<p>{f you were sick, the house chef would make sure you got some homemade chicken soup.}</p>
<p>They still do. The chef will always make something special for my daughter or any student who asks.</p>
<p>He even spoils me if I whine enough.</p>
<p>RLT, I didn't mean to imply that no other Houses don't have candleight dinners but from what D says more don't than do.</p>
<p>RLT again, my D is another who can't imagine herself having gone to any other college. Though it's not a question I'd ask right before finals. :)</p>
<p>And a Happy New Year to Smithies, Smith Parents, prospective Smithies, and their parents. See you all next year! (Tomorrow.)</p>
<p>where can one find medical school acceptance rates for various colleges, especially smith?<br>
thanks,
Melissa</p>
<p>Mimi wrote" The med school acceptance rate tells you virtually nothing but the potential weed-out rate of folks who would be perfectly capable doctors if they'd gone elsewhere.</p>
<p>NONE of the so-called "top" schools will reveal the most important data - what percentage of students who enter thinking they are pre-med go on to med school. They all have this data, but they won't publish. And the reason they won't is because it would be very embarrassing"</p>
<p>ok then. does anyone know how the biology major is? What medical schools do smithies attend?
thanks,
Melissa</p>
<p>I've seen one of Smith's "brag sheets" about what "last year's graduates" are doing and Med schools were represented enough that I wouldn't be worried about being precluded from attending anywhere you wanted becasue of a Smith undergrad degree...I know that Harvard Med School was on there. Get the grades, get the MCAT score, get the recs. </p>
<p>Fwiw, while Biology is a common undergrad major, you can go to Med school even if you majored in things like English. Having taken some bio and chem courses undergrad is very helpful, of course.</p>
<p>Gah...forgot the other part. Bio is probably Smith's strongest science program. Certainly there were more summer research projects this past year in Bio than any other discipline. And Smith is throwing a lot of money at Science through both capital programs and scholarships.</p>
<p>TD is correct, you dont need to major in bio but there are certain math and science requirements that need to be met.
The calculus is negotiable, at least at Duke it is. If you took it in high school, the pre med advisor will write a letter to that fact to the medical school. Theres no reason to repeat, or pay for, a course in college you took in high school.
Call or email Margaret Anderson. She advises the pre- med students and is a wonderful professor. Shell be more than happy to help with your questions.</p>
<p>You need a college degree. BUT, it does not have to be in the sciences. In fact, for some schools a science degree is a negative - Johns Hopkins, for example. You need to show medical schools you are passionate about something. That you're willing to spend four years, study a topic you love, learn it, and be able to build on it. Selecting a college major should not be about getting into medical school, it should be about study what you love to think about or do.</p>
<p>The commonly accepted coursework requirements for medical school include a minimum of 1 year of:
General biology
Physics with lab
General chemistry (inorganic chemistry) with lab
Organic chemistry with lab
Calculus
English </p>
<p>As usual, more excellent replies from TD and RLT. D will have taken 7 AP's at end of senior year, and is reassured by the fact that Smith accepts either for college credit or advanced standing in coursework. Amherst would not accept AP's for college credit. We think that speaks highly of Smith, and their clear vision of what a liberal arts education is about. I'm sure that most women who attend Smith with credit applied for taking AP's in high school finish their four years of study anyway, because of the numerous course offerings Smith has to meet the needs of diverse interests. </p>
<p>D is not sure yet as to where Bio studies will take her; either pre-med or research. Whichever path she chooses, I'm confident that Smith will prepare her for either very well.</p>
<p>Okay...so..I know I am supposed to take everything with a grain of salt, but I am starting to get nervous (again) about smith. Ive been reading the daily jolt, and it seems like a lot of people hate smith. I always had the impression that everyone loved smith!</p>
<p>people are saying that smithies are unfriendly and rude and that there is no social life at all.</p>
<p>as a transfer, im scared. I had such a hard time making friends at my other schools and I NEED a school that will help me out in the whole process. Im a bit jadded from what happened in the past. </p>
<p>any thoughts? are smith students un-friendly? what about the social life?</p>
<p>I know that ANY college is all what you make of it, but a little help would be nice.</p>
<p>PS..I keep telling myself that I will be fine, because ANYTHING compared to my old schools will be great. I didnt live on campus for one school and in the other, I was the minority (and im white...) and nobody talked to me for almost 2 weeks. literally. 2 weeks. nobody. SO im pretty sure anything will be better than that, right?</p>
<p>{Ive been reading the daily jolt}</p>
<p>That's the WORST possible website to read. Smithies only post on there to B****
Happy students dont waste their time posting on the jolt. Although there is some good info like cell phone reception. etc.</p>
<p>{people are saying that smithies are unfriendly and rude and that there is no social life at all.}</p>
<p>Not true at all. There are so many clubs and organizations to join you can stay busy 24/7 if you had the stamina. And thats not counting going to UMass or Amherst and harassing the jocks.</p>
<p>Do you know where youre going to live yet? Would you like to talk to a Smithie. Maybe TDs minis or my daughter would be willing to have a chat with you. When are you scheduled to arrive on campus for your orientation?</p>
<p>What part of the country do you live? If youre close, my daughter would be more than happy to have a cup of java with you. If not, shes the unofficial house social organizing queen. Im sure she would be happy to have you over for a visit and to meet her friends or go have Chinese in town with the other chop stick fetish freaks. My treat. No liquor though.</p>
<p>My D doesn't read Jolt. She says it brings out the worst in people and is where people work out their drama quotients. She reads it maybe once or twice a semester, she says. </p>
<p>SC, PM me if you'd like. I just asked and D said she'd be happy to "talk" to you via e-mail.</p>
<p>By my own observation, Smith is largely friendly, not only to each other but to befuddled parents walking around campus. They [Smithies] will come up to you without prompting and ask if you need any assistance.</p>
<p>D has friend in house/out of house, in EC's, out of EC's, and many from classes. In one class a group of them had group t-shirts made.
