<p>For those of you in China/Korea/Japan, can you please tell me how prestigious or well-known the "Seven Sisters" are?</p>
<p>In particular, how do the reputations of Wellesley/MHC/Smith compare?</p>
<p>Are Bryn Mawr and Barnard less well-known in these countries? Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Asian descent, so I guess I would be good for answering this:</p>
<p>My dad doesn't really know American schools beyond the most famous ones -- Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT. My parents didn't even really know about UPenn and Columbia -- as in, they'd heard of them but didn't really think of them as top tiers. Weird AND ironic, I know.</p>
<p>In terms of the Seven Sisters, my mom instantly recognized Wellesley. And somehow, when I told her I was interested in Smith, she said she vaguely recognized the name from some random article. At least, in my family, the Seven Sisters aren't familiar. My mom MIGHT have heard of Barnard and Vassar (ex-sister) but I've never asked her about them. I really doubt she's ever heard of MHC and Bryn Mawr (no need to bring up Radcliffe at this point).</p>
<p>Not that I should be the one asking, but is prestige really important? I mean, it can only take a person so far. We all live in a cultural paradigm where if you hear that somebody graduated from Harvard, everyone is genuinely impressed (and I'm not saying that a Harvard education is bad!). But I really can't say prestige is the most important factor. I was into academics/intellectualism and environment more than anything else. </p>
<p>But I can't say that prestige is completely negligible because it's not. There is a part of me that kinda says: "Heehee, Smith has prestige." Hey, I'm human and I'm a part of the cultural paradigm too, whether or not I like it. =)</p>
<p>P.S. Anti-stereotype of the day: I'm Asian and I'm bad at math. Aren't I just an outlier or what? ;)</p>
<p>Hopefully that helped. One girl's perspective.</p>
<p>For those who opinions count, the Seven Sisters (five remaining) have recognition as good colleges. For the average person in the street, many will have never heard of it. And so? In particular, what people in China/Korea/Japan think of your American college should matter exactly zilch; how can judgments be valid if not based on sufficient information? Other than Beijing and IIT, I couldn't tell you diddly about Asian colleges...and my opinion would therefore be irrelevant.</p>
<p>But to re-frame what TtHT says, why worry about what other people who don't know much think? Which do you value more, the substance or the brand name? Are you going to marry the person <em>you</em> like or someone that a lot of other people think is cool? (Choosing a college reminds me in many ways of getting married...except that you get out in four years and a divorce, if you change your mind, isn't as traumatic or expensive. But as a life changing experience, yeppers.)</p>
<p>Listen to TD, not me. He makes many good points.</p>
<p>I still think Smith is an excellent school (from a prospie's POV, not an actual student's), and I'd pick 4 years at a school that's lesser known but still gives great educations.</p>
<p>And definitely, when it matters, Smith is very, very well known. Future job opportunities await. :)</p>
<p>Like in the U.S., most people from abroad have only faint impressions of "prestige" and "quality" when thinking about many of the top colleges and universities in the U.S., particularly LACs which do not have graduate or professional schools that more commonly are attended by international students. For that matter, I'm not sure how many people in the U.S. who are not college-educated or who live west of the Mississippi know of the "Seven Sisters." On the other hand, professionals and academics from abroad, particularly those who may have had some graduate or post-graduate training in the U.S. know of the Seven Sister colleges. I recently visited Japan with my daughter who attends Smith, and we met faculty from the medical and literature fields, and many of them knew of Smith and spoke highly of its academic reputation. Top grad schools and top companies in the U.S. (and increasingly worldwide) recognize the value of a Smith education even if it may not have quite the name recognition as some of the Ivy League schools for the man (or woman?) on the street.</p>
<p>I agree with ThTN's and TD's points about choosing a college. Go where you feel you can get the best education not where your friends (or even family) tell you. Ultimately, it is four important years of your life and you should think through how you will optimize that time. It may take balancing of priorities, e.g. academics versus social life, more female friends than guy friends for the next few years, close interaction with dedicated profs versus a lecture with an instantly-recognized name professor and 500 students, long-term career goals and the ultimate value of name recognition versus quality of education. In this last matter, perhaps it could be argued that someone going into business in Asia and obtaining only an undergraduate degree may be better off at an Ivy League school since clients may be more likely to recognize it. However, I also believe that education is a life-long process, and the intellectual habits formed, the inquisitiveness encouraged, and the viewpoints and self-examination that are opened up at a place like Smith may serve one better in the long run than any marginal benefit in name recognition or reputation. Like what TD said, I believe that attending Smith and other top LACs have the potential to be truly transformative experiences if one allows it to happen. In any event, I would hope you can visitSmith or at the very least talk with current students and "alumni" both recent and older vintages to gain further perspective on the value of a Smith education.</p>
<p>i'm a current student at smith, and while it is annoying that seemingly NO ONE has ever heard of it on the street, believe me... the people who matter WILL know about it.</p>
<p>basically what i'm trying to say is, who gives a damn if your next-door neighbor has never heard of smith? whoever will be interviewing you for future jobs (and especially grad schools) will know of smith's amazing reputation.</p>
<p>you are fine.</p>
<p>Although admittedly I'm from MA while my daughter has been applying to college everyone we have mentioned Smith to has both known it and had a high opinion of it academically, including Prof's at Harvard :) - the LAC world is pretty small and especially in NE.
