Seeking information about how much of a “grind” Smith is–it has a reputation as being more difficult and with more grade deflation than at other comparable schools. My daughter is very interested in attending. She is a good student but not at the tippy top of her class and she has many outside interests she will want to continue. She will enter college well prepared, but I know she is not looking for a school where the workload is overwhelming so I want to make sure the fit is right for her. Would love feedback on this.
Would love any kind of feedback about Smith from current students, thanks!
I dont know the answer to this, but my daughter is looking at Smith as well. Shes #2 in her class, a lot of AP classes, extra curricular, but I do not think she took SATs. How much would that hurt? Financially, her EFC is approx 13k. which could kind of be ok. 
Hi, I’m the mom of a current Smith senior so I’ll try to answer your question as best I can. I think a lot will depend on your daughter’s major and other interests. My daughter was not the top of her class at her HS and she did not have any AP’s before going to Smith but is a strong student. Her first year she participated in athletics and was taking STEM-heavy coursework and it was overwhelming. In the sciences, Smith professors will assume your D to has had AP’s. If she has, she may find it less overwhelming than my D did. My D quit athletics due to an injury at the end of her first year and that did positively impact her grades somewhat as she had more time to study. As a STEM major, my D spends most of her time studying but (when she was on campus) she had time to hold a job and work in a lab/do research. She is introverted but social but isn’t into parties so she hasn’t felt super conflicted about missing out on some of that. Grade deflation is real in the hard sciences at Smith but it definitely varies by department. The chemistry instruction is very good but super tough. For example, my D got a private tutor after taking orgo 1 and before orgo 2 and the tutor (who has her Phd in chem) was surprised how much was covered in orgo 1. My D is a bio major and has a lot of great instruction except her Cell Bio teacher who may be the worst teacher she has ever encountered. He also teaches the into biochem class (still awful!) and she had him for another class too. The good news is that cell bio will be taught by other (much better) professors in the very near future. The Data Science (stats) dept. is stellar. My D only had to take one stats class but loved it and I’ve heard tons of praise for that dept. as a whole. My D’s has also taken several Exercise Sports Studies classes and they have been super interesting and is much “easier” than her STEM classes. Physics and Psych have been a mixed bag. She has taken a few English classes and thought they were very good and manageable. Her non-stem friends and soft-science friends definitely still work hard but seem to have more time on their hands in general. I hope this helps - one student’s “overwhelming” is another’s sweet spot so it’s hard to say. My D is getting a really great education and she has absolutely blossomed at Smith. That said, if your D needs a strong GPA for professional school entrance, I might consider a school with less grade deflation in the hard sciences. If she plans on grad school after Smith, she will be very well prepared and likely have her pick at some great programs.
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Smith was test optional before the pandemic so I wouldn’t worry about not having an SAT score.
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So helpful, thanks! I am hearing that the hard sciences are universally tough, no matter the institution. One recent grad told me she thinks Smith’s reputation for being “a grind” might be more because it’s not a big party school and less because it’s a grind in terms of actual academics. She said the students have fun but it’s less about drinking and more about going to an improv night or a craft party–which may not be every student’s idea of weekend college fun, LOL. My daughter is excited to apply so thank you for your help. I am certain she would blossom at Smith if she has the chance to attend.
Smith gives the student wide latitude to construct the schedule that works for them. Many students take a standard load of 16 credit hours each term (4 courses x 4 cr. hours per course). But there are students rolling around Smith with 19 and 20 credit hour loads due to classes with labs (5 cr. hour classes), intensive language courses (5 cr. hours per term in the first two years of language study) or non-STEM courses that are particularly intensive (they also carry 5 cr. hours if the professor successfully argued for that). Performance music ensembles are also 1 cr. hour classes. Smith is a smorgasbord, and it is easy to overestimate how much food is reasonable to put onto the plate. You can graduate Smith with 128 cr. hours in total (4 classes/term x 4 cr. hours/class x 8 terms), but I think there are a lot of students graduating with 140+ cr. hours on their transcripts over 4 years. Something about Smith attracts the students who want that kind of experience from the college.
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Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply! My daughter was accepted and is very excited. Fingers crossed they are taking in person classes this fall.
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I thought I would update my original post in case others are considering Smith and had this question. My daughter is a first year at Smith. It took her some time to find her people, but now she has and spring semester has been going very well. Academically, she is pedaling fast to keep up–the college attracts very bright, internally motivated, driven students–but she loves her classes, professors, housing and activities. She is carrying 19 credits with her music groups and (free) vocal instruction. She is very busy and her friends are lovely. The campus is absolutely gorgeous.
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Would additionally make a plug for the very strong career services office at Smith–it’s top notch, very proactive with programming, peer resume, interview suit borrowing program, cover letter review, etc. The alumnae network is second to none in its loyalty to Smith grads and I am confident this will be very useful to my daughter when it comes to internship and job searches. In terms of the very driven student body, they seem to be internally driven versus competing with each other (according to my daughter).
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Would love an update on how your daughter has found the workload at Smith. Thanks!
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My D is a junior neuroscience major with psych minor. She is a Stride scholar so has been doing research as well and is still doing so. She is on the soccer team and in numerous clubs. She says being a STEM major is challenging but is carrying a 3.9 GPA and is tutoring on the side as well. The professors seem very responsive to the students. She had to miss 2 days of school unexpectedly this fall for a funeral and everyone was supportive and let her move deadlines and such. Last year when she had COVID she had no trouble making up her work. The environment amongst the students is VERY collaborative and not competitive.