We are impatiently awaiting the finaid package from Smith due to lost documents via IDOC. But, all things being equal financially, how to choose? The most likely major/minor combinations will be biochemistry/computer science/Spanish and or Latin American studies. Biochemistry will be the major, possibly a double major, maybe two minors?
They both seem to have nice adjacent towns. They both have good study abroad from what I can tell, both allowing finaid to follow the program. Smith has great “houses”, Skidmore freshman dorms are average but upperclass housing is fantastic. Both are driving distance from us, one 3 1/2 hours the other 4 1/2 hours and easily accessible.
Smith has the five school consortium (and D has alot of friends attending the nearby schools).
Smith is all-girls, Skidmore is co-ed. All things being equal again, Skidmore would win on this point. Then again, D’s boyfriend will be going to school 15 minutes from Smith.
Skidmore acceptance is 37%, Smith 43%. But…Smith is ranked #19 and Skidmore #37 in the LAC category. How does this matter in the end? Doesn’t really make sense to me.
Are we comparing apples to apples except the all-girls vs. co-ed or is there a significant difference?
My daughter goes to Smith and now wishes she had gone to Skidmore. Smith is academically more rigorous than she could have imagined. A good thing. However, the student culture is very disturbing. My daughter considers herself liberal/progressive and would describe a sizable group at Smith rabid in their anger and bullying toward those who utter any difference from their far left views - even if the person is liberal. This has included death threats to a housemate of hers. This has served to silence debate on campus, cancellation of speakers that might be controversial, stifle classroom debate. People fear speaking up for attracting their wrath. Again - my kid was president of unity club in her HS and is an advocate for lgbtq rights - it is important to know that the school is about 40% LGBTQ which is fine. The problem is that the concerns of straight students are dismissed and incur the wrath of the rabid group if anyone brings up how difficult it is to meet guys and develop friendship or relationships with guys. We are very angry at Smith Admissions for not being honest about who they are.
I forgot to mention that this past September she was harassed at a party for being straight. Much of this mean girl and quite frankly bullying behavior is done in the name of social justice. These people behave just as cruelly and viciously as the people they say they hate -
@rapamom, is it true that the culture is also more competitive than collaborative? Someone told me that her Smith student was upset because people do things like hoard library books needed for research papers so others can not use them. I was somewhat shocked at this allegation.
@rapamom, that’s very disturbing. And it’s interesting because even at 40% of the student body, the LGBTQ population is still in the minority–not that bullying would be okay even if it were 99% of the population. Can she transfer to Skidmore?
It is a large, vocal minority and the even smaller rabid group has intimidated everyone else. In terms of academic competition it is intense but it is collegial. My D can get help with homework and shared books gallore. She just can’t make friends. If you are not on a team or in a musical group - vocal or instrumental - it is hard to find a place as the balance are often so bookish that they don’t make time for social fun. My D finds it impossible to find friends to go to parties at Amherst and UMASS with. What friends she has are lesbian and have no interest in going with her to co-ed parties
@rapamom, what year is she? I’m asking because I’m wondering if she could transfer to a coed school. If not, where are the 60% of students who aren’t LGBTQ? There must be some in there who want to meet men! Maybe she could ask friends of friends if anyone routinely goes to coed parties and sort of ask herself along. Sounds like she really needs to branch out. Is there a club she could join that’s not musical? Maybe just sit in a new area of the cafeteria and introduce herself to someone? I know that sounds crazy intimidating, but it might work.
@rapamom, where are you getting the figure that Smith is 40% LGBTQ?
From the students own estimation as the admin refuses to collect the data - knowing that a large number would hurt admissions or marginallize them
@lauriejgs thank you for your concern but she has been living this for almost two years now and has tried many things including taking as many classes as possible at Hampshire, Amherst and UMASS. Again - it is not just that she wants to meet guys, its the social justice vindictive, harassing bullying, militant faction that has really been a cancer on the community
Food for thought. Thank you for sharing.
My daughter did an overnight visit at Smith and felt about the same as rapamon’s daughter. Great school, many opportunities, didn’t like the atmosphere. We just knew it wasn’t right for her. She was only 16 at the time of the visit, and just felt overwhelmed by the number of times she was asked if she was gay and which pronoun she preferred, and felt a great deal of pressure to come out right then, even if she’d never even explored her own sexuality. I was disturbed by how much the gay agenda was pushed.
The town was lovely, the opportunities great especially for overseas studies, special summer sessions, government internships, alum help. Also, my daughter doesn’t really like any of that. She’s studying engineering and just wanted a straightforward set of requirements. She doesn’t enjoy debate, discussion, discord so all the real benefits of a school like Smith would not be beneficial to her. For a government major, or Latin studies major like NEPats’s daughter, it might be the right school.
The 5 school consortium would be a big plus to me. I loved Amherst, and if my daughter had been recruited there, it would have been a much tougher decision.
@rapamom Wow, that is sad and surprising about your D’s experience at Smith. My D is at Mount Holyoke and she’s noted that Smithies do have that reputation, but I thought it was mainly hyperbole. Sheesh. I’m so sorry for your D. MHC also has plenty of LGBTQ but they don’t behave like that. Lesbian and straight women are friends and accompany one another to parties on other campuses, likely so that the straight friends can meet boys! I hope your D can find a good friend group next year…
@rapamom, it sounds like simply being a straight woman at Smith can be somewhat isolating. I really don’t understand the bullying mindset. Haven’t LGBTQ people fought hard enough to have others understand that sexuality is not a choice–and then to harass straight women? It just doesn’t make sense.
You are correct staceyneil. Any woman who goes to Smith would be accepting of the LGBTQ community, so why not return the sisterhood and support the needs of their straight sisters? This is what we don’t get either. It is not just sexuality issues. It is all progressive issues that are taken to the extreme so that even dialogue among different voices on the left can not be heard - all must fall in lock step behind the most extreme voices. President McCartney had to apologize to the community this year for a letter in support of people of color after the Micharl Brown/Eric Gardner cases this fall because in it she said “all lives matter” instead of black lives matter. If you read the entire letter her heart was clearly in the right place - but they lambasted her and she ultimately apologized
That was to lauriejgs as well
I go to Smith currently and can attest to the unsavory behavior of the student population. I transferred from a state school and let me tell you, Smith is a strange and unsettling experience. The professors tend to be unimaginative and many lack passion for creativity (although there are some good ones), the students are largely clique-ish and judgmental, and in general the academic atmosphere is archaic (technology seems abhorrent, most of the buildings are drab). I wouldn’t call the academics “rigorous;” there’s plenty of quantity but not a lot of quality. Students are ruthlessly competitive, and the faculty seem to think that’s fantastic. It’s a real motivation killer.
what does “of Adas” mean? It looks pretty close to me-- three of those years are approaching 60% straight which means roughly 40% (or a little more) fit into LGBTQ??? What am I not seeing, CrewDad?
^ Is nothing private anymore?