with her gushing at the other end that Smith was awesome, that she had never been among such a group of intelligent and diverse women, that she knew then, even more than before, that Smith was the place for her. She has never regretted her choice, not even for a second.</p>
<p>So, while I would advocate for Smith, I will also say that you should attend the school where you personally felt that “click.” Don’t worry about the extraneous stuff such as the social scene and finding friends you’ll like; you’ll find your niche wherever you go. Instead, look at the undergraduate experience as a whole.</p>