That said I agree that reputation shouldn't be the deciding choice!</p>
<p>All it matters, really, is going to college. And getting a college degree. Just say that!</p>
<p>As a long-delayed postscript to my last post in this thread, I'll add that my D's first post-Smith job is in an organization where the degrees of her colleagues are from places like Swarthmore, Yale, etc. U/Virginia was the "shabbiest" I heard mentioned...and U/Virginia is pretty damned good. </p>
<p>As I said almost two years ago, don't worry about what the uninformed think. Here on the West Coast, the average person may not have heard of Smith but those in academia always have (think "grad school") and many of those who are in hiring positions have and the rep is almost always very positive.</p>
<p>Even Ann Coulter vouched for Smith (1:35)
Huckabee</a> vs Coulter - AOL Video</p>
<p>My d's Ivy graduate school program doesn't have a single student this year accepted from an Ivy or Stanford or Williams, Amherst, or Swarthmore. She was awarded her fellowship at least partially on the reputation on her undergraduate preparation.</p>
<p>Heroes</a> TV Series - Sprint Heroes Extras | Heroes - NBC Official Site</p>
<p>For those of you asking about the prestige of Smith you might enjoy the link above - take a close look at the first college brochure you see and the following conversation in the sneak peek. The show "Hero's" may not be the biggest hit on TV but it has a pretty big audience:)</p>
<p>The clip is almost enough to make me want to start watching Heroes again. Thanks. :)</p>
<p>(For those who don't know: other mentions of Smith on TV have included Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, The West Wing, and Sex and the City.)</p>
<p>sorry to revive this thread, but guys seriously come on.
We all know that prestige is not too important, and all that cliched “go for the college” you feel you want. WE ALL KNOW THAT OKAY!!!
The OP was asking a different question, then why not answer it and then you can say your (worthless) cliches! Don’t get me wrong, I agree 100% with you guys, but answer the darn question!</p>
<p>K, in Korea my parents know Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, UCLA, and UC Berkeley. The rest they get mad at me for mentioning along with the big name schools. haha.</p>
<p>
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<p>Well, then your parents need to open their minds a little, don’t they, instead of pretending that there are only a handful of good / “big name” schools in the US?</p>
<p>That was extremely rude. So I bet you think 90% of the asian population who only know HYPSM is narrow-minded? This is not about intelligence or ignorance, but rather what the poeple grew up with, and if you think you are qualified to talk ill about people halfway around the world who only have the media to learn the best universities, then fine, go ahead.</p>
<p>My parents are both Chinese immigrants. They have actually heard of two LACs- Williams and Wellesley to be precise. The reason Wellesley is somewhat more famous is that Soong May-Ling graduated from the school. </p>
<p>Most people in China, however, only know about famous schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, schools with many Chinese international students like USC, or schools with “famous sounding” names after a city like NYU and Boston College.</p>
<p>Smith is actually relatively unknown. Actually, most LACs do not have the same exposure as the universities.</p>
<p>Oh, and they also know about the Claremont colleges since we live literally ten minutes away from them. 
I think it relates a lot with exposure. I mean, I don’t expect many people who are not in the field of education or human resources and whose children didn’t apply to colleges to know 5 LACs off their head; likewise, it’s hard for many people to name more than 5 colleges in UK when they are not applying to any schools in UK.</p>
<p>My D has at least 5 first year foreign Asian students (several from China) in her house this year so someone has heard of Smith :)</p>
<p>The internationals in this year’s firsties class at Mount Holyoke College (a 7 Sister) with the highest percentage of the class come from China.</p>