<p>@upstatemom – My understanding is that people being offered STRIDE or one of the other merit scholarships are always notified in advance of the other decisions being released. If some of the STRIDEs decide not to go to Smith, their scholarship will not revert to another student who was not offered the award in advance.</p>
<p>I live in California and I just got my STRIDE letter today!</p>
<p>Congrats!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those who have received STRIDE letters and congratulations, Houston9, about the Zollman! I truly hope you all seriously consider the opportunity you are being offered in doing research for the first two years with a professor. It is a stellar opportunity that LACs and universities simply do not generally offer. My daughter has truly loved being a STRIDE; it has been life-changing for her. When she waxes eloquent about Smith, it’s one of the first comments she makes because it’s been so meaningful to her. The range and scope of STRIDE research projects are simply mouth-watering.</p>
<p>I called about 20 of you tonight!!</p>
<p>R6L, how did the conversations go? Were the STRIDE prospies pumped? I’m sure you were! ;)</p>
<p>Congrats, CP.</p>
<p>I might hesitate to label STRIDE “life changing” as my esteemed distinguished colleague did, but I’m not sure the notion is wrong.
I’ll have an anecdotal tidbit about the ripples from STRIDE but I’m under Imperial interdict for another…3-1/2 weeks or so.</p>
<p>I got STRIDE and now I am more than anxiously awaiting my financial aid package. I need to go to Smith.</p>
<p>I was hopeful that I would be granted a Stride, my SAT/AP scores and EC were as high/higher and as notable than some mentioned here, enrolled at local university with A’s while in high school … wondering if they also spread out the recipients geographically. I’m in CT. Sure wish they offered the benefits from students turning down the Smith offer to others like me? Any thoughts? Congrats to those that made it!</p>
<p>There are many, many meritorious students who do not receive STRIDE, so don’t take it too hard. It’s not a simple formula of grades/SAT/EC, if it were that easy everyone would get it. They will not offer the scholarship to others if current recipients turn it down, that’s just not how it works unfortunately, so don’t hold out a false hope for that. Try to face your situation as it is and make the best decision you can.</p>
<p>I’m sorry you were disappointed about not receiving a STRIDE. Sometimes admissions offices work in mysterious ways and it’s hard to understand. You sound like an excellent and enterprising student, though, so if you want to do research with professors, where there’s a will, there’s a way. I know that sometimes profs hire students during the summer to do research after the profs have been impressed by the students’ work in class. There is also the Kahn Institute; if you don’t know about it, check it out. Then of course there’s the Praxis paid summer internship where you might be able to do research as well. SmithieandProud would probably be able to tell you more of what’s possible, as I’m just a Smithie mom! :)</p>
<p>Caroline44, I just saw on the other thread about majors that you’re interested in engineering. I think you could have a very good chance doing some research for an engineering prof in the summer. One of the two women I was thinking of when I mentioned summer research is an engineering student. Frankly, if you want to be in the engineering program, I’m not sure you would have time for a STRIDE anyway! :)</p>
<p>D and I are just back from (amazing) Open Campus and we found there are many other ways to do the research at Smith that only Juniors and Seniors get at other schools. Program is called “Collaboration” (see note below and url). Apparently, there are sometimes funds for such works, but most importantly, you get meaningful research that opens doors.
URL: [Smith</a> College: News](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/news/2010-11/collaborations-195.php]Smith”>http://www.smith.edu/news/2010-11/collaborations-195.php)</p>
<p>Here’s a quote:
"For 10 years, every April on a Saturday, hundreds of Smith students step in front of an audience and present their research, developed in collaboration with faculty members.</p>
<p>This year’s event, on Saturday, April 16, will feature more than 400 students giving more than 250 presentations, assisted by 129 faculty members across all disciplines."</p>
<p>Brie99, I’m delighted you and your daughter had an amazing time at Open Campus! Tomorrow my husband and I are looking forward to seeing our daughter make a presentation of her research for the last two years in the Sophia Smith Archives. It’s great stuff!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your feedback</p>