But...PM me with your e-mail and I'll send you D's and you guys can go back and forth.</p>
<p>Supercow,</p>
<p>Another ditto to the preceding posts regarding the Daily Jolt. I'm not surprised you're having the jitters after reading it because I had exactly the same reaction when I first discovered it. Fortunately, my daughter DIDN'T read it before heading off to Smith and her experience there couldn't be more different from what Daily Jolters say about it. Between all of our daughters and their extended circles of friends, I'm sure you will find a safe haven of friendliness. Take heart!</p>
<p><em>phew</em> im glad to hear that the daily jolt isnt the best representation of smith. It seems that everyone on the jolt had something bad to say, which worried me. Why is it that those people post on the daily jolt but not others? I thought it was something everyone did.</p>
<p>roadlesstraveled..I live in CT. Im not sure if thats close to you, or on the other side of the country!</p>
<p>SC, we live in RI, not far from each other...give or take an hour or so. My D is not admitted yet; although we will be hearing by the end of the month. If she gets in, our daughters can all meet and have a CC reunion of sorts. Interesting, how we as parents, serve up our daughters so quickly. I know my D will want to make friends quickly, so meeting others who are already part of the Smith experience would be quite welcomed, I'm sure. Hang in there SC, from everything I've read, heard and experienced, Smith is a place that is both welcoming and nurturing. I've been reading the jolt myself lately, kind of funny at times, but take it with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>DailyJolt was useful to D when she first was admitted. She did "recon", asking people about various professors & classes. Got her first semester off to a good start. </p>
<p>And before Smith gives you the Housing packet (at least for Fall admits), they give you directory info. Your campus phone number is tied to a specific room. From her phone number, she was able to find her House out on Jolt and then, of all odds, both girls who had had that room the previous year were on Jolt and able to tell her some stuff about the room. Jolt used for Good.</p>
<p>If you think about it, the skewed profile on Jolt isn't surprising. Unhappy people need outlets and Jolt is there...an "Unhappy" post will get both snarks and counter-snarks. Which is why you will see the oddest combo of straight info requests/answers with some expressions of existential despair and a large dose of "Dear Abby for Smith" posts about either problematic or desired relationships...I think all of the preceding exists at non-Jolt schools but Jolt just neatly collects everything in one public place.</p>
<p>Back to dining...I live in Haven-Wesley, and my house was pretty much still on the "old system" last year. We had in-house dining, outsiders were almost always eating with a Havenite, and while there were other options, most Havenites ate dinner in the house every day our kitchen was open. </p>
<p>This year is incredibly different. Many people in the house still eat together, but I rarely do. I eat with my best friends in the house once or twice a week, and the rest of the week I eat on Green Street (pesto, I wonder who your daughter is! I know just about every sophomore in Lawrence--at least the ones who are pretty big on doing things together--and I find it a much more social place then where I live (Wesley)!) I really miss last year's dining, because now I have to plan ahead to make sure that I'll see someone I know at a dining room at a particular time.</p>
<p>As for the jolt...I read it pretty regularly, though I've taken advantage of the new block function and blocked a bunch of people...I don't see as many negative posts anymore. And I only read the threads I find entertaining in the first place (usually students asking questions that they would know the answer to if they read their email).</p>
<p>My gut feeling is that I will love smith. I am a pretty accepting person...I loved high school and I really made the best of it. I know plenty of people who hated it. My college experiences were NOT normal and EVERYONE at these schools hated them. I feel that I would really make the best of smith, since it probably doesnt even compare to my old schools. SO...why do people NOT like smith? I dont have a problem with women's colleges--one of my schools was all girls, and I didnt mind that aspect of it. Is that a main reason people dont like it?</p>